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The United States Department of State has released the first-ever Strategic Framework for Space Diplomacy to advance U.S. global space leadership. Through this Framework, the Department will expand international cooperation on mutually beneficial space activities, including through the Artemis Accords and commitments against destructive anti-satellite missile tests. Furthermore, the Department will encourage responsible behaviour, strengthen understanding and support for U.S. national space policies, and promote international use of U.S. space capabilities.

In this  Space Café Radio - SpaceWatch.Global publisher Torsten Kriening spoke with Kristina Nikolaus, CEO & Co-Founder at OKAPI:Orbits,  at the 14TH IAA SYMPOSIUM ON SMALL SATELLITES FOR EARTH SYSTEM OBSERVATION, organized by the German Aerospace Center, Institute for Solar-Terrestrial Physics, TU Berlin and Berlin Partners in May 2023 in Berlin.

China launched three astronauts to its Tiangong space station on Tuesday, putting a civilian into orbit for the first time as it pursues plans to send a crewed mission to the Moon by the end of the decade, according to Times of India. 

Satellite Vu, the UK climate tech company, has announced its Series A2 of £12.7m, bringing its total investment to £30.5m in Venture Capital funding. The funding will help the Company accelerate its mission to provide sustainable solutions to global issues. Molten Ventures led the round, with participation from Seraphim Space Investment Trust PLC, A/O Proptech, Lockheed Martin, Ridgeline Ventures, Earth Sciences Foundation, and Stellar Ventures - all existing investors.

The European Council has adopted conclusions on the ‘Fair and sustainable use of space’, which includes a call for a European approach to space traffic management at a time when orbits are increasingly congested with space objects.

Copernicus Space Corporation has announced that Andrew Rush has joined the Company as its President and Chief Executive Officer. The Company leverages deep knowledge of astrophysics, space systems engineering, and synthetic biology to pioneer a unique space technology platform for distributed, intelligent in situ Swarm Exploration™. 

OneWeb and Arctic Space Technologies have announced a leap forward in the construction of the OneWeb Satellite Network Portal (SNP), a hyperscale satellite ground station installation at the Arctic Space Technologies’ Space Center in Piteå. The companies signed a bilateral agreement in December of 2022 and have now finalized the detailed design work as well as obtained all approvals for the construction of the SNP. As a result,  the agreement will see the installation and operationalization of 27 satellite tracking antennas by Q3 2023.

The European Space Agency (ESA) and ICEYE have signed a letter of intent to empower entrepreneurship and encourage the development of commercially viable and sustainability-minded space solutions. The collaboration falls under the ESA Partnership Initiative for Commercialization (EPIC) and targets companies which the ESA Business Incubation Centers (ESA BICs), ESA Technology Brokers and ESA Φ-labNET support. 

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. has successfully completed the second of two dedicated Electron launches to deploy a constellation of tropical cyclone monitoring satellites for NASA. The "Coming To A Storm Near You" launch lifted-off on May 26 at 15:46 NZST (03:46 UTC) from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula, deploying the final two CubeSats of NASA’s TROPICS constellation to orbit.

Arabsat has launched its Airbus-built Badr-8 telecommunications satellite from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Based on Airbus’ latest geostationary Eurostar Neo satellite, Badr-8 will provide connectivity for users across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia.