Space

Rwanda and Nigeria have signed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Artemis Accords, becoming the first African nations to join the accords. Nigeria's Minister of Communication, Professor Ali Isa Pantami, and Rwanda's Space Agency CEO, Col Francis Ngabo, signed the agreement on behalf of their countries. The signatures took place under the sidelines of the US-Africa Space Forum on the sideline of the US-Africa Leaders' Summit in Washington DC, United States

French space antenna equipment manufacturer, Anywaves, has raised €3 million in funding which will allow the company to reach industrial maturity, Anywaves said. The company had previously raised €1.5 million in an initial financing round in 2019.

Space application technologies provider Hypernova, will validate its plasma electric propulsion system in orbit, aboard space data services provider, EnduroSat’s Platform-2, EnduroSat said. The launch is scheduled for 27th December on SpaceX's Falcon 9 Transporter-6 mission. 

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has approved a resolution to halt one type of anti-satellite (ASAT) testing, a largely symbolic move intended to support broader space sustainability initiatives. The U.N. General Assembly approved the resolution, which the United States and several other nations introduced, on December 7, among other resolutions on arms control and related topics, with little discussion or debate. A total of 155 nations voted in favor of the resolution, with 9 voting against it and 9 others abstaining.

South Korean rocket startup Innospace is planning to launch its suborbital technology demonstration rocket, HANBIT-TLV, later this month. The launch will validate the company's hybrid rocket engine that uses liquid oxygen and paraffin-based propellants. While the company set December 14-21 as a launch window at the Alcântara Space Center in northern Brazil, the company said the exact date and time will be decided after consultations with the Brazilian air force.

NASA has signed the US $3.2-billion SLS Stages Production and Evolution Contract with Boeing for the manufacture of the core and upper stages of future Space Launch System (SLS) rockets for the Artemis missions going to the Moon and beyond, NASA said.

Online fashion retailer Yusaku Maezawa, the Japanese billionaire who purchased all the seats aboard SpaceX’s Starship, has picked eight crew members to accompany him on the journey. for the first-ever artist-centered mission.

The UAE-built Rashid Rover, the first Emirati mission to the surface of the Moon, lifted off on board a Space X Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, US, at 11.38 am UAE time on Monday, December 11, 2022. 

Our Space Café “33 minutes with Joel Spark” took place on Tuesday, 6th December at Spire Glasgow. Joel is an ISU (international Space University) alumnus and the Co-Founder of Spire. He is currently the company’s Chief Satellite Architect and General Manager of Space Services - more on that later. He holds a Master’s degree in Space Management from the ISU and a Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from Carleton University, specializing in structures, systems, and vehicle design.

Global lunar exploration company, ispace’s HAKUTO-R Mission 1 lunar lander has successfully established communications with Earth following its launch by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket yesterday, the HAKUTO-R Mission Control Center in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, confirmed.