Space

Satellite servicing and long-term orbital sustainability company Astroscale, announced its new Managing Director effective from today in the person of Nick Shave. Shave will succeed John Auburn. Prior to his appointment, Shave was VP of Strategic Programmes at Inmarsat, and he is the current Chair of UKspace.

Engineering company BlueHalo, has been awarded a US $1.4 billion contract by the Space Rapid Capabilities Office, a direct reporting unit of the U.S. Space Force, BlueHalo said. The award covers the Satellite Communication Augmentation Resource (SCAR) program including full lifecycle development from initial design through full rate production.

In the latest Space Café “Law Breakfast with Steven Freeland”, Host Steven Freeland, Emeritus Professor of International Law at Western Sydney University, Sydney and Professorial Fellow at Bond University, Australia, and Co-Host Torsten Kriening, SpaceWatch.Global’s Publisher, welcomed Ranjana Kaul and Kai-Uwe Schrogl at a wonderful picnic at the India Gate in Delhi, India.

In this week’s Space Café Brazil, Ian Grosner talked with Prof. Dr. Daniel Freire e Almeida and Suyan Cristina Malhadas, direct from the Catholic University of Santos in the city of Santos, São Paulo, Brazil. Prof. Dr. Daniel Freire e Almeida is Professor of International Law, International Relations, Internet Law, and Space Law at Catholic University of Santos - Masters and PHD Program

General Dynamics Mission Systems and global mobile voice and data satellite communications network Iridium Communications, have been awarded a contract by the Space Development Agency (SDA) in the amount of US $324,516,613. This includes a base amount of US $162,954,122 and US $161,562,491 in options,

Global nanosatellite IoT (Internet of Things) network operator Astrocast, has signed an agreement to acquire Hiber, a Netherlands-based IoT-as-a-service provider, Astrocast said. Astrocast will acquire all of Hiber’s shares in exchange for the issuance of new Astrocast shares, representing 16.5% of its share capital.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced progress on collaboration for human and robotic lunar missions while confirming their commitment to include a Japanese astronaut aboard the lunar Gateway outpost as well as part of NASA’s Artemis program to land on the Moon.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has joined the Digital IF Interoperability (DIFI) Consortium to further promote scalability and flexibility across the space industry, AWS said. The company has already been helping customers build and launch satellites, and make use of cloud-powered ground infrastructure.

OneWeb and Astroscale announced that together they will seek to safeguard the satellite economy with new spacecraft technology, ELSA-M, enabled by an investment of €14.8 million. Astroscale’s ELSA-M demonstrator launch is scheduled for the end of 2024, with plans to deliver a debris removal service to satellite operators.

In this Space Café Radio -  SpaceWatch.Global publisher Torsten Kriening spoke with Lynn Zoenen, Principal at Alpine Space Ventures at the 19th ESA Investment Forum 2022 in Berlin on Space Investments in Europe. The ESA Investor Forum is a high-profile event for space-related investment opportunities and connects start-ups and scale-ups from the ESA network with European investors.