News

Nine U.S. companies are nows eligible to bid on NASA delivery services to the lunar surface through Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contracts, as one of the first steps toward long-term scientific study and human exploration of the Moon and eventually Mars.

It’s been nearly half a century since humans left footprints on the moon and during that time human space exploration has largely centered on manned low-Earth orbit missions and unmanned scientific exploration. But now, high levels of private funding, advances in technology, and growing public-sector interest is renewing the call to look toward the stars.

The Russian military successfully launched three Strela-3M communications satellites on 30 November 2018 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Northwest Russia, according to reports from TASS, the Russian state news agency.

Britain has officially withdrawn from the European Union’s (EU) Galileo Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) because of fears that the UK will have no influence over the technological and policy direction of the satellite project after the country leaves the EU early in 2019.

Yahsat, the UAE’s leading commercua satellite communications operator, officially launched its Ka-band satellite broadband service in Brazil in November 2018. The arrival of Yahsat in Brazil will assist in addressing the country’s shortage of reliable Internet connectivity that traditionally relies on terrestrial Internet connectivity.

Konnect Africa, an initiative of the satellite operator Eutelsat dedicated to satellite broadband on the African continent, announced on 28 November 2018 the launch of its Internet access offers throughout the Congolese territory.

China’s leading WiFi Internet sharing company, LinkSure announced that it will build its LinkSure Satellite Network Project comprising the LinkSure Swarm Constellation System, and said that the company’s first satellite, LinkSure-1, is to be launched in 2019.

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) announced on 26 November 2018 that it is designing a low cost 35 kilogram lunar communications satellite mission called DoT-4, targeted for a 2021 launch.

The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) PSLV-C43 lifted off at 0957 hrs (IST) on 29 November 2018 from the First Launch Pad (FLP) at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota, and successfully launched India’s Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite (HysIS) and 30 international co-passenger satellites.

Azerbaijan and Australia are reportedly in ongoing discussions regarding collaborative satellite projects, according to a report from Trend News Agency, an Azerbaijani news outlet.