Space

In March of this year, the giant container vessel “Ever Given” disrupted global commerce when it was lodged into the bank of the Suez Canal for nearly a week. According to Reuters, about twelve percent of total global trade passes through this canal.

After a much-deserved summer break, during this week’s Space Café, SpaceWatch.Global publisher, Torsten Kriening caught up with Chief Executive of Singapore Space & Technology and “this century’s role model for space”, Lynette Tan to talk about Singapore’s role in space and her company’s commercial vision.

Ispace raised nearly €39 million in a Series C funding round, with Incubate Fund as the lead investor, the Japanese startup said. The new round brings ispace’s cumulative total funding to approximately €84.5 million, ispace said, including past Series B, Series A and seed investment, as well as its existing and new bank loan financing announced in June 2021.

Iridium will connect the vessels of the Canadian Coast Guard with its Thales terminals, the company said. The Canadian Coast Guard deployed dozens of Certus terminals on its vessels, including icebreakers, to contribute to reliable internet connectivity, ensure the safety of mariners in Canadian waters and protect Canada’s marine environment, Iridium said.

The two spacecraft will fly by Venus just 33 hours apart with Solar Orbiter arriving first on 9th August at 4:42 UTC followed by BepiColombo on 10th August at 13:48 UTC. The missions create a unique opportunity to study the planet’s environment at multiple places at the same time.

Edinburgh, 4 August 2021. - The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) selected SpaceLink for a demonstration of its 10 Gbps optical end-to-end relay service, SpaceLink said. CASIS is the manager of the International Space Station (ISS)´s in-orbit U.S. National Laboratory. The demo will allow the use of a 10 Gbps optical terminal.

This Space Café WebTalk will feature Antonino Salmeri, Doctoral Researcher in Space Law at the University of Luxembourg, in conversation with Torsten Kriening, publisher of SpaceWatch.Global. "My Journey from Sicily to the Moon through Space Law" Antonino Salmeri is an Italian attorney at law and a PhD candidate (under the supervision of Professor Mahulena Hofmann)

SpaceWatch.Global is pleased to present the 33rd episode in our podcast series The Space Cafe Podcast: Val Munsami - why affordable space tech for anyone comes at a price. Valanathan Munsami is the CEO of the South African Space Agency SANSA with whom he is currently experiencing the renaissance of space travel first hand

Russia plans to create a manned space complex in LEO, Roscosmos reported. The news comes after learning that the Russian segment of the ISS is to be retired after 2024 due to ageing. This, in turn opens up the way for national space infrastructures to take over the exploration of outer space.

NASA is preparing for the Starliner test launch to the International Space Station (ISS) today, the agency said. The launch and docking of the agency’s Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) to the ISS is the second uncrewed flight for Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft and is part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.