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It is day one of the 14th IAA Symposium on Small Satellites for Earth System Observation. The conference is organised by DLR’s Institute for Solar-Terrestrial Physics, TU Berlin together with Berlin Partners. What can we expect today? Opening sessions with our German Aerospace Coordinator Dr Anna Christmann and Berlins local politicians. We will hear a keynote of Kristina Nikolaus, CEO of Okapi orbits. On the academic presentations we can expect three sessions on Programmatics, infrared missions and Space Situational Awareness followed by a panel on Future of launch opportunities for small satellites.

Rocket Lab has launched its 'Rocket Like A Hurricane,' the first of two dedicated Electron launches to deploy the TROPICS constellation for NASA. The launch took place from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 Pad A on New Zealand's Mahia Peninsula on May 8, deploying two of the four CubeSats that comprise the TROPICS constellation. 

Welcome at the 14th IAA Symposium on Small Satellites for Earth System Observation here at the Ludwig Erhard House in Berlin. The conference is hosted by DLR’s Institute for Solar-Terrestrial Physics in Neustrelitz and the Technical University of Berlin. Shoutout to Prof Eberhard Gill, Dr Matthias Hetscher and Prof Enrico Stoll for Chairing the next days. Authors from more than 35 countries, representing space agencies, industries, knowledge institutes and academia, confirmed their oral presentations and poster sessions. Also politics show their continuous interest and support of the event.

Our Space Café “33 minutes with Dr Gilles Rabin – French-German Space: Of course, I still love you” took place on Tuesday, 28th March. Gilles is a distinguished economist and space advisor, currently serving at the French Embassy in Berlin. With an impressive career spanning over two decades, he has held key positions in urban planning, economic development, and innovation. His journey began at Bipe Conseil, followed by leadership roles in various urban communities including Nancy, Essone, Greater Lyon, and Nice Metropolis.  Gilles's expertise has been pivotal in advising ministers on decentralisation, SMEs, startups, and research. His tenure as Director of Innovation, Applications, and Science at CNES has further solidified his standing in the space sector.

Orbex has announced that construction has begun at Sutherland Spaceport (formerly known as Space Hub Sutherland) in Scotland, making this the first vertical launch spaceport to be on the UK mainland.

ThrustMe and Turion Space have announced the selection of ThrustMe’s iodine electric propulsion system for their DROID.002 spacecraft. The American sustainable spacecraft company will integrate several NPT30-I2-1.5U thrusters to enable maneuverability for orbit raising and end-of-life disposal to its innovative space-debris observation and characterization mission. 

Acoustic Research Systems (ARS) has officially launched its European operation in Potsdam, Germany, with the arrival of its brand-new inventory.

The objective of Eurisy is to bridge space and society, and even though it is primarily an EU organisation, there is a lot of space technology and data from Europe that is available to anyone in the world. Remco Timmermans spoke with Eurisy's Secretary Ggeneral Annalisa Donati about the value her organisation can bring to emerging space nations like Maldives. #SINC2023

Remco Timmermans had the unique opportunity to have an informal chat with Dr. S. Pete Worden of the Breakthrough Initiatives. Breakthrough is one of the key supporters and sponsors of the Space for Island Nations Conference 2023 I asked him about two things that are important to emerging space nations and that were key points in the conference: 1) As a space policy advisor to the Luxembourg government, Dr. Worden shared a list of five key elements of a national space policy. These elements, adjusted to the specific national situation of a country, form the basis for a new national space ecosystem, like for island nations. 2) As a director of the Breakthrough Initiatives, which is all about the future exploration of very deep space, I asked him how students and really anyone interested in emerging and small space nations can benefit from these highly inspirational projects.

In this  Space Café Radio - SpaceWatch.Global Editor-in-Chief Dr Emma Gatti spoke with Dr Walther Pelzer, Member of the Executive Board of DLR and Director General of the German Space Agency at DLR during the 38th Space Symposium in Colorado Springs from 17th-20th April 2023, about the successful launch of JUICE, the new challenges for space in Europe, New Space and the current political environment Europe is operating