News

In light of the Peregrine spacecraft's propellant leak and subsequent 32 hours of life before running out of propellant, Astrobotic has decided that the safest and most responsible course of action is to end the Peregrine mission. Noting that the final decision of Peregrine’s final flight path is in the Company's hands as it is a commercial mission, Astrobotic will act upon the recommendation to let the spacecraft burn up during re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. As a result, the Company will maintain the current spacecraft’s trajectory to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere to preserve the future of cislunar space. 

BlackSky Technology Inc. has won a multi-year contract from PT Len, supporting the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Indonesia to provide immediate access to subscription-based real-time, high-frequency imagery and analytics services. The Contract is an initial task order exceeding $1 million against a new multi-year contract to deliver space-based intelligence capabilities to the Indonesian Ministry of defense.

SPACEBEL has announced a contract with OHB Italia S.p.A. (Milano), the prime contractor of the Comet Interceptor mission, a European Space Agency (ESA) and Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) program.  As a result of the contract, SPACEBEL will provide the Central Software that manages the whole spacecraft, its platform equipment and its payload instruments. This new project will involve a team of up to ten SPACEBEL engineers over the next two years.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is scaling back its activities around the Mars Return Sample mission in anticipation of potential budgetary cuts to the program in light of the fiscal year 2024 appropriations bill. According to JPL director Laurie Leshin, NASA is anticipating a federal budget that could limit spending on the Mars Sample Return mission at $300 million for the 2024 fiscal year, 36% of the previous year’s $ 822 million budget.

In response to escalating natural disasters impacting remote communities across the Asia-Pacific region, Kacific has introduced the new and enhanced CommsBox – CommsBox Ultra to redefine emergency preparedness and response capabilities in high-risk areas. This introduction expands Kacific's range of disaster communication products, offering an enhanced version alongside the existing and trusted CommsBox.

Space Product and Innovation S.r.l (SPiN), a provider of modular space manufacturing solutions, has announced the successful closure of a €1.63 million seed funding round. Galaxia, the Italian Technology Transfer Hub on Aerospace, led the round, with participation from Obloo Ventures, Scientifica Venture Capital and Innova Venture. This significant investment will propel SPiN's mission to revolutionize space manufacturing and democratize access to space.

STEM and Space education is crucial for the future of our world. The workforce of the future need to be inspired and see a career in space as a viable opportunity. Seen as viable not just by young people but by parents, teachers and industry. Inspiration is key and the best way to inspire is to engage. That’s what STEM and Space education organisation One Giant Leap Australia does best.

Bellatrix Aerospace has achieved a significant milestone with the successful launch of its Rudra and Arka propulsion systems onboard ISRO’s PSLV C-58 launch vehicle on 1st January 2024. The company had earlier tested India's first privately developed Hall Effect Thruster (Arka) in 2021 and subsequently unveiled the nation's first High-Performance Green Propulsion system (Rudra) in 2022, representing significant milestones in Indian space technology.

Redwire Corporation has announced that two 5-kW Roll-Out Solar Arrays (ROSA) have successfully deployed and are operating nominally in geosynchronous orbit on the Maxar Space Systems-built Ovzon 3 communications satellite. The satellite successfully launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 on Wednesday, January 3, 2024. Ovzon 3 represents the first-ever integration of Redwire’s ROSA technology with a commercial satellite following years of successful operations on the International Space Station (ISS) and on NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission.

Sequel to the investment agreement between Marubeni Corporation and D-Orbit from last November, D-Orbit has announced the successful first closing of its Series C funding round, raising about €100m with Marubeni Corporation leading the round. This consequently cements a long-term commercial collaboration between both parties that will potentially revolutionize the space logistics industry. Furthermore, it extends Marubeni agency mandate for D-Orbit to the entire Southeast Asia.