Europe

TNO, the Institute of Communication and Computer Systems (ICCS), and a consortium of other European partners join forces in the LaiQa-project to develop space internet for cities and continents. Signal losses in fiber over distance are a major hindrance to the future of global quantum internet. Therefore, the project focuses on using satellites to connect cities and continents to eventually become a part of the global quantum internet and fully benefit from its promising applications.

September is upon us, and as our gaze shifts towards the stars during those warm, clear nights, SpaceWatch.Global brings you its fifth and final collection of the Summer Listening Series. Based on the vote by our newsroom, we have mapped out an interstellar journey across five categories. After "Moon and Exploration," "Climate - Space - Earth," "Trendsetters," and "Space Debris and Regulations", this week is the turn of  "Women in the Space Sector"

SES, Luxembourg-based satellite telecommunications network provider, and We Are IT (WIT), a Philippines-based telecommunications service provider, have announced their first partnership to deliver connectivity services via the SES-9 satellite to 43 Filipino Commission of Elections (COMELEC) offices. WIT is the largest VSAT satellite network service provider in the Philippines.

EnduroSat will partner with the University of Berkley and NASA in the Solar PolArization and Directivity X-Ray Experiment (PADRE). It is a NASA CubeSat mission designed to study the Sun. The X-ray polarimeter and Directivity sensor will be hosted on EnduroSat’s 12U satellite scheduled for launch in 2025. It will enable observation of the Sun in hard X-rays (HXRs) from LEO to determine the angular distribution of accelerated electrons from standalone and joint SOLO/STIX observations. 

ReOrbit, a Helsinki-based provider of software-enabled satellites, has completed an oversubscribed Seed funding round for US $7.4M, led by Inventure VC alongside participation from 10xFounders, Icebreaker.vc, Expansion, and YesVC. ReOrbit provides real-time data flow in space and provides Earth Observation and SatCom operators with flight software, satellite platforms, and complete systems.

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Space Rider program has begun its validation and testing phase, as it prepares for its first flight in the third quarter of 2025. Space Rider is a reusable uncrewed robotic laboratory that will provide an end-to-end integrated space transportation system for commercial customers. When Space Rider has been launched into space it will spend two months in orbit whilst experiments and technology demonstrations take place before returning to Earth. 

In this compelling episode, host Markus delves deep with Alex Fielding, the co-founder of Privateer Space and tech industry veteran, exploring not just the future of space technology but its profound implications for social evolution, climate change, and the very fabric of our human experience. Set against the harrowing backdrop of the Hawaii wildfires, this conversation serves as a poignant and urgent reminder of the interconnected challenges we face. Get ready for a multi-faceted discussion that transcends the boundaries of science, touching the heart of ethical and existential dilemmas we can no longer afford to ignore.

Space Café "Law Breakfast with Steven Freeland" will analyse current space developments with a legal focus. It will, at the same time discuss and ‘demystify’ the law for everyone. In our next Space Café “Law Breakfast with Steven Freeland”, Host Steven Freeland, Emeritus Professor of International Law at Western Sydney University, Sydney and Professorial Fellow at Bond University, Australia, and Co-Host Torsten Kriening, SpaceWatch.Global’s Publisher, welcome Ann Vandenbrouke and Martin Reynders.

Azerbaijan has adopted the Law on Space Activities on 4 August 2023, consequently developing its national space legislature. It consists of six chapters and 24 articles and regulates the legal, economic and organizational bases of space activity in Azerbaijan. In addition to relations for the implementation of national activities in space and entrepreneurial activities in the space industry, the document concludes with a thorough analysis of safety in space activities and the space industry.

Viasat Inc. has confirmed that its Inmarsat-6 F2 (I6 F2) satellite, which launched on February 18, 2023, has suffered a power subsystem anomaly during its orbit-raising phase. At this stage, Viasat and Airbus, the satellite’s manufacturer, are working to determine the root cause of the anomaly and assess whether the satellite will be able to perform its mission.