Telesat has announced that its new Telstar 18 VANTAGE high throughput satellite (HTS) is fully operational at 138 degrees East and has entered commercial service. Telstar 18 VANTAGE was launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on 10 September 2018 and will serve growing demand for mobility, enterprise, and telecom services across the Asia-Pacific region.
Read More »Japan Launches Michibiki GNSS Service With Great Economic Expectations
Japan launched its own satellite positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) system called Michibiki on Thursday, 1 November 2018, as part of an effort to generate new businesses worth nearly 5 trillion yen (U.S.$44.4 billion) by 2025, as companies such as SoftBank Group, Mitsubishi Electric, and Hitachi develop applications in automated driving, farming, and other sectors that will use the Michibiki system.
Read More »Houlin Zhao Re-Elected As ITU Secretary-General By Member States
Member States of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have re-elected Houlin Zhao of China as ITU Secretary-General during the Union's 20th Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-18) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Read More »China’s New Space Race: LandSpace Releases Preliminary Zhuque-1 Launch Failure Report
Following the launch failure of LandSpace's Zhuque-1 satellite launch vehicle on 27 October 2018, the Chinese New Space launch company has publicly released its preliminary findings as to why its rocket failed 402 seconds after launch from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in China.
Read More »Rocket Lab’s ‘It’s Business Time’ Launch Set For 11-19 November Window From New Zealand
U.S. New Space orbital launch provider Rocket Lab has confirmed the launch window for the upcoming ‘It’s Business Time’ mission. The nine-day launch window will open from 11 to 19 November 2018 (NZDT), with daily launch opportunities between 16:00 – 20:00 NZDT (03:00 – 07:00 UTC).
Read More »#SpaceWatchGL Interviews: Masashi Sato Of NRI On The State and Future of Japanese New Space
Japan's New Space scene is little known and understood outside of Tokyo, despite the emergence of some interesting startups such as iSpace and Infostellar to name just two as well as some big Japanese government announcements about supporting startups in the space sector. SpaceWatch.Global reached out to Masashi Sato, a Senior Consultant at the Nomura Research Institute Ltd. (NRI) in Tokyo and a leading expert on the Japanese space startup scene, to find out what the current state of play is and what the future holds.
Read More »Japan’s PASCO Introduces InSAR Package Using ALOS-2 Earth Observation Satellite
PASCO, a Japanese provider of satellite-based geospatial information, has signed an agreement to distribute data and images acquired by the ALOS-2 Earth observation (EO) satellite which is owned by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). As part of this agreement, PASCO will start selling a new InSAR Package service to support different users’ needs for analysis and monitoring over time.
Read More »Singapore’s Astroscale Raises $50 Million In Investment Round
Singaporean New Space debris removal company Astroscale has announced that it has raised U.S.$50 million from investors led by INCJ Ltd., as well as from SBI Investment Co. Ltd. and Mitsubishi Estate Co. Ltd. This fourth round of funding means that the company has now raised U.S.$102 million in total since its founding in 2013.
Read More »Australian Space Agency Releases Governance Charter For Space Development
The Australian Space Agency (ASA) released its institutional charter on 29 October 2018 that will guide the agency in its efforts to develop Australian civil space capabilities and competencies, as well as establish a thriving space and satellite industrial base.
Read More »China’s New Space Race: Spacety Readies More Payloads For Launch After Successful Long March 2C Liftoff
Spacety, the Chinese small satellite startup, is expected to carry out two further launch missions on behalf of clients in November and December 2018, but exact dates are not yet confirmed according to the intrepid Andrew Jones in GBTimes.
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