Space

Following the measures presented by the French government on 28 April 2020 as part of the gradual resumption of activity planned from 11 May, and the announcement of a restart of operational activities at the Guiana Space Center, Arianespace confirms its following launch objectives:

Bulgarian New Space company EnduroSat has received a US$362,000 investment from Neo Ventures, a venture capital company headquartered in the Bulgarian capital city Sofia, it was reported on 28 April 2020.

The UAE Ministry of Education (MoE) announced on 29 April 2020 that it is collaborating with Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat) to extend the reach of its Remote Schooling initiative for students seeking to access e-learning platforms during the current COVID-19 situation. As part of the collaboration, Yahsat will …

This week’s Space Café WebTalk took place on 28 April 2020, featuring Daniel Porras, Space Security Fellow at UNIDIR - the United Nations Institute of Disarmament Research in Geneva - in conversation with Torsten Kriening, co-publisher of SpaceWatch.Global and COO of ThorGroup GmbH.

Headlines have again been made by a state testing a direct-ascent anti-satellite (DA-ASAT) weapon system. Russia’s flight test of its Nudol missile technology (which some claim is more for missile defence) falls into a wider and longer-term pattern of DA-ASAT weapons testing and development which has seen the United States, China, and India conduct similar flights over the last 15 years.

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the International Astronautical Foundation (IAF) has announced that this year's International Astronautical Congress (IAC) will go virtual in October instead of being held in Dubai.

The Emirates News Agency reports that the UAE's Emirates Mars Mission is getting excellent press coverage in the region.

Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), announced on 27 April 2020 the signing of a contract with AVIO S.p.A., industrial prime contractor of the VEGA launch vehicle, in the frame of LEAP program of the European Space Agency (ESA),

The Dorado, named after the swordfish constellation, will be Equatorial Space’s second rocket after the Low Altitude Demonstrator, pending launch due to the COVID-19 work and travel restrictions.

On 28 April 2020 the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG), winner of the KiboCUBE programme 2017, run by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), saw their satellite deployed by JAXA from the International Space Station (ISS). The satellite – …