North America

Rocket Lab has launched its 'Rocket Like A Hurricane,' the first of two dedicated Electron launches to deploy the TROPICS constellation for NASA. The launch took place from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 Pad A on New Zealand's Mahia Peninsula on May 8, deploying two of the four CubeSats that comprise the TROPICS constellation. 

Our Space Café “33 minutes with Dr Gilles Rabin – French-German Space: Of course, I still love you” took place on Tuesday, 28th March. Gilles is a distinguished economist and space advisor, currently serving at the French Embassy in Berlin. With an impressive career spanning over two decades, he has held key positions in urban planning, economic development, and innovation. His journey began at Bipe Conseil, followed by leadership roles in various urban communities including Nancy, Essone, Greater Lyon, and Nice Metropolis.  Gilles's expertise has been pivotal in advising ministers on decentralisation, SMEs, startups, and research. His tenure as Director of Innovation, Applications, and Science at CNES has further solidified his standing in the space sector.

The new Working Group on Outer Space Resources held its first meetings during the recent session of the Legal Subcommittee (LSC) of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).

NUVIEW, an American Earth observation and geospatial technology company, announced on the 4th of May that it is building the first commercial LiDAR satellite constellation which will map the entire land surface of the Earth in 3D for the first time. The announcement was made during the Geospatial World Forum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The company has $1.2 billion dollars in early adopter agreements. 

ThrustMe and Turion Space have announced the selection of ThrustMe’s iodine electric propulsion system for their DROID.002 spacecraft. The American sustainable spacecraft company will integrate several NPT30-I2-1.5U thrusters to enable maneuverability for orbit raising and end-of-life disposal to its innovative space-debris observation and characterization mission. 

In this  Space Café Radio - SpaceWatch.Global Editor-in-Chief Dr Emma Gatti spoke with Dr Walther Pelzer, Member of the Executive Board of DLR and Director General of the German Space Agency at DLR during the 38th Space Symposium in Colorado Springs from 17th-20th April 2023, about the successful launch of JUICE, the new challenges for space in Europe, New Space and the current political environment Europe is operating

Our Space Café “33 minutes with Dr Clemens Kaiser – unlocking the potential of LEO, the data networks in the sky” took place on Tuesday, 25th April. 

Viasat Inc., a global communications company, has announced the successful launch of ViaSat-3 Americas aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Czech Republic has signed the Artemis, becoming the 24th country to sign the Accords, during a ceremony at NASA Headquarters in Washington Wednesday. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson participated in the signing ceremony for the agency, and Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský signed the Artemis Accords on behalf of the Czech Republic.

Sidus Space, a Space and Defence-as-a-Service satellite company, announced on the 2nd of May the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Lulav Space, an Israeli robotics company specialising in space applications, to cooperate in the US market by providing a complete guidance navigation and control (GN&C) solution for both lunar satellite and lunar lander missions.