Europe

GomSpace and the European Space Agency (ESA) have signed a contract to adapt and improve smallsat systems and subsystems for science missions in deep space. The contract value is €3,900,000 (U.S.$4,380,675) over 18 months. (€3,300,000 [U.S.$3,706,725] for GomSpace Denmark and €600,000 [U.S.$673,950] for GomSpace Sweden). The contract is carried out …

Arianespace reports it has been selected by exactEarth to launch the ESAIL satellite using a Vega as part of the launcher’s Small Spacecraft Mission Service (SSMS) Proof of Concept (POC) flight. It is the final contract signed by Arianespace for this POC flight, which is now completely booked with 42 …

Rocket Crafters, a manufacturer of advanced rockets operating from the Florida Space Coast, and RUAG Space, a leading independent product supplier for spacecraft, electronics and launchers, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the Satellite 2019 conference in Washington, DC -creating a new supplier agreement in the small launcher market. …

Newtec, a leader in the design, development and manufacture of equipment for satellite communications, has played a key role in the world’s first demonstration of 5G backhaul over a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite with global satellite operator Telesat, a tier 1 European mobile operator and the University of Surrey. …

With space nations such as China and the United States forging ahead with ambitious plans, where does Europe stand in the global space community? Can Europe successfully compete and is there a willingness to collaborate with other nations? Torsten Kriening sat down with Jean-Jacques Tortora, Director of the European Space Policy …

As part of the partnership between SpaceWatch.Global and the European Space Policy Institute, we have been granted permission to publish selected articles and briefs. This is ESPI Briefs No. 28: ‘China is One Step Closer to the Moon… and Europe?’, originally published in January 2019. 1. Chang’e-4: A New Step Towards a …

The UK’s long awaited defence space strategy has been leaked to The Times, one of Britain’s leading newspapers, and reveals a growing acknowledgement of threats against satellites by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and hints at the development and procurement of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and positioning, navigation, and …

PTScientists and ArianeGroup agreed on 8 May 2019 in Berlin on a far-reaching cooperation. The contract governs the cooperation between the two companies for future Moon missions such as the planned ISRU mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and beyond. The signing took place at the Zeiss-Grossplanetarium in Berlin …

Following the initial institutional and commercial launch orders for Ariane 6 obtained by Arianespace since the autumn of 2017, and the resolution of the ESA Council on 17 April 2019 related to the rocket’s exploitation framework, ArianeGroup is starting to build the first series-production batch of 14 Ariane 6 launchers. …

The EDRS-C satellite, the second node of the SpaceDataHighway network (also known as the European Data Relay System – EDRS), will be launched into geostationary orbit at 31° East on 24 July 2019 by an Ariane 5 launcher. Once positioned above Europe, it will provide redundant back-up for the SpaceDataHighway system, double …