Space

HyImpulse has completed its eighth campaign of motor testing in the Shetland Isles on the 26th of April. The high-level event featured representatives of the UK Space Agency, European Space Agency (ESA), Scottish Development International, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Shetland Islands Council, and local constituency members for the Scottish Parliament and UK Parliament.

A group of European Space and Telecommunications players have come together to form a partnership to respond to the European Commission’s call for tender related to the future European satellite constellation IRIS² (Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite). IRIS² aims to bring a new secure and resilient connectivity infrastructure to European governments, businesses and citizens.  

The Maldives Space Research Organisation (MSRO) has inaugurated the first day of the Space for Island Nations Conference (SINC), taking place from 2 to 5 May 2023 at Crossroads Maldives. SINC is a 4-day event that welcomes around 150 delegates from around the world to discuss climate resilience, the blue ocean economy, and space policy development for island nations.

The XPRIZE wildfire competition has launched with an event in Washington D.C., on April 21. The launch brought together powerful voices of persons fighting wildfires on the frontlines, as well as leading experts in the field, to discuss the prize’s urgency and future positive impact on communities, wildlife, and biodiversity.

GMV has organized the final demonstrations scheduled for the iMUGS (Integrated Modular Unmanned Ground System) defense project. It took place at the San Juan del Viso military grounds in Madrid (Spain) on the 26th of April. The project’s primary objective is to increase the European Union’s defensive capabilities and strategic autonomy, and its mission is to develop the standard European unmanned ground system (UGS) by integrating robotics systems into the manned technology that European defense forces already have available.

SES has successfully launched two additional O3b mPOWER satellites on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The second pair of O3b mPOWER satellites will consequently join the first two satellites launched in December 2022, which have arrived at their target medium earth orbit (MEO) and are currently undergoing in-orbit checkout.

CisLunar Industries has received a patent for its Space Foundry from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on April 25, 2023, under the number 11,634,241. As a result, the patent grants CisLunar Industries the exclusive rights to use and license the technology covered by the patent for a period of 19 years

Voyager has announced three executive appointments as the Company aims to continue growing its team. The new appointments include Phil De Sousa as Chief Financial Officer, Abby Dickes as Chief Marketing Officer, and Ashley Donlon as Chief Human Resources Officer. 

The JUICE (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) mission control center in Darmstadt, Germany, along with partners in science and industry, is still working on the JUICE spacecraft as its ice-penetrating Radar for Icy Moons Exploration (RIME) antenna has not deployed as expected. This is as an issue arose with the 16-meter-long RIME antenna, preventing it from releasing from its mounting bracket.

Terran Orbital Corporation has announced the receipt of a further milestone payment alongside the completion of the screening of the industrial partners as well as trade studies that will support the acquisition process and system engineering for the Company’s 300 spacecraft, $2.4 billion contract with Rivada Space Networks.