Space

SA will discontinue cooperative activities with Russia on Luna-25, -26 and -27 as per the ESA Council’s decision following a comprehensive review of all activities undertaken in cooperation with Russia and Ukraine. The sanctions in place due to the Russian aggression against Ukraine force the agency to end the planned lunar cooperation.

ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher inaugurated ESA’s new Space Safety Centre at the Agency’s ESOC mission control centre, in Darmstadt, Germany. The Centre is a hub for activities protecting our planet from space weather events, asteroids and defunct satellites.

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) extended their cooperation by adopting the 'Inter Agency Arrangement for Strategic Partnership,’ an extended framework agreement, DLR said. The goal is to promote cooperation between the two countries’ aerospace industries.

Join Tomas Hrozensky, researcher at European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) and our host Judith Delany for this edition of Space Cafè Austria for a conversation about Austria’s role and engagement at UN COPUOS. Trends in European Space policy and the role of smaller space nations. Tomas Hrozensky has been a Researcher at ESPI since July 2018.

Space4Impact, EPFL’s Space Center eSpace, E2MC Ventures, and Space Innovation joined forces to launch an online course on the New Space Economy. The program is available on edX as a free EPFLx course. Learners can watch more than 30 video lectures by space experts from various domains within startups, academia, the private sector, and public institutions in Switzerland.

South Korea signed a contract with SpaceX to launch five of its spy satellites by 2025, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) confirmed. The first launch will take place by the end of 2023 onboard of a Falcon 9 rocket, delivering an 800-kg electro-optical infrared satellite to low Earth orbit.

The US-based International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Portuguese institutions focused on STEM research and space education, IIAS announced. The institutes include the Portugal Space Agency, Institute for Systems and Computer Engineering, Technology, and Science

SpaceWatch.Global is pleased to present the 52nd episode in our podcast series The Space Cafe Podcast #052: René Laufer, a life between science and fiction. Rene Laufer is Professor and Head of the Space Systems Group, Chair at the Luleå University of Technology in Kiruna, North Sweden and is a respected expert on all matters relating to small satellites and lunar exploration. 

German thermal remote sensing specialist constellr, has acquired Belgian hyperspectral firm ScanWorld, in a first for Europe’s emerging agricultural Earth Observation sector, constellr announced. The merger will allow for actionable full-spectrum monitoring of water, carbon, energy and crop health. 

France-based space company Exotrail, released its new in-space mobility service SpaceVan, a unique Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV). The debut mission will launch onboard a Falcon 9 launch vehicle in October 2023. Exotrail is planning at least three subsequent missions throughout 2024 using different launch providers.