Entrepreneurship

Astra Space’s first orbital launch with operational payloads failed to deliver four satellites to orbit due to an issue after main engine cut off. The company said they would provide an update after reviewing data working closely with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. Previously, the mission was scrubbed twice within a five-day period due to a radar system, and then a telemetry issue.

In this Space Café Radio – on tour in Brussels at the 14th European Space Conference in the Egmont Palace, SpaceWatch.Global Event coordinator and Space Cafe Benelux Host Chiara Moenter spoke with Nadine Smolka, Mission Manager at Exolaunch about her way into the space industry and the experience of being part of a real SpaceX launch.

During this week’s Space Café, SpaceWatch.Global Publisher Torsten Kriening got the opportunity to speak with Dr Nanja Strecker, an experienced innovation expert and Managing Director of the European Space Agency's Business Incubation Centres Switzerland (ESA BIC CH), a start-​up support program operated by the globally renowned research university, ETH Zürich.

Dawn Aerospace announced it is providing satellite propulsion systems to hyperspectral Earth imaging company Pixxel, who is building a health monitor for the planet through a constellation of hyperspectral imaging small satellites. The constellation will provide productivity and environmental data and will benefit industries such as agriculture, resources, energy, and sustainability.

Up to 40 of the 49 Starlink satellites launched last Thursday will re-enter, or have already done so, due to a geomagnetic storm, SpaceX reported. A coronal mass ejection hit Earth’s magnetic field two days before launch but the weak impact did not trigger remarkable geomagnetic activity.

Rotoiti interviewed several professionals working in various segments of the space industry. This brief summarizes their views on major reputational issues that are specific to the space industry. In the space industry, as in any industry, there is a unique set of issues that tends to play an outstanding role in affecting market actors’ reputations.

Technology multinational GMV announced it has been awarded a new contract by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), for the provision of operational optical data services to support the flight dynamics operations of its fleet of Meteosat satellites. The nominal duration of the contract is 3 years with 2 optional yearly extensions.

E-Space announced it has closed the “largest seed funding round in space technology history” with a $50 million investment led by Prime Movers Lab. E-Space, the startup behind Rwanda’s filing for a constellation of 300,000 satellites is Greg Wyler’s latest space venture. He also founded O3b Networks and OneWeb previously.

In August 2021 Canada registered over 7,500 wildfires, burning more than 2.5 million hectares of forest. This is projected to double by 2050 due to climate change. Fire management agencies in this country invest between $800 million to $1.4 billion annually to prevent wildfires.

Thales Alenia Space announced that it has been awarded a contract by the French Space Agency CNES to develop a Dual Frequency Multi Constellations (DFMC) SBAS prototype. The project is part of the next generation of SBAS (satellite-based augmentation system), just like EGNOS, the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service satellite system.