Entrepreneurship

Rocket Lab will supply three Photon spacecraft to Varda Space Industries to integrate them into Varda´s zero-gravity manufacturing platform and return high-end products produced in space to Earth. Varda’s space-manufactured products target markets such as fibre optic cables, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals.

Arianespace is planning to launch the optical observation satellite Pléiades Neo 4 and four other passengers on a Vega rocket on 16 August, the company said. Pléiades Neo 4 is the second very high-resolution satellite part of the new Airbus Defence and Space’s Earth Observation constellation.

The lunar cargo startup Intuitive Machines will launch its third Moon mission (IM-3) on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and continues "to build a cislunar economy”, the company said. “By expanding on Intuitive Machines’ capability developed through NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, we can offer an annual launch cadence,” Intuitive Machines said.

The private equity firm AE Industrial Partners (AEI) partners with Boeing to manage and increase its HorizonX venture capital fund. The partnership will focus on early-stage minority equity investments in "businesses that will transform the future of space, mobility, industrial tech, connectivity and digital solutions with an emphasis on sustainability", AEI said.

More than ever before, the promise and potential in space is available to those with the ambition to reach for it. Nowhere is this story more exciting and compelling than in Africa. Considering the goals and priorities detailed in the African Union’s (AU) Agenda 2063, the socio-economic and professional development many African nations seek can be facilitated and accelerated by space activities.

SpaceX has acquired the low-cost nano-satellite startup Swarm Technologies, filings to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) showed. Swarm Technologies operates “the world´s lowest cost two-way satellite communications network”, as the company says, with sandwich-sized satellites and “out-of-the-box” satellite kits and modems.

As part of the partnership between SpaceWatch.Global and Orbital Gateway Consulting we have been granted permission to publish selected articles and texts. We are pleased to present “Dongfang Hour China Aerospace News Roundup 2 - 8 August 2021”. Hello and welcome to another episode of the Dongfang Hour China Aero/Space News Roundup! A special shout-out to our friends at SpaceWatch.Global

The space-based data and analytics provider Spire Global will provide radio occultation satellite data to Eumetsat, the company said. Eumetsat, the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites – is a satellite agency which gathers, and gives access to, accurate and reliable satellite data on weather, climate, and the environment.

A rocket boost for the stock: The launch startup Astra Space announced its first commercial orbital launch for the United States Space Force for the end of August and the stock of the Nasdaq-listed company rose by nearly 25% yesterday. Space Force contracted the launch through the Defense Innovation Unit’s Other Transaction Agreement with Astra

After a much-deserved summer break, during this week’s Space Café, SpaceWatch.Global publisher, Torsten Kriening caught up with Chief Executive of Singapore Space & Technology and “this century’s role model for space”, Lynette Tan to talk about Singapore’s role in space and her company’s commercial vision.