Space for Earth

The Federal Communication Commission (FCC)’s Enforcement Bureau has announced a settlement of its investigation into DISH for failure to properly deorbit its EchoStar-7 satellite. This marks a first in space debris enforcement by the Commission. The settlement includes an admission of liability from the company and an agreement to adhere to a compliance plan and pay a penalty of $150,000.

NASA has selected SpaceX and its Falcon 9 rocket to provide the launch service for the agency’s TRACERS (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites) mission. The mission comprises a pair of small satellites that will study space weather and how the Sun’s energy affects Earth’s magnetic environment or magnetosphere.

Planetek Italia announced on the 20th of September its latest contract win in Saudi Arabia. It will collaborate with its Saudi partner, Geosystems Middle East (GeosystemsME) to provide monitoring services based on Earth Observation (EO) for afforestation initiatives in the Kingdom. 

In this episode of Space Café Radio, SpaceWatch.Global’s publisher Torsten Kriening, has an insightful conversation with Stewart Bain, Founder and CEO of NorthStar Earth and Space, during Euroconsult's 26th World Satellite Business Week in Paris.

The European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission have signed an agreement on the 21st of September to use space to help keep information secure. 

ASTERRA, a US-based company that uses patented algorithms and AI to detect leaks, assess pipes and locate moisture, announced on the 19th of September that they have discovered their 100,000th leak. 

SATLANTIS, a Space Technology for Earth Observation & Universe Exploration Company, have announced a commercial partnership with Dotphoton, an Earth Observation company known for its Very High-Resolution optical technology and solutions. Dotphoton also brings Jetraw to this collaboration, a state-of-the-art raw image compressor. Furthermore, Jetraw increases onboard data throughput by a factor of 4 and accelerates data transfer from space to ground. This will enable SATLANTIS satellites to collect and transmit raw images at high speed while maintaining the metrological accuracy needed for advanced AI/ML applications.

Spire Global, Inc., a provider of space-based data, analytics, and space services, have announced that Estuaire, a data firm empowering the aviation industry to reduce its environmental impact, selected the company to supply global aviation insights. Furthermore, Spire will provide its detailed aircraft positional data, as well as its Flight-Report, which aggregates hundreds of millions of daily satellite and terrestrial ADS-B positions into an easily accessible one-row-per-flight information enriched with all the flight and aircraft data for post-flight analytics and reporting needs.

GHGSat has completed its Series C1 funding round for a total of US$44 million in equity and debt, which consequently puts the Company's total raised funds to more than US$126 million since its inception in 2011. Equity participants in the funding round included Fonds de solidarité FTQ, BDC Capital, the investment arm of the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), the Government of Québec through Investissement Québec, Climate Investment, and the Japan Energy Fund.