Space

Inmarsat has partnered with Indonesian low-cost airline Citilink to provide in-flight connectivity on board all 50 of its Airbus A320 fleet.

Lunar Orbital Platform – Gateway (LOP-G) is a future international lunar orbiting outpost, planned to be built in the 2020s. We talked about the development of the project, its tasks and goals as well as about Russia’s participation with Oleg Valerievich Kotov, pilot-cosmonaut of the Russian Federation, recipient of the Hero of the Russian Federation medal, veteran of three space missions, currently Deputy Director for Science at the Institute of Biomedical Problems (IMBP) of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

China is seeking to enhance its soft power and global scientific reputation by inviting international participation and cooperation in space science experiments on its planned space station.

Saudi Arabia’s Taqnia Space has contracted with Eutelsat, one of Europe’s largest satellite communications providers, to provide additional satellite capacity for Taqnia’s in-flight connectivity services on board Saudia flights.

Engineers of the Progress Rocket Space Centre headquartered in the city of Samara are working on a new way of putting nanosatellites into orbit, says Dmitry Baranov, the acting general director of the Centre.

Yahsat, the Abu Dhabi-based satellite communications operator, has completed its buyout of Dubai-based Thuraya, a leading mobile satellite services operator, and has also announced the appointment of a new chief executive officer for Thuraya, Ali Al Hashemi.

Israel's Gilat is becoming a major presence in the Latin American telecommunications market after it announced a deal with Hispasat, the Spanish satellite communications operator, to help commercialise Hispasat's Ka-band satellite capacity over Brazil.

The Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center has completed the proposal for a new reusable rocket development and has sent the documents for project assessment to the Central Research Institute of Machine Building (TsNIIMash), a leading scientific institution with Roscosmos.

The UK space sector is truly on the up. Years of hard work preparing the ground are finally paying off. With recent announcements promising long awaited spaceports, and the rapid growth and leadership of the UK in the smallsat industry, iconic Goonhilly Teleport is looking forward to a glittering future.

With a number of Western satellite companies developing in-orbit servicing capabilities that can refuel, maintain, and even upgrade communications satellites already in orbit, it was only a matter of time before China started to develop its own capability.