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A cornucopia of satellites and a run on V-band: Telesat, Astra and Hughes filed requests to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to place and operate altogether nearly 17,000 small satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), the companies´ FCC filings revealed.

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled against Blue Origin in their lawsuit against NASA over a US $2.9 billion lunar lander contract awarded to SpaceX, CNBC reports. Federal Judge Richard Hertling gave his ruling after a month’s long battle. NASA awarded SpaceX with the sole contract for the agency’s Human Landing System

SpaceWatch.Global has been granted permission to publish selected articles and texts. This is an extract of “Moonwalking, When other worlds belong to women”, originally published 2 November 2021 in Griffith Review 74: Escape Routes by Alice Gorman. WHAT WILL IT mean for a woman to set foot on the Moon, a world whose human landscape has so far been shaped largely by men?

The space tech company Redwire acquired the biotech company Techshot, specialized on microgravity, bioprinting, and on-orbit manufacturing for commercial space-based research and development. This acquisition aligns with Redwire's growth strategy to leverage strategic investments to scale in-space manufacturing in LEO which will directly impact the sustainability of future human spaceflight

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has authorized Boeing to construct, deploy, and operate a broadband satellite constellation. Boeing´s V-band constellation will consist of 132 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites in a circular orbit and 15 highly inclined NGSO satellites.

ESA and GHGSat announced at COP26 that they were to support the United Nations Environment Programme’s new International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO). Methane has more than 80 times the warming effect of carbon dioxide. Therefore, reducing emissions of this gas is one of the fastest ways to slow down the rate of global warming.

New findings from NASA’s Juno probe orbiting Jupiter highlight the belts and zones of the planet’s clouds, as well as its polar cyclones and the Great Red Spot, NASA said. Juno entered Jupiter’s orbit in 2016 and has passed the planet 37 times so far, each time examining it with specialised instruments.

The UN First Committee, responsible for international security, approved the establishment of a new working group to develop rules for military activities in space, Breaking Defense reports. The plan was proposed by the UK and supported by a number of Western countries including the US. 

Amazon’s Project Kuiper will launch two satellites by the end of 2022 on ABL Space Systems’ RS1 rocket, Amazon announced. The company filed an experimental license application with the Federal Communications Commission to launch, deploy, and operate two prototype satellites.

Mynaric will supply Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Government with space laser communications, Mynaric announced. The multi-year strategic arrangement has a minimum value of US $35 million in Mynaric products and related services, the Californian company said.