News

Rocket Lab, a commercial space launch company, successfully completed its 10th launch on 6 December 2019 from its launch complex in New Zealand, placing seven small satellites in orbit as well as returning its Electron booster back to Earth.

Thales Alenia Space, a Joint Venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), announced on 4 December 2019 that it has signed a contract with the Egyptian operator Nilesat to build the Nilesat-301 geostationary communications satellite, winning the contract against an international field of competitors.

Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has directed the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) to open registration for the second edition of the UAE Astronaut Programme. The move marks the start of a new phase of the UAE’s space exploration journey.

The team from Universidad del Valle de Guatemala have completed the development of their first satellite under the KiboCUBE programme run by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

As it readies for its first satellite launch next week, Kacific Broadband Satellites Group (Kacific) announced on 6 December 2019 that it has closed credit facilities totalling U.S.$160 million with a group of financial institutions including the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and GuarantCo.

As part of the partnership between SpaceWatch.Global and Blaine Curcio, we have been granted permission to publish selected articles and briefs. This is ‘Satellites for Nations: The Dawn of a New Era - The Key to New Markets?’, originally published at WestEastSpace.com on 24 November 2019.

The Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, has said that Denmark intends to strengthen its surveillance capabilities over the Arctic Sea and airspace - to include space-based Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) - in response to Russia’s growing and expanded presence there.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $50 million financing package on 2 December 2019 with Kacific Broadband Satellites International Limited (Kacific) to provide satellite-based, low cost, high-speed, wholesale broadband internet connections to countries in Asia and the Pacific, especially in remote areas of small island nations in the Pacific, and larger island nations like Indonesia and the Philippines.

On 3 December 2019 the Australian Space Agency (ASA) signed with French aerospace giant Thales Group an agreement to develop Australian space capabilities.

The Enhanced Polar System Recapitalization (EPS-R) Payload program reached a major program milestone completing a successful Delta Critical Design Review (CDR), Oct. 9. Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems (NGAS) is the EPS-R Payload developer via an approximately $410 million contract awarded in February 2018 that runs through December 2023.