ispace, inc. (ispace), along with IF SPV 1st Investment Partnership (managed by Incubate Fund) as the lead investor, Space Frontier Fund (managed by Sparks Innovation for Future, Inc.), Takasago Thermal Engineering Co., Ltd., and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co., Ltd., announced that ispace raised approximately $28 million (USD)[1] from the four organizations for its Series B investment round.

The Australian Government has given the all clear to Japan’s space agency to land its capsule carrying samples from a 4.5 billion year old asteroid in the South Australian outback. 

The report builds on the 2019 industry report which reported the industry is over USD 7 billion of annual revenues and is projected to grow at a 7.3% compound annual growth rate to exceed USD 10 billion by 2024.

The Emirates Mars Mission, EMM, the first interplanetary mission undertaken by an Arab nation, today announced the successful completion of TCM1 – its first trajectory correction manoeuvre and a major milestone for the mission as the Mars Hope probe continues its 7-month journey to Mars.

Designated Flight VA253 in Arianespace’s numbering system, this mission was performed from the Spaceport’s ELA-3 launch zone – with Ariane 5 deploying its three passengers during a sequence lasting 47 minutes from liftoff to final separation. It marked the 253rd launch of an Ariane-series vehicle to date, and the 109th using an Ariane 5.

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.

The United Arab Emirates will launch a navigation satellite next year aimed at demonstrating the country’s technological capabilities, a top official told Emirates News Agency, WAM."The first satellite will be launched in 2021 and the second – a technologically enhanced one – the following year," said Dr. Khaled Al Hashmi, Director of the National Space Science and Technology Centre, NSSTC, in UAE University in Al Ain.

A project office of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, UNOOSA, to be opened in Abu Dhabi later this year, will develop a database of space-based solutions to help achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, according to a top official.

Their Highnesses honoured the team members for their exceptional achievement, which culminated in the successful launch of the Probe as the first-ever Arab interplanetary exploration mission to Mars to coincide with the nation’s 50th anniversary.

The US and Russia just met in Vienna for a Space Security Exchange, a bilateral discussion between two of the world’s biggest space-military powers, to discuss what might be done about growing space security threats.