Entrepreneurship

HEO, formerly known as HEO Robotics, has announced the successful completion of its Series A funding round, securing $12 million AUD in investment. Airtree Ventures, an Australian venture capital firm popular for its strategic investments in high-growth technology companies, led the round. Additional and returning investors include Salus VC, Y Combinator, In-Q-Tel, David Harding and Steve Baxter.

Join us at our next Space Café Israel by Meidad Pariente, - Season 2 - Episode 1, where we have the incredible honor of hosting none other than Uri Oron, the Director General of ISA - the Israel Space Agency! Sky's No Limit: Israel's Trailblazing Odyssey in Space! With a distinguished career spanning over 30 years at the IAF, Uri's vast experience includes serving as the head of the IAF Intelligence Division.

Viasat Inc. has confirmed that its Inmarsat-6 F2 (I6 F2) satellite, which launched on February 18, 2023, has suffered a power subsystem anomaly during its orbit-raising phase. At this stage, Viasat and Airbus, the satellite’s manufacturer, are working to determine the root cause of the anomaly and assess whether the satellite will be able to perform its mission.

Greetings, SpaceWatchers, and welcome to Summer Listening Week Four! Summer is upon us, and as our gaze shifts towards the stars during those warm, clear nights, SpaceWatch.Global brings you its third collection of the Summer Listening Series. Based on the vote by our newsroom, we have mapped out an interstellar journey across five categories. After the Moon, Climate - Space - Earth and Trendsetters, this week is the turn of  “Space Debris and Regulations.”

IDDK and the United Arab Emirates’ Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation in providing space bio-experiment services using One-Chip Microscopic Observation Technology (MID). This partnership aims to offer space bio-experiment services using IDDK’s microscopic observation technology to UAE researchers and scientists and also to spread this service to other countries.

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. has launched a dedicated Electron mission for Capella Space.. The mission demonstrated several significant milestones for Rocket Lab’s reusability program, including an ocean splashdown of the Electron rocket’s first stage and the successful flight of a previously flown Rutherford engine. The mission was also Rocket Lab’s 40th Electron launch since the Company began launches in 2017, further cementing Electron’s position as a competitive commercial small launch vehicle globally.

Mynaric has announced that the Space Development Agency (SDA) has selected it to contribute to an optical ground terminal demonstration. The research and development program’s mission, slated for 2025, is to demonstrate the successful connection between various space-based optical communications terminals (OCTs) and an optical ground station that Mynaric designed. 

Viasat Inc. has announced that Malaysia Airlines, the national carrier of Malaysia, has selected the company to outfit the airline’s new Boeing 737-8 fleet with its wireless In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) system. In the pipeline, as part of its connectivity strategy, Malaysia Airlines will also introduce high-quality internet connectivity on its 737-8 aircraft.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has received information from the United States 18th Space Defense Squadron that it has detected new objects in the vicinity of the VESPA payload adapter. This adapter has remained in orbit following the 2013 launch of a Vega rocket from ESA’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Furthermore, it is a 113 kg, two-meter-diameter, conical upper portion of a payload adapter associated with the VV02 Vega launch that delivered the Proba-V, VNREDSat-1 and ESTCube-1 satellites into Earth orbit.

In this third episode of Space Economy Insights, Kevin O’Connell interviewed Dr. Zolana Joao, Director General of the Angolan National Space Office and Architect of Angola’s Space Strategy.  Dr. Joao has a background in electrical engineering and a doctorate in engineering management from George Washington University, with a focus on productivity and efficiency in large, complex space projects.