Space

Qosmosys has announced a seed funding round of US$100 million to expedite its strategic goals and fortify its position as a premier private player in the burgeoning Moon economy. As a result, the Company will leverage the funding for the development of its lunar transportation vehicle, ZeusX, along with complementary technologies aimed at serving a range of lunar applications.

The Karman Project is partnering with the Maldives Space Research Organization (MSRO) and Six Senses Laamu to organize the Karman Week 2023 from November 1st to 5th, 2023. The annual Fellowship Week will feature 15 global space leaders and will consequently mark an important milestone in the Maldives' journey towards establishing a first national space ecosystem.

The UK Space Agency (UKSA) and Axiom Space have signed an agreement to set out plans for the two organizations to work together to pursue a commercially sponsored UK astronaut mission. On this future flight, the UK astronauts would launch to space, spending up to two weeks in orbit to carry out scientific research, demonstrate new technologies, and participate in education and outreach activities.

The Senegalese Space Study Agency/Agence Sénégalaise d’Etudes Spatiale (ASES) and the European Space Agency (ESA) have formally expressed their mutual intent to collaborate based on a mutual commitment to harnessing the power of space technology for the socio-economic advancement of Senegal, according to Space in Africa. The agreement happened under the auspices of the just-concluded AU-EU Dialogue in Dakar, Senegal.

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. has announced that it has received authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to resume Electron launches from Launch Complex 1. The authorization comes after Rocket Lab experienced an in-flight anomaly on September 19th during the Company’s 41st Electron launch and the FAA has now confirmed that Rocket Lab’s launch license remains active, which is the first step to enable launches to resume

China has successfully launched its Shenzhou-17 mission, carrying three astronauts to its Tiangong space station for a six-month-long mission. The flight crew comprised astronauts Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie and Jiang Xinlin, with Tang Hongbo serving as the commander aboard the Long March 2F Yaoqiu 17 rocket.

NASA, on behalf of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), has awarded a delivery order under the Rapid Spacecraft Acquisition IV (Rapid-IV) contract to Southwest Research Institute of San Antonio for the QuickSounder spacecraft. Furthermore, the total value of the order is $54 million, with the period of performance beginning Wednesday, Oct. 25, and scheduled to run until May 2029.

Lockheed Martin has awarded Terran Orbital Corporation a contract to build 36 satellite buses for the Space Development Agency’s (SDA) Tranche 2 Transport Layer (T2TL) Beta constellation. Terran Orbital will consequently deliver the buses to Lockheed Martin, which will conduct payload integration and jointly operate the satellites with SDA.

Varda Space Industries and Southern Launch have announced a partnership to conduct re-entry operations at the Koonibba Test Range, with the goal of making South Australia a hub for an in-space manufacturing industry. As a result, Southern Launch will support Varda Space Industries in conducting high-cadence re-entry operations at the Koonibba Test Range to meet a wide range of Varda’s customer needs.

The National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB) and the China National Space Administration have signed a joint declaration on cooperation on the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) program. The signature, reported by the Belarusian Telegraph Agency, saw the Chairman of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Vladimir Gusakov, and the Administrator of the China National Space Administration, Zhang Kejian, sign the document for both parties.