Entrepreneurship

NanoAvionics has received a contract to build two nanosatellites for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) AERO-VISTA mission team at NanoAvionics’ recently-opened manufacturing facility in Columbia, Illinois, USA.

Finnish New Space leader ICEYE is the first in the world to demonstrate interferometric capabilities from synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) satellites under 100kg (220 pounds) in mass.

The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) and Dutch space company Hyperion Technologies have successfully commercialised a key optical component to receive satellite laser links on Earth. The jointly developed Gigabit Detector will benefit operators of optical ground stations worldwide.

More than fifty years after the first Apollo Moon landings, we are witnessing the rise of Lunapolitics, where the Moon’s topography - or ‘Lunography’ - from below its surface through to Cislunar space intersects with Earthly political and economic interests.

Firefly Aerospace, Inc., a leading provider of economical and dependable launch vehicles, spacecraft, and in-space services,  announced on 6 May 2020 that it has secured AS9100 quality certification as it advances from developmental to production phase ahead of the inaugural flight of its Alpha launch vehicle later this year.

ST Engineering iDirect, a company of ST Engineering North America, and its long-term partner, Spacecom, operator of the AMOS satellite fleet, announced the successful demonstration of VSAT return capabilities on AMOS-17.

Astrocast has announced key investments to strengthen the deployment of its advanced and sustainable satellite IoT network. The support validates the market acceptance and the startup's strong path forward.

This week’s Space Café WebTalk took place on 5 May 2020, featuring Frank Salzgeber, Head of Innovation and Ventures Office at the European Space Agency (ESA) - in conversation with Torsten Kriening, co-publisher of SpaceWatch.Global and COO of ThorGroup GmbH.

Inmarsat, the world leader in global, mobile satellite communications, and Cobham SATCOM, has launched a comprehensive new Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) push-to-talk (PTT) solution to connect remote workers using vehicles across the globe.

MDA announced on 4 May 2020 that it has received a contract worth CA$190 million (US$135.3 million) to support robotic operations on the International Space Station (ISS) from 2020 to 2024. MDA has provided Logistics and Sustaining Engineering (L&SE) services to the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and its international partners since the start of the ISS, which this year will celebrate 20 years of continuous habitation by humans.