Space

HENSOLDT has partnered with the Fraunhofer Institute for High-Frequency Physics and Radar Technology FHR to transform the technology demonstrator GESTRA (German Experimental Space Surveillance and Tracking Radar) into a series-production ready, operationally deployable system called Custodian. As a result, HENSOLDT has acquired the necessary licenses from the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and concluded a cooperation agreement.

NASA has invited U.S. and Indian space agencies dignitaries and media members to see the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR)’s science payload in a Jet Propulsion Laboratory clean room. The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar is an Earth science satellite that NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) are jointly building. NASA invited the dignitaries to get a look at it before shipping it out to its last stop in Southern India before launching it into orbit. 

NASA has selected veteran astronaut Joe Acaba as chief of the Astronaut Office at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. As a result, Acaba will take the place of NASA astronaut Drew Feustel, who spent two years as deputy chief and has been acting chief of the office since NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman left the post late last year.

In this Space Café Radio - SpaceWatch.Global publisher Torsten Kriening spoke with Carmen Aguilera, Head of Section Operational Market Development at EUSPA - EU Agency for the Space Programme. In this episode, Carmen sits down with Torsten during the EU Space Week 2022 in Prague to talk about the importance and the outcome of the user consultations.

This Space Café WebTalk will feature Michael Gschweitl, Technical Lead at ESA BIC Switzerland, in conversation with Torsten Kriening, publisher of SpaceWatch.Global. “ESA BIC Switzerland: the good, the bad, and.. Space” Michael Gschweitl is the Technical Lead at ESA BIC Switzerland, the Business Incubation Program (BIC) of the European Space Agency (ESA) for Switzerland, which is run by ETH Zurich.

Space BD has announced the deployment of the CubeSat OPTIMAL-1 into space from the Japanese experimental module Kibo on the International Space Station (ISS) at 6 pm (JST) on Friday, January 6, 2023. Space BD provided all support for the deployment of the OPTIMAL-1. However, ArkEdge Space Inc., Pale Blue Inc., Seiren Co., Ltd., the University of Fukui, the School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo, and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation developed the CubeSat.

Spacemind, the space division of the Italian company NPC, has successfully launched three Italian nanosatellites, DanteSat, Futura-SM1, and Futura-SM3, into orbit. The successful launch has also validated the operation of the new SMPod CubeSat deployer, onboard equipment, and a larger version of the Artica deorbiting sail.

Spaceflight Inc. has announced that industry veteran and global business leader Tiphaine Louradour has joined the company as chief executive officer (CEO). She succeeds Curt Blake, a founding executive in the rideshare business who has served as Spaceflight CEO and president since 2013, navigating the development of a global portfolio of launch vehicles and services, including its ground-breaking Sherpa orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) program.

Capitol Momentum, German research and market intelligence company, and UK-based space news outlet European Spaceflight have partnered to release an analysis on micro space launchers in Germany. The report is titled "The Road to the Launchpad: A Comparative Analysis of Germany’s Microlaunchers."

The first Lockheed Martin LM 400, a flexible, mid-sized satellite customizable for military, civil, or commercial users, rolled off the company’s digital factory production line and is advancing toward its planned 2023 launch. The agile LM 400 spacecraft bus design enables one platform to support multiple missions, including remote sensing, communications, imaging, radar, and persistent surveillance.