Satellite

Being part of a growing economy is where you want to be these days. And Space promises to be among one of the fastest growing sectors, with huge spillover potential into other industries. Currently, the space economy has been estimated to be at around 386 billion USD in revenue, and expectations predict it to be at 1 trillion USD by 2040. The outlook is attractive and moving within the space sector one could have the impression of booming space businesses. But are those numbers legitimate?

Hi-tech startup Celestia UK, has won a €800,000 ESA NAVSIP (Navigation, Innovation and Support Programme) contract to develop LEO-SYN+, an innovative PNT (Positioning, Navigation and Timing) solution based on low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations for 5G networks and applications, the company said. The project’s aim is to boost the reliability and performance of GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System).

The Queensland Government and SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) have launched the Queensland Earth Observation (EO) Hub, a partnership for two new Earth observation research projects. The Government and SmartSat CRC are both investing about US $1 million in the project.

As part of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Earth observation FutureEO programme, the agency selected Harmony as the tenth Earth Explorer research mission to help better understand the transport and exchanges of energy and matter within Earth’s complex dynamic system, ESA said.

The European Space Agency (ESA) selected Moon company Astrobotic, and NewSpace start-up Lunar Logistics Services (LLS), to fly the LandCam-X innovative landing sensor camera to the Moon in 2024 on Astrobotic’s Griffin Mission One (GM1). The contract will be the first ever commercial delivery to the Moon procured by ESA.

British Earth observation company, Satellite Vu has signed a second SpaceX launch contract to launch its second satellite, doubling its thermal data collection capacity, the company said.

The European Space Agency (ESA) and satellite operator SES, signed a contract with support from the European Commission for the development of Eagle-1, Europe’s first space-based quantum key distribution satellite system, the companies announced at a press conference at the International Astronautical Congress 2022 in Paris last week. 

Satellite manufacturer Reflex Aerospace, and space-tech company HPS (High Performance Space Structure Systems), signed a letter of intent to prevent space debris, the companies announced. According to the agreement, Reflex will remove all its satellites from orbit at the end of their operational life.

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), the world’s first planetary defense technology demonstration successfully impacted its asteroid target 10 months after launch, NASA said. The mission attempted to move asteroid Dimorphos off its orbit.

The Prague Security Studies Institute (PSSI), has the pleasure to present Space Cafè Radio - PSSI Space Security Mini-Series, a radio series focused on allied preparedness to face the rapidly changing space domain. PSSI is a non-profit non-governmental public policy organisation founded in 2002 and based in Prague. In space, PSSI emphasizes emerging threats and available policy solutions.