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Hubble is back: the telescope went back into operations and restarted science observations last Saturday, NASA said. Hubble’s payload computer, which controls and coordinates the observatory’s onboard science instruments, halted suddenly on 13 June. Hubble began taking scientific data once again on July 17.

One of the reasons why space is rapidly attracting new investments is because of its potential to enable new applications for several non-space industries, health, communications, fintech, agriculture, oil & gas,  and even art, just to name some examples.

Blue Origin New Shepard’s first human flight mission is ready to lift off tomorrow, with its founder and owner Jeff Bezos on board, the company said. "New Shepard is go for launch, “ Blue Origin said. “On July 20, Blue Origin will fly its 16th New Shepard flight to space, and its first with astronauts on board.”

The Smithsonian will receive a $200 million donation from Jeff Bezos, the museum in Washington, DC, said. The donation is the “largest gift to the Smithsonian since the institution’s founding gift from James Smithson in 1846”. A $70 million portion will support the renovation of the National Air and Space Museum and $130 million will launch a new education center. 

Thales Alenia Space will build two modules of the Axiom Space Station, “the world’s first commercial space station”. Thales and Axiom Space signed a contract for the development of the two elements that are scheduled for launch in 2024 and 2025 respectively, and will be docked to the International Space Station (ISS). The value of the contract is € 110 million.

As part of the partnership between SpaceWatch.Global and Joint Air Power Competence Centre, we have been granted permission to publish selected articles and texts. We are pleased to present “From Satellite Generations to a Continuous Evolution”, originally published on the Joint Air Power Competence website.

RUAG Space extends its partnership with the United Launch Alliance (ULA) to produce payload fairings for the Atlas and the Vulcan Centaur rocket programs, the Swiss company said. RUAG Space and ULA modified and extended their existing development and production contract until 2024.

The European and the American space agencies, ESA and NASA, formed a strategic partnership to further Earth science and combat climate change. The aim of the partnership is to advance science and ensure that data from Earth-observing satellites are used to their best advantage, ESA said.

NASA supports nuclear space propulsion technologies and pushes for the design of nuclear thermal engines, the agency said. Together with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), NASA has selected three reactor design concepts for a nuclear thermal propulsion system. The 12-month contracts go to three consortia and are valued at approximately $5 million each.

As part of the partnership between SpaceWatch.Global and Joint Air Power Competence Centre, we have been granted permission to publish selected articles and texts. We are pleased to present “Chinese ‘High-Risk’ Corporate Space Actors”, originally published on the Joint Air Power Competence website.