Space

Virgin Galactic has successfully completed its inaugural commercial spaceflight from Spaceport America in New Mexico. The Galactic 01 spaceflight carried 13 research payloads and three crew members from the Italian Air Force and the National Research Council of Italy. The spaceflight took off at 8:30 am MT (14:30 GMT), rising to an altitude at release at 44,500 feet. The flight's apogee was 52.9 miles, the top speed was Mach 2.88, and the landing time was 9:42 am MT (15:42 GMT).

As today, June 30, is International Asteroid Day, Test and Radiation (TRAD) is taking the opportunity to look back at its contribution to the DART mission. DART, or Double Asteroid Redirection Test, was a C-class mission of NASA. It was the very first mission dedicated to the study and demonstration of an asteroid deflection method. Furthermore, the mission's objective was to evaluate the use of a spacecraft's kinetic impact to modify the asteroid's trajectory so that it avoids the Earth.

Our Space Café “33 minutes with Kevin O’Connell – from zombie statistics to the trillion-dollar space economy” took place on Tuesday, 27th June. Kevin O’Connell has had a diverse career in many sectors in commerce and intelligence. He has spent over three decades working on space commercialisation, including in his role as the Director of the Office of Space commerce with the US Department of Commerce. 

In this Space Café Radio -  SpaceWatch.Global's Dr. Emma Gatti spoke with Dr. Nicole Quijano-Evan, Deputy Director, Crimes that Affect the Environment Program, Border Management Branch, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna, Austria. This episode was recorded in Oslo during GLOC -  Global Space Conference on Climate Change. GLOC was co-organized by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), and the Norwegian Space Agency (NOSA).

NorthStar Earth & Space Inc. and SES have signed an agreement to collaborate on the implementation of next-generation commercial Space Situational Awareness (SSA) services. The aim is to significantly increase the precision of resident space object (RSO) tracking to enhance the safety and sustainability of operations in space.

Spire Global, Inc has signed an agreement with OroraTech to build, launch and operate an eight-satellite constellation dedicated to global temperature monitoring. Once operational, it will represent the first and largest constellation of satellites dedicated to tracking and monitoring wildfires.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has announced the appointment of Aarti Holla-Maini of the United Kingdom as Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) in Vienna. She will succeed Simonetta Di Pippo of Italy. The Secretary-General also extended his appreciation to the Chief, Committee, Policy and Legal Affairs Section, Niklas Hedman, who will continue to serve as Acting Director of UNOOSA until Ms. Holla-Maini assumes this position.

The Board of The Global Satellite Operators Association (GSOA) has announced the election of Telesat’s CEO, Dan Goldberg, as its new Chair. The body also elected Eva Berneke, CEO of Eutelsat, as co-Vice Chair, alongside Ali Al Hashemi, CEO of Yahsat, whom the body appointed earlier this year.

This Space Café Brazil will feature Manuel Heitor , professor at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), the engineering school of the University of Lisbon, in conversation with Ian Grosner, Correspondent of SpaceWatch.Global for Brazil. Space for People: How? The next Space Café Brazil will take place on Thursday, June 22 at 10 am (BRT) / 2 pm (WET) / 3 pm (CEST).

Virgin Galactic has announced the four-person crew and target date for its Galactic-01 commercial spaceflight. The three-person crew from the Italian Air Force and National Research Council of Italy will board VSS Unity for a 90-minute flight to conduct a series of suborbital science experiments.