North America

In this session of Space Cafè “Moriba’s Vox Populi 06” Dr. Moriba Jah talked about Environmental Protection, Climate Change, and their Correlation Pleiades with Orbital Space with Prof. Joellen Russell, Dr. Danielle Wood, Dr. Imogen Napper, Dr. Michael Webber.

Rocket Lab announced the launch of AuroraSat-1 on board of their Electron rocket to test space junk removal technologies for Aurora Propulsion Technologies. The satellite will be deployed to LEO to demonstrate the company’s propulsion devices and plasma brakes. The Finnish CubeSat will validate the water-based propellant, and mobility control of its Resistojets.

NASA and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) across the United States have joined forces to bring “historically underrepresented and underserved communities onboard,” said Mike Kincaid, NASA’s associate administrator of STEM Engagement. The news comes after NASA introduced Mission Equity in June to assess the agency's programs, grants, and procurements

The launch of Orbital Flight Test-2 to the International Space Station had to be postponed as the CST-100 Starliner’s propulsion system failed. Several valves did not open as designed during the launch countdown on 3rd August. The valves connect to thrusters that enable abort and in-orbit manoeuvring, NASA said.

SpaceWatch.Global has been granted permission to publish selected articles and texts. This is “Cyberspace and outer space are new frontiers for national security, according to an expert report”, originally published 13 August 2021 at The Conversation by Steven Freeland, Danielle Ireland-Piper, Dan Jerker B. Svantesson, Jonathan Crowe, Samuli Haataja, Wendy Bonython.

The space flight startup Astra closed a launch contract with Spire Global for next year, the Nasdaq-listed company said. Spire Global plans to begin launching with Astra next spring, the launch company said, without giving further details. Spire uses its multi-purpose satellite constellations to source hard to acquire,

Rocket Lab will supply three Photon spacecraft to Varda Space Industries to integrate them into Varda´s zero-gravity manufacturing platform and return high-end products produced in space to Earth. Varda’s space-manufactured products target markets such as fibre optic cables, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals.

The Canadian government invests $1.44 billion in Telesat to support its new LEO Lightspeed constellation. The government provides a loan of $790 million and makes a $650 million preferred equity investment in Telesat Lightspeed, Telesat said. In return, Telesat commits to invest in Canada and create hundreds of high-quality jobs.

A Northrop Grumman-built Cygnus resupply spacecraft has made a more than 3700 kg delivery to the International Space Station. The cargo ship was named after the first Asian American astronaut, Ellison Onizuka. Ship S.S. Ellison Onizuka delivered science investigations and cargo on behalf of NASA.

Rocket Lab’s next Electron rocket launch is the first of three dedicated missions for global monitoring provider BlackSky. Mission ‘Love At First Insight’ represents the company’s fastest launch turnarounds to date, along with the two other missions to come. The mission is part of a multi-launch agreement signed earlier this year between Rocket Lab and Spaceflight Inc.