Entrepreneurship

German-based risk and disaster intelligence company Mayday.ai, and Airbus have entered into a strategic partnership to enhance risk and disaster intelligence. Airbus’ data will power Mayday.ai’s next-generation platform supporting decision-makers in protecting lives, property and the environment.

Norwegian Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace has placed an order for three microsatellites with Lithuanian mission integrator NanoAvionics for a space-based maritime surveillance mission covering the North Sea area, Kongsberg said. The satellites will be based on NanoAvionics’s MP42 microsatellite bus.

Australian in-space transportation and  logistics startup Space Machines Company (SMC), announced it has secured SpaceX as a launch provider to carry its Optimus Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV) to space as part of its April 2023 rideshare mission. The mission will demonstrate the 270-kg Optimus OTV’s in-space logistics services and reinforce SMC’s role as a last-mile delivery services provider. 

This Space Café Young Global Talents will feature Rolf Densing, ESA Director of Operations and Head of the European Operations Centre in Darmstadt, in conversation with Chiara Moenter, event coordinator and moderator at SpaceWatch.Global and Frederik Wissner, representative of ELSA Frankfurt am Main, Germany. ELSA is the renowned European Law Students Association.

The IAF Global Conference on Space for Emerging Countries (GLEC) 2022 kicked off yesterday focusing on emerging space countries. IAF General Counsel and Full Professor of International Law at the Sapienza University of Rome, Sergio Marchisio, started with a space policy and law masterclass.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted Huntsville International Airport (HSV) a commercial space vehicle reentry license, the airport said. HSV, located in North Alabama, is the first commercial airport in the U.S. to be approved as a reentry site for a space vehicle landing.

Launch vehicle company Astra, revealed its new launch vehicle suitable for heavier payloads and more frequent launches. Rocket 4.0 is part of the company’s Launch System 2.0. The launch vehicle will be able to carry up to 300 kg into low Earth orbit at a base price of US $3.95 million.

Commercial space company Axiom Space, celebrated groundbreaking at the company’s new headquarters at Ellington Airport, the site of the Houston Spaceport in Space City. Axiom Space will construct a campus of offices, astronaut training, and mission control facilities, engineering development and testing labs, as well as a production facility.

Australian commercial space launch provider Southern Launch, announced it has opened its new headquarters following the expansion of its space launch services and applied space engineering consultancy operations in the country. The facilities in Hindmarsh, South Australia, include a warehouse for space vehicles preparing to launch as well as office space.

German Rivada Space Networks, a new company launching a constellation of 600 low-Earth-orbit communication satellites, announced a pledge of US $112 million toward creating an Open Access Platform for the ITU Partner2Connect Digital Coalition to help bridge the digital divide.