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The market for Earth Observation is to grow steadily to $7.5 billion by 2030, with defense as the most significant driver, Euroconsult says in a new study. Value-added services represent the largest part and are expected to undergo an accelerated growth driven by constellation supply, topping $5 billion by 2030 with 7% CAGR through the decade, Euroconsult says.

During this week’s Space Café, SpaceWatch.Global Editor-in-Chief Markus Payer met with Mike Simmons, a medical research scientist at the University of California turned avid astronomer whose passion for watching the universe has spanned over four decades.

Rocket Lab USA announced it has been selected to launch NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System satellite, (ACS3), on an Electron rocket. The ACS3 technology relies on a combination of materials with different properties. Lightweight booms will deploy from a 12U CubeSat designed and built by NanoAvionics of Columbia, to support a solar sail.

Thomas Pesquet became commander of the ISS this week, taking over from JAXA astronaut and fellow Crew-2 member Akihiko Hoshide. Thomas will hold this role until before Crew-2 return to Earth in November. He is the fourth European and the first French commander of the ISS. Pesquet accepted his new position during a traditional ceremony of a key being handed over to him by Hoshide.

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) is targeted to launch on 23rd November aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base, NASA announced. The mission will be an evaluation of technologies for preventing a hazardous asteroid from impacting Earth. DART will be the first demonstration of the kinetic impact deflection technique.

Satellites orbiting the Earth provide many tangible benefits to billions of people around the world on a daily basis. However, space is becoming increasingly congested and the continuity of these benefits cannot be taken for granted. For more than a decade, Secure World Foundation (SWF) has focused its efforts promoting the sustainable use of outer space.

September did not bring us any SPAC merger announcements nor blockbuster triple-digit private financing rounds. On the SPAC front, though, it is worth noting that several previously announced mergers (ArQit, BlackSky, Redwire) secured shareholder approval.

The U.S. startup Minerva Space Technologies secured $150 million to develop its satellite-based data and domain awareness network, the company said. The company founded this year expects to have $500 million in total to expand its core technology offerings.

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” type conversation amongst people.

Star Trek Actor William Shatner and Audrey Powers, Blue Origin’s Vice President of Mission and Flight Operations, will fly on board New Shepard NS-18, Blue Origin announced. A Russian actress, and a film producer will launch towards the ISS today along with a cosmonaut, to film segments for a movie.