Space

The Financial Times Live conference on Investing in Space was held in London on the 8th and 9th of June 2022, a live and digital conference promoted by the Financial Times focused on the financial and private investors opinion on the space industry. Sponsored by ViaSat and BAE Systems among others, and with the support of ESA and the UK Space agency,

Germany-based AI and smart algorithm-driven connectivity provider, NeuralAgent, has signed a cooperative research agreement with Airbus to investigate the use of AI-based algorithms for future communication systems, NeuralAgent said. The company’s software will be suitable for deployment in a variety of applications, including IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) and telecommunications.

Brussels may shut the UK out of the Horizon science programme, the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation, and block the UK’s involvement in the EU’s Copernicus environment monitoring Earth observation programme as part of post-Brexit trading agreements for Northern Ireland. Britain’s participation in the Euratom nuclear research partnership is also likely to change.

In this Space Café Radio, SpaceWatch.Global Event coordinator and Space Café Young Global Talents Host Chiara Moenter spoke with Kian Mirshahi, CEO of Mayday.ai about Mayday, the space ecosystem, and the importance of finding and relearning our balance and harmony with nature.

Nanosatellite manufacturer and operator, GomSpace, has been awarded a contract to deliver two 12-unit CubeSats to the German Space Agency, DLR, GomSpace said. The cubesats will serve as research objects for DLR’s Responsive Space Cluster Competence Center, RSC3, in Trauen, Germany.

General John Hyten (Ret.) has been named as Executive Director for Blue Origin’s foundation, Club for the Future, and as a Strategic Advisor to senior leadership, the company said. General Hyten has decades of experience as a space operations and acquisitions officer. His assignments included leading the Air Force Space Command and the U.S. Strategic Command. 

Software as a service startup, OKAPI: Orbits, has raised €5.5 million in a seed funding round led by San Francisco-based MunichRe Ventures for its software aiming to make space operations safer and more efficient. US firm, Dolby Family Ventures, European VCs Herius Capital and APEX Ventures and investors also participated in the round.

In-orbit mobility solutions provider ThrustMe, has been awarded an ESA GSTP (General Support Technology Programme) contract to develop and qualify its electric propulsion system, NPT30-I2-1.5U. The technology will be integrated with GomSpace’s GOMX-5 satellite. The GOMX-5 mission aims to demonstrate new nanosatellite capabilities for the next generation of low Earth orbit constellations.

Our Space Café WebTalk “33 minutes with Meidad Pariente: Walking amongst giants - challenges of the private space sector in Israel, working in a country with massive defense companies” took place on Tuesday, 7th June. Meidad is an entrepreneur and innovator with more than 25 years of experience in managing technologies. He is the CTO and Co-founder of SPACECIALIST

Nolan Bushnell, Co-Founder and Chief Knowledge Officer of Moxy.io, Founder of Atari, Chuck E. Cheese, and inventor of Pong, announced that he and his Play & Earn video game venture, Moxy.io, have signed a contract with launch service provider Geometric Energy Corporation (GEC) for its upcoming MOXY.IO program to low Earth orbit as part of the Geometric-1