Europe

As the EU aspires to lead climate mitigation in the face of global warming, it is critical that action be informed by reliable and accurate data. Thanks to unprecedented technological innovations, data now allows decision-makers to identify risks, tailor policy response and resource allocation, monitor progress and identify trends.

The ESPI Space Venture Europe is an annual publication that provides a complete overview of the European New Space sector with a focus on private investments in European space start-ups. For 2020, the report provides key information on the evolution of Europe’s entrepreneurship environment and start-up dynamics as well as the impact of COVID-19.

In this Space Café UK edition, the neuco team of Laurie Scott, Andrew Ball and Ewan Lawrenson spoke with UK space leader, Ian Jones, about the past, present and future of UK Space. Ian Jones is CEO of Goonhilly Earth Station and Chairman at Satellite Applications Catapult.

Europe launches Moonlight, a bold proposal to put in place a commercially viable satellite constellation around the Moon. The European Space Agency (ESA) signed contracts with two consortia to develop a Moon constellation and provide telecommunications and navigation services for all kind of Moon missions.

The ‘fiber-in-the-sky” pioneer Mynaric will use its Optical Inter-Satellite Links (OISLs) to connect Cloud Constellation’s SpaceBelt LEO satellites, the company announced. Cloud Constellation is developing an LEO constellation known as SpaceBelt to provide Data-Security-as-a-Service (DSaaS) and further secure cloud storage and management services.

The Luxembourg-based startup Maana Electric extends its contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) to complete the production of its 1MW TerraBox system and demonstrate how to transform terrestrial sand and lunar regolith into solar panels, the company said.

During this week’s Space Café, SpaceWatch.Global publisher Torsten Kriening met with space strategist and former Chief Executive for the UK Space Agency, Katherine Courtney, to discuss space sustainability and her role as founder of education charity PrimarySpace.

“The first ever lunar communications & navigation service”: Europe pushes ahead with its plan to place communication and navigation satellites around the Moon. Under its Moonlight initiative, the European Space Agency (ESA) supports two consortia of European companies which embark on the design of telecommunications and navigation services for Moon missions.

The European space start-up Pangea Aerospace said it raised €3 million to develop and test its low-cost, 3D printed and reusable aerospike rocket engine. The company founded in 2018 and based in Barcelona announced the completion of its Series Seed round of €3 million, bringing the total funding to more than €6 million, including public financing.

As part of the partnership between SpaceWatch.Global and The Strategist, we have been granted permission to publish selected articles. This is “SpaceX’s reusable rocket technology will have implications for Australia” by Malcolm Davis, originally published on 18 May 2021.