Entrepreneurship

Along the sidelines of local and international events, my colleagues and I at the UAE Space Agency meet with a myriad of official delegations and representatives to discuss opportunities for cooperation and the state of the global space sector.

Germany is taking huge steps to foster the national New Space industry. The Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie (BDI – Federation of German Industries) and its Head of Security and Raw Materials, Matthias Wachter, are at the forefront of that process. SpaceWatch.Global’s Torsten Kriening talked with Matthias Wachter about Germany’s role in the global space sector, micro launcher, and spaceports.  

Aerospace firm Ananth Technologies has signed deals to build six foreign-owned satellites in India, a first for a private firm, leveraging the country's low cost base to attract global customers.

Japan is eyeing expanded space cooperation with Malaysia in a bid to deepen diplomatic and economic ties with the Southeast Asian country, and as part of an effort to balance against China's powerful influence through such programmes as its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the region.

Thaicom Public Company Limited has reported progress in its ongoing efforts to migrate customers from Thaicom 5 after the satellite suffered a technical anomaly.

The Indonesian government has appointed a consortium of local companies to operate a broadband telecommunication satellite that will provide comprehensive internet access across the vast archipelago.

Japan's Astroscale Holdings has been selected as the commercial partner for Phase I of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) first debris removal project, a groundbreaking step by Japan to commercialize space debris removal, the company announced 12 February 2020.

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. announced the execution of a Launch Services Agreement with SATLANTIS. Beginning in 2022, SATLANTIS will utilize the Firefly Alpha launch vehicle to deploy a constellation of satellites with breakthrough high-resolution multispectral cameras with four bands of 80 cm native resolution.

Astrobotic Technology Inc. has commended the president’s Fiscal Year 2021 budget request for NASA, which grows funding for the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program within the Lunar Discovery and Exploration Program (LDEP).

By Raphael Roettgen 50 years after humans first landed on the Moon, the space sector seems to be at an inflection point. Here is why: those land and sea landings of SpaceX’s Falcon-9 boosters (first stage rockets) surely never get old to watch, but, importantly, they also mean that a …