Entrepreneurship

The International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS) will send its bioastronautics researcher Kellie Gerardi to space on a dedicated research mission with Virgin Galactic, the institute said. “The contract marks the world’s first industry-sponsored, human-tended research spaceflight on a commercial vehicle”.

Axiom Space signed up for three additional private crew missions to the International Space Station (ISS) with SpaceX, the company said. The missions – Ax-2, 3, and 4 – will take place on a SpaceX Dragon until 2023, Axiom said. The landmark agreement between the two companies

The Munich-based New Space startup OroraTech has closed a €5.8 million Series A funding to finance its wildfire and climate crisis observation nanosatellite platform, the company said. OroraTech is “the first NewSpace start-up to provide global wildfire detection and monitoring services”, the company said.

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 24 May – 30 May 2021”. Hello and welcome to another episode of the Dongfang Hour China Aero/Space News Roundup!

The U.S. space agency NASA has requested a $25 billion budget for 2022, the agency said. The budget request for the agency amounts to $24.8 billion, NASA said, $100 million more than requested in April. The largest single item in the budget is for Deep Space Exploration Systems, with $6.88 billion, NASA said.

This Space Café Balkan featured Raycho Raychev, founder and CEO of Endurosat, in conversation with Marko Pajović, friend of SpaceWatch.Global. Is the Balkan an emerging space region? ecently, an increase of space activities in the Balkan region is noticeable and even though there is no real coherence between Balkan countries,

This Space Café Spain featured Carlos Entrena, founder and CEO of Plus Ultra Space Outposts in conversation with Izan Peris, a friend of SpaceWatch.Global and fellow space entrepreneur. Does Spain have a role in the new lunar economy? Space Café Spain held its inaugural episode with Carlos Entrena, a Madrid-based entrepreneur who is building Harmony.

The Luxembourgish startup OQ Technology won a contract from the European Space Agency (ESA) to develop an advanced 5G network configuration over LEO, MEO and GEO satellites, the company said. The project was proposed by ESA under the umbrella of its ARTES program and was looking for an “Agile Network Configuration for 5G Internet-of-Things services over satellite”.

The European Space Agency (ESA) partners with the British Arqit – a leader in the quantum encryption field – to develop its quantum key distribution satellite QKDSat, the agency said. ArQit recently announced that it was merging with Centricus, a global investment firm, in a transaction expected to provide Arqit with up to €330 million in gross proceeds.

Lockheed Martin and General Motors join forces to design the next generation of lunar rovers, the companies said. “The new rovers will be capable of transporting astronauts across farther distances on the lunar surface.” They also "would be designed to survive and even operate in the two-week long night that sees temperatures of down to -280 degrees Fahrenheit".