Europe

Space Electric Thruster System to demonstrate LEO spacecraft transport

SpaceWatch.Global asked its friends, staff and contributors to review 2020 and provide an outlook into 2021. These personal reviews are being published during the holiday season. This is the review interview of Frank Salzgeber, Head of Innovation and Ventures Office at the European Space Agency (ESA)

On March 13, 1989 the province of Quebec, Canada suffered from a massive blackout caused by a geomagnetic storm. The solar activity led to a nine-hour clinical death of Hydro-Québec's Electric power system, leaving people without TV, light and home gadgets, causing huge financial losses and halting all trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

SpaceWatch.Global asked its friends, staff and contributors to review 2020 and provide an outlook into 2021. These personal reviews are being published during the holiday season. This is the review of Prof. Pascale Ehrenfreund, President of International Astronautical Federation. 

As this very challenging year comes to an end, we would like to thank you, our Readers, our Followers, our Friends and our Supporters for all your interest, feedback and the trust you have placed in us. Thank you to all the existing and new partners!

SpaceWatch.Global is pleased to present the 18th episode in our podcast series The Space Cafe Podcast: Dana Reizniece-Ozola, minister, satellite pioneer and chess grandmaster. The power of small nations.

While Europe mulls its own LEO, SpaceX taps the German market.The German federal telecommnunications agency Bundesnetzagentur authorized Starlink to use up- and downlink frequencies in Germany and offer satellite broadband internet, the agency said. “This is the first frequency allocation for a so-called satellite mega-constellation with a very high number of low earth orbit satellites”, the agency said.

ThrustMe and Spacety launch radar satellite on Long March 8

Astroscale has shipped its End-of-Life Services by Astroscale demonstration (ELSA-d) satellite to Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for a March 2021 launch on a Soyuz rocket.

The rideshare launch and deployment services provider Exolaunch has started to integrate 30 smallsats for SpaceX’s first dedicated rideshare mission early next year.