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For some time, lasers could only be used to measure the distance to space debris during the few twilight hours in which the ‘laser ranging’ station on Earth is in darkness, but debris objects high above are still bathing in the last of the Sun’s rays.

The International Astronautical Federation’s annual event, the International Astronautical Congress (IAC), has been at the centre of innovation for the space community for 70 years. As such the annual event plays an important role to allow space professionals and the young generation to disseminate their research and develop collaborations.

Fixed to a special device, simulating zero gravity conditions, the 12.3 metre wide and 860 kg SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) radar antenna of the Copernicus Sentinel-1C satellite has successfully spread its wings at the Airbus Integrated Technology Centre in Friedrichshafen (Germany) for the first time.

Established in 2017 as part of the implementation of the SpaceResources.lu initiative strategy, the core function of the Advisory Board on Space Resources is to support the government on topics related to the exploration and use of resources available in space. Facilitated and managed by the Luxembourg Space Agency, this advisory body comprises renowned international experts in the space industry.

by Nelly-Helen Neji Ebruka As often said, when men reached for the stars, lawyers reached for their books. After Yuri Gagarin’s historic space flight in 1957, the international community through the United Nations deemed it pertinent to agree on certain principles and rules to regulate outer space affairs. Space exploration undoubtedly brought new ideas in the development of various fields like science, medicine, media and communications, etc. and of course legal lacuna had to be filled.

On Aug. 11, the mission will perform its “Matchpoint” rehearsal – the second practice run of the Touch-and-Go (TAG) sample collection event. The rehearsal will be similar to the Apr. 14 “Checkpoint” rehearsal, which practiced the first two maneuvers of the descent, but this time the spacecraft will add a third maneuver, called the Matchpoint burn, and fly even closer to sample site Nightingale – reaching an altitude of approximately 131 ft (40 m) – before backing away from the asteroid.

Myriota, the world leader in low-cost and long battery life satellite connectivity for the Internet of Things (IoT), has announced a new partnership with Future Fleet International, an Australian telematics provider that delivers advanced fleet management solutions.

Isotropic Systems, a leading developer of transformational broadband terminal technologies, today announced it has appointed antenna development veteran and former Phasor CTO John-Paul (JP) Szczepanik as Senior Vice President of Engineering to spearhead the engineering development of the company’s multi-beam terminal leading to commercial launch in government, aero, maritime and telco markets.

Momentus , provider of in-space transportation services for satellites, and Astrogate Labs, a space technology startup from Bengaluru, developing optical communication terminals and a ground network for smallsats, announced a launch service agreement for a 3U satellite to Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), to be launched in December 2021 on the second Vigoride commercial mission, as well as a 6U option.

The name of the satellite mission speaks for itself: EnMAP, short for “Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program”, is intended to produce extended and in-depth findings about the state of and changes in ecological systems on land and water using new types of global data sets.