Space

The South African National Space Agency (SANSA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recently signed an agreement to partner in a study to conduct technical and environmental research on the potential to establish a ground station in South Africa.

Extinction Rebellion, the British environmental pressure group that stages mass protests against climate change, has condemned plans to build the UK’s first vertical launch spaceport in Sutherland, located in the Scottish Highlands.

The first two Airbus-built Pléiades Neo imaging satellites have started comprehensive environmental testing to ensure they are ready for in-orbit operation, Airbus announced on 24 February 2020.

The Economic Survey -2020, which preceded the Budget 2020-21 released by Nirmala Sitharaman’ first full budget as finance minister rather bizarrely focused almost exclusively on the number of launches undertaken by major space faring states including India as a good indicator of the strength and the health of the space programme

A Russian military communications satellite rode a Soyuz rocket and Fregat upper stage on 20 February 2020 into an orbit stretching nearly 25,000 miles (40,000 kilometers) above Earth, successfully launching after a one-month delay to replace a suspect third stage on the Soyuz booster.

Saudi Prince Sultan bin Salman on chaired the first meeting of the Saudi Space Authority’s board of directors on 24 February 2020.

Eutelsat Communications announced on 14 February 2020 that the GEO-3 payload of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS), a hosted payload aboard its EUTELSAT 5 West B satellite, has successfully entered into service.

The Belgian development agency Enabel and SES S.A., a leader in global content connectivity solutions, will deliver satellite-based communications for the development and foreign aid projects spearheaded by the Belgian and other European governments.

The innovations and opportunities for those in the satellite industry seem to come almost as fast as satellites are launched. With these opportunities come compelling issues such as orbital debris, sustainable space operations, and cybersecurity. Long-standing matters such as access to spectrum, financing, signal interference, and antenna performance remain front and center as prerequisites to a healthy industry. These are some of the known opportunities and threats our industry faces. As technologies, markets, and services emerge, additional opportunities and threats will emerge as well.

One of the more notable space stories of the past few weeks is that of two Russian satellites allegedly ‘stalking’ a KH-11 reconnaissance satellite operated by the US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).