Entrepreneurship

Relativity, the world’s first autonomous rocket factory and launch services leader for satellite constellations, announced on 23 April 2019 a partnership with mu Space, the innovative Thai satellite and space technology company, to launch a satellite to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) on Relativity’s Terran 1 rocket, the world’s first and only 3D printed rocket.

ÅAC Microtec AB's subsidiary, Clyde Space, announced on 9 April 2019 that it has partnered with ORBCOMM Inc., a global provider of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, to provide two next-generation Automatic Identification System (AIS) microsatellites that will enhance ORBCOMM's industry-leading satellite AIS service offering.

Following the successful completion of payload and bus integration, Boeing will begin antenna range testing and core testing of the Kacific1 satellite. The satellite is on track to begin service delivery later this year.

Infostellar together with Innovative Solutions in Space (ISIS) and Teledyne Paradise Datacom make StellarStation compatible with widely used ground station hardware options supporting time and cost sharing thus empowering New Space startups.

Twenty years after its creation, board members of French industrial group Nexeya have agreed to spin-off its space and satellite business in the third quarter of 2019 and name it Hemeria, according to a press release dated 12 April 2019.

Italian New Space company Leaf Space, a specialist in ground station solutions for small satellite constellations operated by companies such as Switzerland's Astrocast and Australia's Fleet, is looking to triple the number of ground station locations it operates from four (in Europe) to twelve around the globe, and is about to undertake a capital raising campaign to do so.

Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund Mubadala is set to create a start-up ecosystem in Abu Dhabi that will attract New Space and other emerging technology companies to the Gulf Arab state.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence gave a remarkable “Kennedy” style speech on 26 March 2019 in Huntsville, Alabama, where he stated that the United States will put Americans on the Moon again - in as soon as five years. China demonstrated, with Chang'e 4, their capability to land on the far side of the Moon. Israeli NGO SpaceIL’s Beresheet spacecraft, though ultimately unsuccessful in its soft landing, did reach the Moon’s surface on 11 April 2019. This has all happened without Europe. SpaceWatch.Global Chairman, Dr. John B. Sheldon, shares his thoughts on Europe's ability to carry out Moonshots in the 21st century.

"If at first you don’t succeed, you try again," said newly reelected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when the Beresheet (Hebrew for Genesis) lunar lander failed to make a soft landing on the Moon's surface on 11 April 2019.

On May 21st and 22nd, space and digital experts will share their knowledge and discuss the latest trends during the next edition of Space Forum. Organised in parallel with ICT Spring, a global tech conference, Space Forum will take place at the European Convention Center, Luxembourg, at the very heart of Europe. The organizers have announced an impressive list of international speakers, companies and innovative startups, who will participate in the event.