Space

Planet, the New Space commercial Earth observation company that operates the largest constellation of imaging satellites, and Orbital Insight, a leading company specialising in geospatial analytics, announced on 19 September 2018 a multi-year contract for Orbital Insight to source daily, global satellite imagery from Planet. The contract is an expansion of their previous imagery-sharing agreement.

The past few years have seen the satellite press column inches dominated by excited talk of new mega constellations. We have learned how thousands of small satellites are going to transform connectivity for billions around the world. I should know, I am one of the people that have been excitedly scribbling about it. But now that the dust has settled on the flurry of news of the constellations that are in the pipeline, where are we now?

Azerbaijan's national space agency, AzerCosmos, will soon start selling satellite imagery taken by its AzerSky Earth observation satellite, as well as imagery taken by the Pléiades-1A and 1B satellites, according to a source in AzerCosmos reported by Azerbaijani news outlet Trend.

Kleos Space, the Luxembourg-based New Space geolocation company that is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), has selected Rocket Lab to launch its first satellites in 2019.

The Philippines is on the verge of creating its own national space agency after a prominent Filipino politician sponsored legislation in the Senate plenary of Senate Bill 1983, or the “Act Establishing the Philippine Space Development and Utilization Policy and Creating the Philippine Space Agency, and for other Purposes,” earlier in September 2018.

The Bangladesh Communication Satellite Company Limited (BCSCL), operator of the recently launched Bangabandhu-1 communications satellite, has selected Thaicom, Thailand's largest commercial satellite communications operator, to help BCSC develop new markets and business for its satellite services.

The First Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Askar Mamin, has discussed the implementation of the joint Baiterek project in Moscow with the Director General of the Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities, Dmitry Rogozin, the press service of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan said in a statement on 17 September 2018, according to a TASS report.

Thai New Space company mu Space Corp is developing its first Internet of Things (IoT) product that will be powered by 5G networks, mu Space’s founder and chief executive – James Yenbamroong - revealed on 19 September 2018 at the Thailand Digital Big Bang. Yenbangroong told the audience that the company is now working on finalizing the IoT product’s design and functionality.

Talia Limited, a leading communication provider serving the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and the Americas, have announced the completion, and successful deployment, of a new state-of-the-art uplink platform, complete and ready to host High Definition and Standard Definition channel’s secure transmission on Arabsat Badr-7 satellite at 26°E.

Nestlé, the world's largest food and beverage company, is partnering with Airbus Defence and Space and The Forest Trust (FTF) to use its Starling Earth observation platform to monitor the entirety of its global supply chains for palm oil as part of the Swiss company's commitment to reduce its global impact on deforestation.