Europe

The Berlin-based Zeitfracht Group is investing in the first German lunar mission and has acquired the space start-up PTS. The company, formerly known under the name PTScientists, was renamed Planetary Transportation Systems as part of the acquisition. PTS is the only company in Europe with a lunar landing device in …

ESA Business Applications and Space Solutions, under its Kick-Start Activity program, has awarded funding to SpaceChain UK to further develop and identify commercial use-cases for its satellite blockchain technology. ESA’s Kick-start Activity Program is designed to make it easier for entrepreneurs and start-ups to explore thematic areas with promising business …

From 11 to 13 September 2019, the Centre national d’etudes spatiales (CNES) was at the 17th edition of the Defence Summer School, hosted by the French Air Force. In the presence of Florence Parly, the Minister for Armed Forces, more than 500 high-ranking French and foreign political and military officials, …

A few months from now will see the launch of the first European satellite to demonstrate how onboard artificial intelligence can improve the efficiency of sending Earth observation data back to Earth. Dubbed ɸ-Sat, or PhiSat, this revolutionary artificial intelligence technology will fly on one of the two CubeSats that …

Airbus has won a design study from the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) to develop the technologies for a cluster of ultra-high-resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites for the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD). The satellites will also have the ability to collect radio frequency (RF) signals. Called …

Speaking at the DSEi conference on 11 September 2019, the UK Defence Secretary outlined an ambitious and global vision for defence. He highlighted the UK’s decisive contribution to the fight against Daesh and RFA Mounts Bay’s role providing critical humanitarian relief in response to Hurricane Dorian. Following the announcement that …

Airbus and Telespazio (Leonardo/Thales) have set up a partnership to market military telecommunications services using the future Syracuse IV satellites. This partnership will lead to the creation of France’s leading private operator of military satellite telecommunications. It demonstrates the desire for cooperation by European industrial prime contractors Airbus, Thales and …

Jean-Yves Le Gall, President of the Centre national d’études spatiales (CNES) and Chair of the Administrative Board of the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GSA), celebrated the agency’s 15th anniversary in Prague with Europe’s space leaders in attendance on 10 September 2019. The gathering took the opportunity to hail …

SES has selected SpaceX as a launch partner to deliver its next-generation Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellite constellation into space on board Falcon 9 rockets from Cape Canaveral. The two companies have disrupted the industry in the past when SES became the first to launch a commercial GEO satellite with …

ICEYE’s two SAR satellites launched in July 2019 have finalized their initial commissioning, and are available for customer data orders. The company now provides standardized commercial imaging access to three of its SAR satellite units, in addition to serving a number of customers with custom data products and solutions. ICEYE …