Space

SpaceX has launched a Falcon 9 satellite launch vehicle carrying its fourth batch of 60 Starlink satellites. The launch took place at 9:06 a.m. local time on Wednesday, 29 January 2020, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

Comtech Telecommunications Corp. and Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. jointly announced on 29 January 2020 that Comtech has agreed to acquire Gilat in a cash and stock transaction for $10.25 per Gilat ordinary share of which 70% will be paid in cash and 30% in Comtech common stock, resulting in an enterprise value of approximately $532.5 million.

Kepler Communications, a Canadian satellite telecommunications company, is to begin production in its newly commissioned satellite manufacturing facility in Toronto, Canada.

OneWeb, the global communications company whose goal is to connect everyone everywhere, announces a new distributor partnership with Pacific Dataport Inc. (PDI), a company founded by Microcom – the leading supplier of satellite communication systems in Alaska.

British-headquartered satellite communications company OneWeb is courting the Republic of Georgia with the aim of establishing a ground station in the country and providing its satellite services to bridge the digital divide in the South Caucasus, according to a report from the Azerbaijani Trend News Agency.

Russia is willing to assist the Central Asian republic of Turkmenistan in developing its second satellite and in the selection, training, and launch of the first Turkmen astronaut, according to Yuri Baturin – vice president of the Tsiolkovsky Russian Academy of Cosmonauts, politician, and a former cosmonaut – during a visit to the Turkmen capital Ashgabat on 25 January 2020.

OneWeb, the global communications company, whose goal is to connect everyone everywhere, announces the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to bring high-speed, low-latency internet coverage to Georgia with JSC Silknet, a leading convergent Georgian telecommunications company.

Iran is believed to be preparing to launch two satellites from its Imam Khomeini Satellite Launch Centre over the coming days, according to numerous reports in Iranian and international news media.

NASA has finalized the first 16 science experiments and technology demonstrations, ranging from chemistry to communications, to be delivered to the surface of the Moon under the Artemis program.

Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES) President Jean-Yves Le Gall was the guest of honour at the international Human Spaceflight Symposium organized in Bangalore, India, on 24 January 2020 by the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA)