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OneWeb confirmed the successful deployment of 36 satellites launched by ISRO and NewSpace India (NSIL), from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC- SHAR) in Sriharikota, India, OneWeb said. This is the first ever commercial launch of LVM3 with a heavy payload to low Earth orbit (LEO).

In this Space Café Radio - SpaceWatch.Global publisher Torsten Kriening spoke with  Rodrigo da Costa, Executive Director at EUSPA - EU Agency for the Space Program, he previously worked at the agency as the Galileo Services Program Manager. In this episode, Rodrigo sits down with Torsten during the EU Space Week 2022 in Prague to talk about his impressions of the EU Space Week and the role of EUSPA. This includes the growth of participation in the conference as well as strategies to help the EU space sector evolve. The biggest take away is the push to prioritize the "user" and make them the focus of space activities moving forward. Tune in to hear more!

Firefly Aerospace, a launch, spacecraft, and in-space services company, has announced the addition of Chris Emerson, a seasoned industry leader with decades of aerospace expertise, to the Company’s Board of Directors, effective immediately

The US Space Command (Spacecom) tracks over 47,000 objects in space currently, which responsibility is planned to be transferred to the Department of Commerce, the US Department of Defence said. The transfer of responsibility will allow Spacecom to focus on what is happening in Earth’s orbits.

On-orbit servicing provider Astroscale, has contracted RHEATECH, part of engineering and solutions company RHEA Group, to provide the mission control system and operations automation for its End-of-Life Services by Astroscale Multiple Client (ELSA-M) servicer, the companies said. The partnership builds on the duo previous collaboration on the ELSA-d (ELSA-demonstrator) debris removal spacecraft. 

The first Omani satellite, Aman, has been successfully integrated with Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket, awaiting to be deployed into low Earth orbit, by Virgin from Newquay, Cornwall, UK. LauncherOne is already on the launch site, awaiting its launch license from the British government. This will be the first launch from UK soil and the first international launch for Virgin.

Our Space Café WebTalk “33 minutes with Paul Liias - Why should you go to Tallinn, Estonia in October?” Took place on Tuesday, 18th October. Paul is Head of Space Policy at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communication. He created the Estonian Space Policy and Program 2020-2027 and he is currently working on Estonian national space legislation and a decentralized e-government solution for Space Traffic Management.

The space sector has completely changed in the past few years. France is now the driving force behind the European space sector (albeit more for its purposes rather than for shared European goals), and Germany, apparently distracted by national rearmament, is still determined to defend its ambitions, so as not to completely leave the ground to Paris. In the face of all this, what is Italy’s position? Further apart, it appears.

The European Space Agency-built (ESA) Ariane 6 heavy-lift launch system’s inaugural flight is only to be expected by Q4 2023 instead of the original plan of early 2023, ESA said. Josef Aschbacher, ESA’s Director General stressed however, that this was merely a planned date, which might have to be amended. Several key milestones will have to be achieved is a timely manner, for it to become reality, he added.

Space-powered Radio Frequency Reconnaissance Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) and Mission-as-a-Service (MaaS) provider Kleos Space, has been awarded a contract from the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) as part of the Strategic Commercial Enhancements Broad Agency Announcement (SCE BAA) Framework, Kleos said.