Entrepreneurship

On May 17, Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko visited the new R&D center of the private aerospace company Firefly Aerospace in the city of Dnipro (Ukraine). The President was met by Maxim Polyakov, founder of Firefly Aerospace. Maxim Polyakov, an American entrepreneur of Ukrainian origin, bought out the bankrupt company Firefly …

Italy’s largest private satellite manufacturer, SITAEL, is set to open its Australian headquarters on 1 July 2018 outside of Adelaide, South Australia, further cementing SA’s position as Australia’s premier New Space hub. SITAEL plans to develop satellites and payloads from 50kg up to 300kg, space missions, and a range of other space …

NewSpace company, Satellite Vu, has scooped first prize in the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Ocean x Space competition. During the 8th edition of ESA’s annual Business Applications Conference, held in Stavanger, Norway, from 22-24 May 2018, the organisation brought together companies, users, experts, entrepreneurs, and investors to foster partnerships and …

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted U.S.-Singaporean New Space company Audacy a licence for the first commercial inter-satellite relay network, and the implications of this are transformational for space communications as LEO operators, for the first time, can be in constant contact with their satellites. As satellites move …

On 23 June 2018, Rocket Lab’s launch window for the ‘It’s Business Time’ mission will open. During this 14-day window, the company will launch its groundbreaking Electron rocket and will transform access to space for the small satellite market. The Electron will build up its launch frequency over the coming months …

SatSure Analytics, the Bengaluru-headquartered New Space company that is one of the leading satellite data analytics companies in India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Antrix Corporation – the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The MoU is intended to increase the penetration of …

U.S.-based New Space launch provider Firefly has announced that it has signed a Launch Services Agreement (LSA) with the UK small satellite manufacturer Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) to launch six satellites between 2020 and 2022. The announcement comes as Firefly is on course to conduct the maiden launch of …

Luxembourg-based Kleos Space, a private satellite intelligence-gathering space technology operator that will launch and operate its first earth observation satellite system by mid-2019, is completing the administrative details in order to be ready for its impending listing on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) with the change of its legal name. …

Gilmour Space Technologies, the Australian and Singaporean New Space commercial launch company, conducted its second static test-firing of its proprietary hybrid rocket engine on 28 May 2018, the company announced. “This was a 12-second static fire of what will be our first-stage orbital rocket engine. It demonstrated stable thrust, and peaked at 75 kilonewtons (or 16,900 pounds) of …

Japanese New Space startup, PD Aerospace, has successfully raised U.S.$4.78 million in funding from five investors that include ANA Holdings, parent company of Japanese airline All Nippon Airlines (ANA), and H.I.S., one of Japan’s largest travel agencies. PD Aerospace is developing an unmanned spaceplane that will be the precursor to …