North America

As mentioned in Part One of this article, international space law is a modest, open regime, subject to expansion and clarification. At the international multilateral level, various UN treaties on space done after the Outer Space Treaty expand on various articles of that treaty.

The Universities Space Research Association (USRA) announced on 19 May 2020 the selection of  Dr. Miguel Román, Director of The Earth from Space Institute (EfSI) and his research team as recipients of a grant from NASA's Earth Sciences Division.

On 15 May 2020, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine gave the first public presentation of the Artemis Accords, a NASA initiative to develop consistent and effective norms for the Artemis Program lunar missions to be conducted in partnership with space agencies around the world. 

Satellites surveying the environmental and economic impacts of COVID-19, rocket launches, and plans for the next lunar landing have been featured in the news recently. Despite this, it is still easy to miss all of the ways in which satellites contribute to daily life. A new study released by The Aerospace …

NASA is naming its next-generation space telescope currently under development, the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), in honor of Nancy Grace Roman, NASA's first chief astronomer, who paved the way for space telescopes focused on the broader universe.

Virgin Orbit, the California-based satellite launch company, conducted a launch demonstration of its innovative air-launched rocket on 25 May 2020 in the skies over the Pacific Ocean just off the California coast. The company successfully completed all of its pre-launch procedures, the captive carry flight out to the drop site, …

SpaceWatch.Global is pleased to present the third episode in our new podcast series, The Space Cafe Podcast.

York Space Systems, an aerospace company specializing in complete space segment customer solutions and the manufacturer of standardized spacecraft platforms, announced on 19 May 2020 the opening of its new production facility in Denver. With the new space, York is tripling the footprint of its existing production facility to expedite …

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory engineers launched PRAM, the Photovoltaic Radio-frequency Antenna Module, aboard an Air Force X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle on 17 May 2020 as part of a comprehensive investigation into prospective terrestrial use of solar energy captured in space. “To our knowledge, this experiment is the first test in …

Roccor, a Colorado-based disruptive military and commercial hardware supplier in the rapidly growing small satellite market, announced on 19 May 2020 that it has created a deployable L-band antenna that makes possible the reception and transmission of Link 16 signals via spacecraft. The project is in partnership with Viasat, Inc., a …