North America

Virgin Orbit’s newly formed and wholly owned Brazilian subsidiary, Virgin Orbit Brasil, has been formally granted an operator’s license to allow LauncherOne launch operations in Brazil, said Virgin Orbit alongside the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB). The license allows for LauncherOne deployments from the Alcântara Launch Center as early as 2023.

NASA’s Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) CubeSat, designed to test a unique lunar orbit, successfully launched on Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket. The spacecraft acts as a pathfinder for Gateway, NASA’s lunar space station supporting the Artemis program.

NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) have selected three design concept proposals for a fission surface power system design to advance space nuclear technologies, NASA said. The design could launch by the end of the decade for a lunar demonstration. The contracts are valued at approximately US $5 million each and will fund the development of initial design concepts.

Global communications company Viasat, received the necessary stockholder approvals for the proposed acquisition of global mobile satellite communications firm Inmarsat, Viasat said.  The offer for US $7.3 billion came last year, with plans to reach a combined annual revenue of approximately US $4 billion

Software startup Epsilon3 has raised US $15 million in a Series A funding round led by investor Lux Capital to expand its suite of space project management solutions, the company said. Epsilon3’s platform is web-based and provides spacecraft manufacturing and operations collaboration tools.

Our Space Café WebTalk “33 minutes with Jennifer Manner - The Critical Role of Satellite Networks in 5G and Beyond Ecosystems” took place on Tuesday, 14th June. Our guest was Jennifer A. Manner, a Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at EchoStar Corporation/Hughes Network Systems where she is responsible for the company’s domestic and international regulatory and policy issues,

Moon company, Astrobotic and wireless charging platform develpoer, WiBotic’s wireless charging system successfully demonstrated that it can function and provide enough power for technologies to survive the 14-Earth-day-long lunar night. Developed with assistance from Bosch, the University of Washington, and the NASA Glenn Research Center

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher signed two agreements at the latest ESA Council meeting in Noordwijk, Netherlands, to advance cooperation on Earth science and the Artemis lunar missions, NASA said. ESA’s Lunar Pathfinder mission will contribute to the progression of the lunar communications infrastructure, necessary for a long-term human presence.

In this Space Café Radio, SpaceWatch.Global Event coordinator and Space Café Young Global Talents Host Chiara Moenter spoke with Kian Mirshahi, CEO of Mayday.ai about Mayday, the space ecosystem, and the importance of finding and relearning our balance and harmony with nature.

General John Hyten (Ret.) has been named as Executive Director for Blue Origin’s foundation, Club for the Future, and as a Strategic Advisor to senior leadership, the company said. General Hyten has decades of experience as a space operations and acquisitions officer. His assignments included leading the Air Force Space Command and the U.S. Strategic Command.