Space

ORBCOMM has announced that the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has extended their contract for another year through ORBCOMM’s partner Kordia.

U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) reached a milestone with the signing of its 100th space situational awareness agreement when the Romanian Space Agency signed an agreement with USSTRATCOM on 25 April 2019. These agreements foster openness, predictability of space operations and transparency in space activities.

Skyrora, the Edinburgh-based New Space launch company that is aiming to become the first UK private company to launch payloads into Earth orbit, is searching for launch sites in the British Isles from where it can conduct a series of launcher tests over the coming year, according to UK press reports.

The South Korean Ministry of Science and ICT has approved 300 billion Won funding (U.S.$264 million) for the development of three remote sensing satellites to be used for resource management, environmental monitoring, and space science.

Germany's Ministry of Economy is drafting new space laws and regulations - that could be submitted to the Bundestag for ratification as soon as the end of this year – in order to incentivize the German private sector to invest in the rapidly growing global space sector, according to a 28 April 2019 report by Reuters.

In the presence of Abdellatif Loudiyi, Minister Delegate to the Head of Government in charge of the National Defense Administration of Morocco, and Mr. Moulay Hafid Elalamy, Moroccan Minister of Industry, Investment, Trade and Digital Economy, Jean-Yves Le Gall, President of the Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES) and of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), gave the opening address on 24 April 2019 in Marrakesh at the GLEC 2019 Global Conference on Space for Emerging Countries (GLEC).

The UK's International Trade Secretary, Dr. Liam Fox, announced on 25 April 2019 that UK Export Finance (UKEF) will support an Airbus Defence and Space Ltd UK contract with Turksat, the Turkish communications satellite operator. Airbus will manufacture and deliver, in orbit, two telecom satellites and a ground station, which will be essential for the continued provision of TV and data services in Turkey and the wider region.

Airbus Defence and Space and Orbital Insight have expanded upon their partnership agreement to create Earth Monitor, a powerful change analysis and insights service which provides situation awareness over archived or newly tasked areas of interest.

So much of the coverage of what happens in national, regional, and international space activities focuses on the technical aspects of space or on high-level policy making. A growing number of individuals and organisations, however, are bridging these two very different aspects of the space sector. In Australia, Aria Stirling Colton is doing just this with her Adelaide-based National Space Innovation Hub (NSIH). Helen Jameson, the Editor-in-Chief of SpaceWatch.Global, spoke with Aria to find out more.

Communities in remote areas of Indonesia will soon be able to enjoy reliable broadband internet access delivered by Teleglobal enabled by SES Networks’ managed data services and the SES-12 satellite, SES announced on 24 April 2019.