Europe

John Auburn, former Managing Director and CCO of Astroscale, joins ReOrbit as Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) and as a Member of the Board, said Sethu Saveda Suvanam, Founder and CEO or ReOrbit. The company welcomes Mr Auburn’s expertise in building solutions and upscaling start-ups. He will help to identify the necessary steps and lead the way in making ReOrbit a market leader in its field.

Our Space Café WebTalk “33 minutes with Graham Turnock - The Accelerators: ESA’s plans to warp drive European Space” took place on Tuesday, 28th June. Graham Turnock has been a Special Advisor to the European Space Agency (ESA) since 2021. Before that, he was Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency.

Norwegian technology corporation Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (Kongsberg), has entered into an agreement to acquire Lithuanian smallsat bus manufacturer and mission integrator, NanoAvionics, Kongsberg said. The planned acquisition will add products and technology for manufacturing small satellites to the company’s portfolio.

The European think-tank for space, the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) and research and academic charity, the London Institute of Space Policy and Law (ISPL), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on areas such as research, events and activities, research visits, research network and engagement, ISPL said.

This Space Café Italy will feature Cinzia Zuffada, NASA’s JPL Deputy Chief Scientist and President of the Italian Scientists and Scholars in North America Foundation (ISSNAF), in conversation with Dr. Emma Gatti, host for Space Cafè Radio and correspondent of SpaceWatch.Global for Italy. New Opportunities for Washington and Rome

In this Space Café Radio - SpaceWatch.Global publisher Torsten Kriening spoke with Valentin Eder, CEO at Space Analyses GmbH, at the  LEO Kinetic Space Safety WorkshopThis workshop focused on finding practical solutions for the threats of space debris in low Earth orbit (LEO) and how to move forward with space exploration with industry emphasis on sustainability.

ArianeGroup will be leading the SALTO and ENLIGHTEN projects entrusted by the European Commission to speed up the development of reusable, eco-friendly European launchers, as part of the Horizon Europe program. The two-year reuSable strAtegic space Launcher Technologies & Operations (SALTO) project aims to test a reusable launcher’s vertical landing.

The year’s third Space Café Scotland by Angela Mathis - New Science and Emerging Technology with guest Steve Greenland of Craft Prospect took place on Friday, 17th June. Steve Greenland is the founder and Managing Director of Craft Prospect, building smart and secure space systems and services, Director of Omanos Analytics,

Smallsat bus manufacturer NanoAvionics, took the first ever 4K resolution full satellite selfie in space with an immersive view of Earth with the help of an off-the-shelf consumer camera mounted on a selfie stick, the company said. A GoPro Hero 7 took 12-megapixel photos and 4K video clips of the MP42 microsatellite 550 km above the Coral Sea and the Great Barrier Reef.

In this Space Café Radio - SpaceWatch.Global publisher Torsten Kriening spoke with Peggy Hollinger, international business editor for the Financial Times a few days after the FT Live Event "Invest in Space" about the conference, investment in space, a live call from the ISS, the situation at the ISS during the war times and about our sustainable future in space.