North America

The CORI Innovation Fund (CIF) has announced an investment in Agile Space Industries (Agile), a designer and manufacturer of integrated aerospace propulsion systems and provider of related testing services. CIF is a Qualified Opportunity Fund that invests in high-growth technology companies supporting job creation and revenue generation in small towns across …

By Raphael Roettgen With almost US$550 million of announced space-related financing rounds, May has turned out to be the top space fundraising month so far in 2020. SpaceX, besides launching astronauts to the ISS on Crew Dragon, came in with over US$346 million by itself. The total amount does not …

Rocket Lab, a space technology company and the global leader in dedicated small satellite launch, has resumed launch operations for its next Electron launch following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions. Rocket Lab’s 12th Electron launch was postponed from its original date of March 27th following the implementation of the New …

SpaceX has become the first private company to launch a crewed mission into low-Earth orbit. At 3:22pm Eastern Standard Time (EST), 30 May 2020, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle launched two NASA astronauts – Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley – on board the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. The launch …

By Jeff Krukin At the end of the first Terminator movie, a young boy says, “There’s a storm coming.”  This comes to mind for two reasons: First, in my talks both to and about NewSpace entrepreneurs, I sometimes refer to them as Terminators because, like that almost unstoppable menace in …

Hughes Network Systems, LLC , the global leader in broadband satellite networks and services, announced on 27 May 2020 that Cignal TV Inc., the Philippines premier direct-to-home (DTH) satellite provider, has selected the Hughes JUPITER™ System to enable satellite broadband service to its two million subscribers. Under the agreement, Hughes will …

The U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center, Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) Geosynchronous Earth Orbiting (GEO) satellite program, commonly referred to as NGG, completed its preliminary design reviews (PDR) for its two candidate mission payloads on 21 May 2020. “NGG is a critical piece of our missile …

SES, the leader in global content connectivity solutions, elected on 26 May 2020 to clear a portion of the C-band spectrum in the United States in accordance with the accelerated timeline detailed in the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Order published in the Federal Register on 23 April 2020. SES …

By Christopher Johnson (Part 1 of this article was published on 27 May. You can read it here). Developing and Expanding International Space Law 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, …

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. The purpose of this grant is to use data collected from …