North America

Spire Global, a space-to-cloud data and analytics company based in Virgina US, announced on the 3rd of April that they have been awarded a contract by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) for commercial radio frequency (RF) remote sensing. This contract is part of the NRO’s Strategic Commercial Enhancements (SCE) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) program in September 2022. 

Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy after the satellite launch firm was unable to secure the funding necessary to keep operating and cut about 85% of its staff. The company listed $243 million in assets and $153.5 million for its total debt in a Chapter 11 petition that it filed in Delaware. However, Virgin Investments Ltd has committed to offering an additional $31.6 million to keep the Company's operation going while it seeks a buyer.

The Space Development Agency (SDA) has announced the successful initial launch of Tranche 0 (T0) of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA). These will make up the Transport and Tracking Layer satellites that demonstrate the low-latency communication links to support the warfighter with a resilient network of integrated capabilities, including tracking of advanced missile threats from low-Earth orbit (LEO).

This Space Café WebTalk will feature Héloïse Vertadier and Christopher Johnson in a conversation with Torsten Kriening about "Lunar Policy Handbook: Guiding Responsible and Sustainable Development of the Moon". This document is a reference guidebook for government personnel and private actors in the space industry. It is designed to be a high-level guide that is useful for a broad audience of space actors, outlining policy issues and operational considerations related to lunar activities.

X-Energy Reactor Company and Kinectrics have announced a partnership to design, construct, and operate one of the first commercial-scale Helium Test Facilities (“HTF”) in North America. This facility will test and verify the performance of critical structures, systems, and components of X-energy’s Xe-100 advanced small modular reactor in helium-based high-temperature and high-pressure environments.

NASA announced on the 30th of March that it has established the new Moon to Mars Program Office at NASA Headquarters in Washington to carry out the agency’s human exploration activities at the Moon and Mars. Amit Kshatriya will serve as the agency’s first head of office, effective immediately. Kshatriya previously served as acting deputy associate administrator for Common Exploration Systems Development.

Intelsat has completed testing of the operational and data collection system for the first space-based instrument to monitor major air pollutants across the North American continent every daylight hour at high resolution. The new UV-visible spectrometer, which Intelsat operates for NASA and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, will launch on the Intelsat 40e (IS-40e) satellite tentatively next month.

Ai Telecom Networks, a Mexican satellite and terrestrial communications provider, will partner with Astranis - American geostationary communications satellite operator and manufacturer- and ST Engineering iDirect - an American satellite communications company - for new MicroGEO satellites. The satellites and ground infrastructure will deliver connectivity for 4G cellular backhaul and enterprise services across Mexico and part of Central America. Ai Telecom's MicroGEN satellites will be built by Astranis and will use ST Engineering iDirect's Mx-DMA MRC waveform technology. 

The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) has selected teams to develop software solutions to constantly monitor up to 1,000 targets of interest via satellite with the Oversight program. This is to help military planners keep track of up to 1,000 targets of interest through the management of available space domain resources

In a recent episode of Space Café Canada, Dr. Jessica West interviewed Hira Nadeem, a Space Systems Engineer at Planet Labs and co-founder of Zenith Canada Pathways Foundation, which provides internship and mentorship opportunities for students in Canada to support a more inclusive space industry. They discussed Hira's journey into the space industry, her experience working in both Canada and the United States, her initiatives to create opportunities for Canadian students from all backgrounds in space-related fields, and the need for industry to pursue talent recruitment and retention through more intentional designs that nurture diversity from young hires through leadership positions.