Space

Australian New Space satellite communications company Fleet Space opened a satellite ground station last week as part of its mission to build a constellation of small satellites and associated ground infrastructure to provide connectivity for the Internet-of-Things (IoT).

Kleos Space, the New Space space-based intelligence and geolocation company registered on the Australian Stock Exchange and headquartered in Luxembourg, has signed a contract with Danish-based small satellite manufacturer GomSpace for the supply of a Nanosatellite constellation.

Nestled inside a protective aluminum shell is a silicon disc about the size of a United States half dollar. Inscribed on this disc are microscopic messages from leaders of 73 nations solicited by Thomas Paine, then head of NASA.

Singaporean New Space company Astroscale has announced that it will open a National In-Orbit Servicing Control Facility in Harwell, UK. Astroscale is among the most high-profile company looking to remove space debris from orbit.

Prelaunch preparations are underway to ready KhalifaSat for launch into orbit before the end of the year from a launch facility in Japan aboard a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) H-IIA satellite launch vehicle, according to the Director-General of the UAE Space Agency.

Roscosmos is planning to spend more than $963 million to develop the rocket. Subsequently, the project’s scientific and technical developments are to be used in creating the super-heavy lift vehicle Energia-5, which Rogozin mentioned in his message.

Gilmour Space, the Australian and Singaporean New Space launch company, has announced the appointment of two space veterans, Pamela Melroy, a former NASA astronaut, and Dava Newman, former Deputy Administrator of NASA, to its advisory board, as it prepares to enter the global small launch market in 2020.

Israel’s Gilat has been selected by Australian telecommunications giant Telstra to provide its satellite backhaul solutions in order to provide 4G mobile telephone coverage in some of Australia’s most isolated and rural areas.

Social media giant Facebook has confirmed that one of its subsidiaries, PointView Tech LLC, is building a satellite dubbed Athena that will be placed in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) and provide Gigabite-quantity Internet services in digitally deprived areas such as Africa.

Azercosmos, the national space agency of Azerbaijan, and the French space agency, the Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES), have signed a space cooperation agreement which focuses specifically on collaboration in Earth observation.