Space

Germany is taking huge steps to foster a national New Space industry. The Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie (BDI – Federation of German Industries) and its Head of Security and Raw Materials, Matthias Wachter, are at the forefront of that process. SpaceWatch.Global’s Torsten Kriening talked with Matthias Wachter about Germany’s role …

Aerospace firm Ananth Technologies has signed deals to build six foreign-owned satellites in India, a first for a private firm, leveraging the country’s low cost base to attract global customers. The Hyderabad-based Ananth, a supplier of systems for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) satellites, is opening a full-fledged satellite …

Arianespace will orbit two telecommunications satellites for its third mission of 2020, using an Ariane 5 launch vehicle from the Guiana Space Center, lofting JCSAT-17 for the Japanese operator SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation, and GEO-KOMPSAT-2B for Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). This  mission is dedicated to space applications for telecommunications …

Japan is eyeing expanded space cooperation with Malaysia in a bid to deepen diplomatic and economic ties with the Southeast Asian country, and as part of an effort to balance against China’s powerful influence through such programmes as its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the region. Yoshikazu Shoji, director …

Thaicom Public Company Limited has reported progress in its ongoing efforts to migrate customers from Thaicom 5 after the satellite suffered a technical anomaly. The company has informed its satellite television broadcast customers to migrate their television platforms from Thaicom 5 to Thaicom 6, which will begin operating on 15 …

A delegation of German military leaders in air and space operations met with U.S. space leaders, as well as Space X, and visited U.S. space operators and facilities at Vandenberg AFB, California, to discuss current multinational operations and future bilateral cooperation on 5-6 February 2020. In December Germany became the …

The Indonesian government has appointed a consortium of local companies to operate a broadband telecommunication satellite that will provide comprehensive internet access across the vast archipelago. Communication and Information Technology Minister Johnny G. Plate said on Wednesday 12 February 2020 that the financial agreement would be concluded next month to allow the …

Japan’s Astroscale Holdings has been selected as the commercial partner for Phase I of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) first debris removal project, a groundbreaking step by Japan to commercialize space debris removal, the company announced 12 February 2020. The JAXA Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration project (CRD2) consists …

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. announced the execution of a Launch Services Agreement with SATLANTIS. Beginning in 2022, SATLANTIS will utilize the Firefly Alpha launch vehicle to deploy a constellation of satellites with breakthrough high-resolution multispectral cameras with four bands of 80 cm native resolution. “SATLANTIS is constantly developing cutting-edge technologies to …

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) launched the website for its Space4Women project on 11 February 2020. The website helps connect girls and women to career opportunities in the space sector and in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) more widely. The website is available at: https://space4women.unoosa.org/ …