Europe

The European Space Agency (ESA) has established the "Zero Debris Charter" with the aim of moving towards space safety and sustainability and fostering a community of proactive actors working collectively towards jointly defined ambitions. The charter comes after ESA Member States encouraged the Agency to implement “a Zero Debris approach for its missions and to encourage partners and other actors to pursue similar paths. 

Euclid, a wide-angle space telescope launched in July 2023, after a period of testing and calibrating has released the first images. Euclide is a European mission, built and operated by ESA, with contributions from NASA. The Euclid Consortium – consisting of more than 2000 scientists from 300 institutes across 13 European countries, the US, Canada and Japan – is providing the scientific instruments and scientific data analysis. 

RFA UK (Rocket Factory Ltd), a launch service provider, has received £3.5 million to support its plan to launch from SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands. The announcement on the 27th of October came as George Freeman, UK Science Minister, visited SaxaVord Spaceport to see progress at the site and meet key members of RFA UK. The funding has been awarded by the UK Space Agency as part of the European Space Agency (ESA) Boost! Programme. This initiative aims to help innovative companies develop new launch technologies and bring them to market.

SpaceWatch.Global is pleased to present: The Space Café Podcast #93: From CubeSats to Life's Curveballs: Tyvak’s Margherita Cardi Unpacks the Unscripted Lessons of ESA’s HERA Mission. Join us in this inspiring episode of Space Cafe as Markus Mooslechner chats with Margherita Cardi, whose role in the HERA mission to build the Milani CubeSat as the Vice President of Programs at Turin-based Tyvak underscores the essence of adaptability in both space missions and daily life.

European Space Imaging (EUSI) and Pixxel have announced a strategic partnership that will give users unparalleled access to the world's "most detailed hyperspectral imagery" from Pixxel directly through EUSI. Together with EUSI’s capability to build insights and products, the partnership has the potential to set a new benchmark in remote sensing applications in the region. Furthermore, the offering from EUSI aims to solidify the Company's position as a hub for EO data in the region, as customers can now acquire Pixxel’s hyperspectral dataset in addition to world-leading optical and SAR imagery, all from a single source.

Slovenia presented a formal request for full membership of the European Space Agency (ESA) yesterday at the Space Summit in Seville, Spain. The request has followed the official decision of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia last Friday. It was submitted to Josef Aschbacher, the Director-General of ESA, by Matevž Frangež, the State Secretary at the Ministry of Economy, Tourism and Sport and Tanja Permozer, the head of the Slovenian Space Office. 

This Space Café BeNeLux will feature Kees Buijsrogge, Director Space & Scientific Instrumentation at TNO in conversation with Dr Heike Poignand, Founder of C43B - Consulting for Business Building Blocks - and a friend of SpaceWatch.Global. During our Space Café BeNeLux Kees and Heike will not only discuss the relevance of Space for Europe's sovereignty, but also what an important role space plays our daily lives and what it means in terms of innovation, sustainability and competitiveness for a small country like The Netherlands.

In this Space Café Radio - SpaceWatch.Global publisher Torsten Kriening spoke with Dr Pascal Faucher, Chairman of European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking (EU SST), Defense and Security, CNES, at the Software Defined Space Conference - SDSC in Tallinn, Estonia, beginning November 2023. In the interview, Pascal outlines the strategic imperative for Europe to enhance synergies between its civil and defense sectors to ensure a competitive edge in the space industry, especially given resource limitations.

Government ministers representing ESA’s Member States, Associate States and Cooperating States have resolved to strengthen Europe’s space ambitions to better serve European citizens after the ESA Space Summit in Seville. As a result, Europe aims to harness space for a greener future, take decisive steps in exploration, and ensure autonomous access to space while preparing a paradigm shift towards a more competitive next generation of launchers, following decisions taken today at the Space Summit.

Aerospacelab and DUPUIS, a renowned publisher of comic albums and magazines, have announced their collaboration with the launch of Aerospacelab’s Versatile Satellite Platform (VSP), SPIP satellite, the company’s fourth satellite to travel into space. Less than a month after the launch of its PVCC satellite, Aerospacelab is gearing up for another launch from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, United States.