Space Economy News

SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation has announced its decision to invest 10 billion yen in domestic and international space-related startups and space venture funds. In addition to this investment, SKY Perfect JSAT will collaborate with the acceleration program “AXELA” from the SPACETIDE Foundation. This collaboration aims to combine SKY Perfect JSAT’s accumulated insights and assets with the new technologies of startups, fostering the co-creation of new space businesses for a sustainable future.

Vast, a space habitation technologies company, has announced the appointment of Clay Mowry as its newest Advisor. Mowry’s career spans over two decades in the commercial launch, satellite, and space station sectors. Furthermore, as President of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), Mowry is a globally recognized leader in the space community, within industry and government alike.

Spire Global, Inc. has announced an agreement with HANCOM InSpace (“Hancom”), initially a spin-off by Korea Aerospace Research Institute and now a part of HANCOM Group, for Sejong-2 and Sejong-3, two additional satellites with Spire Space Services. Under this agreement, Spire will build and operate the satellites, expanding the capabilities of HANCOM-1 (Sejong-1). Together, these satellites will form a constellation for Korea’s first three-satellite remote sensing image data service.

Ingersoll Rand Inc. has entered into an agreement to acquire ILC Dover (ILC) from New Mountain Capital, LLC, a growth-oriented investment firm with approximately $50 billion in assets under management. The deal includes an upfront cash purchase price of approximately $2.325 billion and an earnout tied to the achievement of select operating efficiency metrics in 2024. At its maximum payout, the earnout increases the 17x upfront purchase multiple by less than one turn.

The UK Space Agency (UKSA) is opening new headquarters in Harwell, Oxfordshire and regional offices in Scotland, Wales and the Midlands as it works to support the space sector across the UK. Aligned with the UK Government’s Levelling Up strategy, the expansion will enable the Agency to collaborate more closely with the UK’s thriving space sector while promoting regional skills and job opportunities to deliver increasingly ambitious missions and capabilities.

Qosmosys, a company in the field of lunar economy, has signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA) to collaborate on cutting-edge research and development projects in the burgeoning field of the growing lunar economy.

Hanwha Phasor, a UK-based satellite communications company, has announced it will release its land antenna, for mobile communications, the Phasor L3300B, to the market in Q3 of 2024. The Phasor L3300B is an active electronically steered antenna (AESA) which has been developed for commercial and military use.

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. has signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense's (DoD) Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to conduct a trade study on its capabilities to rapidly launch Firefly's Elytra vehicles and support missions beyond Geosynchronous Orbit, referred to as xGEO. Once complete, the trade study will provide the groundwork for up to two Firefly demonstration missions that will advance the DoD's responsive access to xGEO.

Outer space presents myriad concepts for jointly creating inspiration and opportunity as well as challenges. With over 8,000 satellites currently in Earth orbit, reliance on satellite services for communications, imaging, and navigation has become ubiquitous to enhancing the quality of life on Earth. In fact, satellite communication has been deemed a public good since the early 1960s, which has enabled public reliance on space-based telecommunications. Other key satellite applications include weather forecasting, climate monitoring, and navigation support for global transportation.

SWISSto12, a satellite and Radio Frequency product manufacturer, has announced its continued global expansion, securing additional production space at its headquarters in Switzerland, almost doubling the size of its existing site to 5,700m2. In addition, SWISSto12 has welcomed several new Satcom engineering experts to its growing team, which has increased by 25% since the start of 2024 to over 125 employees working across its facilities in Switzerland, Europe and the USA.