Entrepreneurship

Australian New Space satellite communications company Fleet Space Technologies has selected U.S. commercial satellite launch company Rocket Lab to launch two Proxima small satellites from Rocket Lab's New Zealand launch complex in November 2018.

The world's first space security token was announced on 29 October 2018 at the Zurich Crypto Summit, by SpaceFund Inc., a Texas-based venture capital firm focused on using new blockchain technology to fund 'frontier enabling' space startups.

A Chinese Long March 2C satellite launch vehicle successfully took off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Northwest China on Monday, 29 October 2018, lofting the China-France Oceanography Satellite (CFOSAT) as its primary payload as well as four Cubesats for Chinese New Space satellite manufacturer Spacety.

Satellite Vu has taken the title of Best International Start-Up at the Supernova Challenge, part of the Future Stars event held during GITEX in Dubai last week. Satellite Vu, was invited to attend by the UAE’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) as part of its Innovation Challenge.

Chinese New Space launch company LandSpace suffered a failure of the third stage of its Zhuque-1 satellite launch vehicle Saturday, 27 October 2018, as it attempted to become the first Chinese private launch company to reach orbit, according to Andrew Jones in Space News.

New Zealand startup ZENNO Astronautics, a satellite propulsion and software company founded by three students at the University of Auckland, has won a NZ$25,000 (U.S.$16,240) share of a NZ$100,000 (U.S.$64,950) total prize fund of the university’s 2018 Velocity Challenge.

Spacety, a Chinese small satellite startup, is set to launch four CubeSats for a range of clients on a Long March 2C launch vehicle on Monday, 29 October 2018, according to GBTimes’Andrew Jones.

The UK’s Goonhilly Earth Station has opened an office in Farnborough, UK, as part of its expansion plans to offer consultancy, design, engineering, and small-scale manufacturing services to the global space and satellite sector.

The Japanese New Space sector has never had it so good, though no one denies that there is much more to do. Investments are up, a robust ecosystem is emerging, and the Japanese government and large trading houses are now supportive of the sector: significant progress when compared to just a few years ago, according to a special report in the Financial Times.

Sky and Space Global (SAS), the New Space narrowband satellite communications company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), has announced that its Pearl nanosatellite has passed a Critical Design Review (CDR) and is now ready for construction and integration.