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Firefly Aerospace, an American aerospace firm, announced on the 8th of November a new agreement with Fleet Space Technologies, an Australian space exploration firm. Firefly will deliver and operate Fleet’s Seismic Payload for Interplanetary Discovery, Exploration, and Research (SPIDER) on the far side of the Moon. 

D-Orbit, a space logistics and transportation company, and Marubeni Corporation,  a Japanese trading and investment business conglomerate, announced on the 9th of November a new investment agreement. Marubeni will take on the role of lead investor in D-Orbit’s Series C funding round. This round will include other Italian, European, and international investors and is expected to exceed a total of 100 million euros. The Series C funding round will enable D-Orbit to strengthen its operations in Italy and globally with a focus on in-orbit servicing, space cloud computing, and orbital transportation.

The European Space Agency (ESA), Airbus Defense and Space, and Voyager Space have signed a trilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the ESA Space Summit in Seville, outlining their collaboration for the Starlab space station in the post-International Space Station era. The MoU outlines that the parties intend to foster science and technology development and explore the potential for collaboration in conjunction with post-International Space Station low-Earth orbit (LEO) destinations.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has established the "Zero Debris Charter" with the aim of moving towards space safety and sustainability and fostering a community of proactive actors working collectively towards jointly defined ambitions. The charter comes after ESA Member States encouraged the Agency to implement “a Zero Debris approach for its missions and to encourage partners and other actors to pursue similar paths. 

Euclid, a wide-angle space telescope launched in July 2023, after a period of testing and calibrating has released the first images. Euclide is a European mission, built and operated by ESA, with contributions from NASA. The Euclid Consortium – consisting of more than 2000 scientists from 300 institutes across 13 European countries, the US, Canada and Japan – is providing the scientific instruments and scientific data analysis. 

RFA UK (Rocket Factory Ltd), a launch service provider, has received £3.5 million to support its plan to launch from SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands. The announcement on the 27th of October came as George Freeman, UK Science Minister, visited SaxaVord Spaceport to see progress at the site and meet key members of RFA UK. The funding has been awarded by the UK Space Agency as part of the European Space Agency (ESA) Boost! Programme. This initiative aims to help innovative companies develop new launch technologies and bring them to market.

'Space is a shared frontier, not a race.' Wise words from Mani Thiru, head of Space and satellites for Amazon Web Services across Asia Pacific. Mani discusses with Dr Emma Gatti the civil society's role in the space sector, and dives deep into the balance between space progress and sustainability. Watch it now!

Join us in paradise! From the beautiful Maldives, Dr Emma Gatti interviewed Joan Chesoni from the Kenyan Space Agency. Learn about Joan's role and her vision for an inclusive and unified space sector.

SpaceWatch.Global is pleased to present: The Space Café Podcast #93: From CubeSats to Life's Curveballs: Tyvak’s Margherita Cardi Unpacks the Unscripted Lessons of ESA’s HERA Mission. Join us in this inspiring episode of Space Cafe as Markus Mooslechner chats with Margherita Cardi, whose role in the HERA mission to build the Milani CubeSat as the Vice President of Programs at Turin-based Tyvak underscores the essence of adaptability in both space missions and daily life.

European Space Imaging (EUSI) and Pixxel have announced a strategic partnership that will give users unparalleled access to the world's "most detailed hyperspectral imagery" from Pixxel directly through EUSI. Together with EUSI’s capability to build insights and products, the partnership has the potential to set a new benchmark in remote sensing applications in the region. Furthermore, the offering from EUSI aims to solidify the Company's position as a hub for EO data in the region, as customers can now acquire Pixxel’s hyperspectral dataset in addition to world-leading optical and SAR imagery, all from a single source.