ISU MSS 2024

Europe

Vodafone and Amazon to extend connectivity in Africa and Europe

Vodafone and Project Kuiper, Amazon’s low Earth orbit satellite (LEO) communications initiative, announced a collaboration through which Vodafone and Vodacom plan to use Project Kuiper’s network to extend the reach of 4G/5G services to more of their customers in Europe and Africa. In addition, Vodafone and Vodacom plan to use Project Kuiper’s high-bandwidth, low-latency satellite network to bring the benefits of 4G/5G connectivity to areas that may otherwise be challenging and prohibitively expensive to serve via traditional fiber or microwave solutions.

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UK Space Agency Announces US/UK Partnership

Hall Effect Space Thruster, built in the UK by Pulsar Fusion undergoing testing at the University of Southampton. Credit Pulsar Fusion

UK space agency announces vital US/UK partnership in electric space propulsion between Britain’s Pulsar Fusion and the University of Michigan. Pulsar is seeking ways to leverage the unique test capabilities of the University of Michigan for Hall thrusters. Therefore, the focus of this preliminary Phase I effort is to identify export-compliant paths for allowing this.

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Andøya Spaceport Expands to the US

Andøya Spaceport has hired Vincent Ciccarelli as its Commercial Director of North America and Asia as it aims to expand to the US. His main task will be to make sure that launch operators outside of Europe recognize the opportunities Andøya has to offer. Until now, Andøya Spaceport had mainly focused on the European market for the spaceport that is currently under construction in Northern Norway. However, this has changed with Ciccarelli joining as the first US-based employee of Andøya Spaceport.

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TNO Joins European Collaboration for Space Internet

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.

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#SpaceWatchGL Summer Listening Series: Week Five – Women in the Space Sector

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"

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We Are IT and SES to Deliver Connectivity across the Philippines

We Are IT Primary Teleport in Angeles, Pampanga. Credit We Are IT

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.

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EnduroSat to partner with NASA for Solar Mission

EnduroSat PADRE collaboration image. Credit EnduroSat

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. 

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ReOrbit Completes Oversubscribed $7.4M Seed Funding Round

ReOrbit satellite image. Credit ReOrbit

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.

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ESA’s Space Rider likely to launch third quarter of 2025

Space Rider pillars. Credit ESA

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. 

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