Space Economy News

Warpspace has announced that the National Research and Development Agency New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) has accepted its proposal, "Development of a modem and router to realize a multi-protocol platform for optical communications in space,"  for the Japanese "SBIR Program" (one-stop-shop type) for fiscal year 2023.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has, through its Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs (CRSRA) office has announced the modification of operating licenses of multiple commercial satellite systems. These license conditions had previously restricted the operations of commercial satellites, preventing them from offering their full remote sensing capabilities to the public. On July 20, 2020, NOAA implemented new, specific regulations on private remote sensing systems.

In this episode of Space Café Radio, we have an insightful conversation with Dr. Ernst Pfeiffer, the CEO of HPS Group and Chairman of the German Space SME. Our host, Torsten Kriening, publisher at SpaceWatch.Global delves into the current state of the German and European space markets. Moreover, we explore the potential repercussions of the proposed German space budget cuts amounting to 180 million euros, anticipated for confirmation by the government by the end of 2023.

Launch service provider Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA) has raised a €30 million investment from KKR, a global investment firm. The fresh funding is a vote of confidence for RFA as global demand for access to space continues to grow.

Umbra, a space radar technology company, has announced that it has successfully produced a 16-cm resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image. According to the Company, it is the highest-resolution commercial satellite image ever released. The company also announced that it’s now able to provide customers with the highest-quality data its satellites are capable of capturing — in all formats and resolutions, including complex data better than 25 cm, for the first time.

Pale Blue has announced that it received a new contract from Yonsei University in South Korea to provide the Resistojet (0.5U-sized water vapor) propulsion system for a pair of 6U* satellites. The propulsion system will enable a formation flying for a laser crosslink system between the two nanosatellites in LEO and conduct optical communication between the two satellites.

In the twelfth episode (1 year anniversary) of Space Café Israel, Meidad Pariente is in conversation with Ayelet Galili, the CFO at Tehiru Space. I'm very versatile, and I have a wide range of interests. I have a degree in interior design, and I worked in it for a little while. I have completed a radio broadcaster course in Radio Tel Avi (102 FM).

NASA and Axiom Space have signed a mission order for the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS), marking the Houston-based company as the only full-service mission provider to carry out end-to-end commercial astronaut missions to the orbiting laboratory.

The India Space Research Organization (ISRO) has released lunar images from the Chandrayaan-3 mission as the spacecraft successfully completed its Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI). The spacecraft performed the insertion by retro-burning at its closest point to Moon (Perilune) for 1835 seconds, starting at 19:12 Hrs (IST). The maneuver resulted in an orbit of 164 km x 18074 km, as the research organization intended.

Leaf Space SpA (‘Leaf Space’) has announced that it has successfully completed a capital increase for a total of €20 million ($22 million) on top of the availability by the European Investment Bank of a loan for a further €15 million through Venture Debt.​​ ​The round featured lead investors CDP Venture Capital Sgr (through Fondo Evoluzione) and Neva Sgr, alongside SIMEST and Digital Transition Fund – part of the CDP S.p.A. group.