North America

Paris, 23 December 2020. – The U.S. ban 103 Chinese and Russian companies, labeling them as so-called “military end users”, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Monday. The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) will amend the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by adding a new ‘Military End User’ (MEU) …

Paris, 23 December 2020. – Viasat acquires RigNet, a Nasdaq-listed provider of ultra-secure, intelligent networking solutions and specialized applications, the company announced on Monday. The all-stock transaction values RigNet at an enterprise value of approximately $222 million, Viasat said. “The acquisition will help to further accelerate Viasat’s strategy to provide …

by Ken Hodgkins SpaceWatch.Global asked its friends, staff and contributors to review 2020 and provide an outlook into 2021. These personal reviews are being published during the holiday season. This is the review of Ken Hodgkins, former Director of the U.S Department of State’s Office for Space and Advanced Technology. …

Berlin, 22 Dec 2020. – Astroscale has shipped its End-of-Life Services by Astroscale demonstration (ELSA-d) satellite to Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for a March 2021 launch on a Soyuz rocket. “Shipment is always a significant milestone on any satellite development program,” said Gene Fujii, Astroscale Chief Engineer. “We have officially moved from …

Paris, 22 December 2020. – The rideshare launch and deployment services provider Exolaunch has started to integrate 30 smallsats for SpaceX’s first dedicated rideshare mission early next year. Exolaunch begins its launch campaign to integrate 30 small satellites from the U.S. and Europe aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rideshare mission scheduled …

Paris, 22 December 2020. – The U.S. Congress will provide NASA with $23.27 billion funding next year, an increase over 2020 but $1.97 billion less than originally requested by the administration. U.S. Congress passed the House Appropriations Committee’s omnibus spending bill consisting of 12 fiscal year appropriations bills yesterday, after …

Paris, 21 December 2020. – “(E)xpanding its position as the leading provider of 21st century warfare solutions”: Lockheed Martin wants to buy Aerojet Rocketdyne, an aerospace and defense rocket engine manufacturer, for $4.4 billion. Lockheed Martin announced tonight that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne …

As part of the partnership between SpaceWatch.Global and The Arctic Institute, we have been granted permission to publish selected articles and texts. We are pleased to present “What is the Point of Norway’s new Arctic Policy?” by Andreas Østhagen, originally published on 2 December 2020 on their website. Norway’s new …

Luxembourg, 18 December 2020. – The space start-up HawkEye 360 shipped its second cluster of satellites to the launch site at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The satellites are scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 no earlier than January 2021 as part of Spaceflight Inc.’s SXRS-3 ride share mission, the …

Luxembourg, 18 December 2020. – Amazon developed a low-cost customer terminal for its satellite broadband constellation Kuiper. “Months after receiving approval from the Federal Communications Commission, Project Kuiper has hit another key milestone on its path to delivering fast, affordable broadband through a constellation of 3,236 low Earth orbit satellites,” …