North America

0-G Launch is providing “ground-breaking airborne platforms” to allow the space industry to “test and accelerate its technological developments,” said Robert Feierbach, CEO & COO of 0-G Launch. With Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic recently validating commercial space travel and with the space industry growing into a forecasted 1 trillion USD business in the next decade, cheaper platforms

A rocket boost for the stock: The launch startup Astra Space announced its first commercial orbital launch for the United States Space Force for the end of August and the stock of the Nasdaq-listed company rose by nearly 25% yesterday. Space Force contracted the launch through the Defense Innovation Unit’s Other Transaction Agreement with Astra

In March of this year, the giant container vessel “Ever Given” disrupted global commerce when it was lodged into the bank of the Suez Canal for nearly a week. According to Reuters, about twelve percent of total global trade passes through this canal.

Ispace raised nearly €39 million in a Series C funding round, with Incubate Fund as the lead investor, the Japanese startup said. The new round brings ispace’s cumulative total funding to approximately €84.5 million, ispace said, including past Series B, Series A and seed investment, as well as its existing and new bank loan financing announced in June 2021.

Iridium will connect the vessels of the Canadian Coast Guard with its Thales terminals, the company said. The Canadian Coast Guard deployed dozens of Certus terminals on its vessels, including icebreakers, to contribute to reliable internet connectivity, ensure the safety of mariners in Canadian waters and protect Canada’s marine environment, Iridium said.

Edinburgh, 4 August 2021. - The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) selected SpaceLink for a demonstration of its 10 Gbps optical end-to-end relay service, SpaceLink said. CASIS is the manager of the International Space Station (ISS)´s in-orbit U.S. National Laboratory. The demo will allow the use of a 10 Gbps optical terminal.

NASA is preparing for the Starliner test launch to the International Space Station (ISS) today, the agency said. The launch and docking of the agency’s Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) to the ISS is the second uncrewed flight for Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft and is part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

SPAC mergers with space companies made a comeback, with Planet’s and Satellogic’s announced transactions raising almost US$900 million*. Purely private rounds added another US$366 million. Also noteworthy were two public listings in the sector: (1) Seraphim Space Investment Trust raising GBP178.4 million for acquiring stakes held by Seraphim Capital in 15 space companies;

A software failure caused a thruster misfiring and tilted the International Space Station (ISS) during the docking of the Russian science module Nauka, space agencies and media reports said on Friday. Nauka inadvertently started to fire its thrusters after its successful docking to the ISS and tilted the station, causing a loss of attitude control for around 45 minutes, the reports said.

In honour of this sacred experience and all of you who know me and have enrolled in this global vision, I, Moriba Jah have partnered with SpaceWatch.Global to run an exciting Space Café series: Moriba’s Vox Populi (Latin for “the people’s voice”) where I intend to choose topics of relevance to space safety, security, and sustainability and have an hour-long“chill in a lounge chair”