Space Economy

SES S.A. ("SES") and Intelsat S.A. ("Intelsat") have announced an agreement for SES to acquire Intelsat through the purchase of 100% of the equity of Intelsat Holdings S.a.r.l. for a cash consideration of $3.1 billion (€2.8 billion) and certain contingent value rights. The combination will create a stronger multi-orbit operator with greater coverage, improved resiliency, an expanded suite of solutions, enhanced resources to profitably invest in innovation, and benefit from the collective talent, expertise, and track record of both companies.

Finnish hyperspectral satellite and AI-powered insights company Kuva Space has won an €1.8 million contract to participate in the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Civil Security from Space (CSS) program to provide advanced hyperspectral situational awareness information for monitoring and mitigating civil security and crisis events. 

Dhruva Space, a full-stack Space Engineering solutions provider based in Hyderabad, India, has announced a successful closure of their Series A funding at INR 123 Crores (USD 14.7 million). The funding will go towards the company’s upcoming spacecraft manufacturing facility, strategic business acquisition plans, and enhancing product offerings to deploy them to the global market.

Warpspace, aiming to realize near real-time optical communication services in space using small satellites, has developed a high-sensitivity acquisition and tracking optical sensor necessary for long-distance optical communications between the Moon and Earth, under contract from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

Primo Space Fund has announced two new deals: Lithium Lasers and Ecosmic, investing about €2,6 million across both deals. This round of investments brings Primo Space Fund’s portfolio to fourteen companies. Lithium Lasers S.r.l., an Italian startup, developed a USPL called FemtoFlash for material processing, biophotonics and non-linear optics applications in several industries, and is particularly useful when dimensional accuracy and tighter tolerances are necessary.

The ClearSpace-1 debris removal mission has undergone a transformative period to achieve a faster execution pace and reviewed mission objectives. After the successful completion of its mission’s first phase, the detection of space debris objects in the vicinity of the mission’s client object, which indicates a collision of the target with untraceable debris, and the need for a change towards a more expedited and cost-effective approach prompted a pivot in the next stage of the ClearSpace-1 mission.

PLD Space has announced that it has attained 120 million euros in funding to date, thus ensuring it can meet its upcoming technological and corporate milestones, culminating in the launch of the MIURA 5 mission at the end of 2025. The Company has received 78 million euros in investment from shareholders who have invested in its technological program and business model. In addition to this sum, there are 42 million euros from the PERTE backed by the Government of Spain for a Spanish space launcher (1.5M€ in July 2023 and 40.5M€ at the end of January 2024).

Ross Hulbert is the head of engagement at Spaceport Cornwall. He spoke with SpaceWatch Global's Torsten Kriening about the setup and the lessons learned from Virgin Orbit's first horizontal space launch from European soil in January 2023. Ross also talked about the next steps for the space ecosystem in Cornwall and its way to becoming the place to launch your spaceplane into orbit.

Astroscale Ltd. ("Astroscale UK"), a subsidiary of Astroscale Holdings Inc, announces the successful completion of the Preliminary Design Review phase with the UK Space Agency (UKSA) for its national Active Debris Removal (ADR) mission, COSMIC (Cleaning Outer Space Mission through Innovative Capture). The Company also recently partnered with Space Trash Signs, an initiative to visualize the consequences of space debris on different aspects of life on Earth – highlighting the imperative need for missions such as COSMIC.

MDA Space has announced it has received a $250 million contract extension from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to continue supporting robotics operations on the International Space Station (ISS) from 2025 to 2030. Furthermore, as part of the contract, MDA Space will now fulfil robotics flight controller duties to support mission operations on the ISS.