Earth observation

In the EU project “High Performance AlexandriteCrystals and Coatings for High Power Space Applications” (GALACTIC), Laser Zentrum Hannover (LZH) aims to develop a solely European supply chain for space-qualified high-performance laser crystals made of Alexandrite with the partners Optomaterials S.r.l. (Italy) and Altechna Coatings UAB (Lithuania). These laser crystals are to be used in earth observation satellites in space.

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation announced on 30 March 2020  that it has been designated by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) as the contractor of the Global Observing SATellite for Greenhouse gases and Water cycle (GOSAT-GW), the third in the GOSAT series, and has already initiated development activities.

The final steps to fully-enable the ultra-secure, jam-resistant Military Code (M-Code) signal on the Global Positioning System (GPS) are now underway, Lockheed Martin announced on 27 March 2020.

US$158 million of announced space-related financing rounds in March 2020 bring the total for the first quarter of 2020 to approximately US$550 million.

The president of Armenia, Armen Sarkissian, signed into law a package of space activity legislation on 26 March 2020 that amend existing laws and regulations to expand state and commercial space activity in Armenia.

Denman Glacier in East Antarctica retreated 3.4 miles (5.4 kilometers) from 1996 to 2018, according to a new study by scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of California, Irvine.

Telespazio Argentina, a subsidiary of Telespazio,  was awarded a contract,  following an international tender in Costa Rica to perform an urban and rural cadastral survey of the country.

ArianeGroup's GEOTracker network continues to expand around the world. Its seventh observatory has already been installed at its site of Ottobrunn in Germany, and an eighth station will be located in Australian’s Northern Territory at the Centre for Appropriate Technology Ltd. (CfAT) site, around 10 km south of Alice Springs.

Finnish New Space leader ICEYE unveiled its latest capability of 25 cm resolution imaging with synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) small satellites, utilizing the company’s current commercial SAR satellite constellation in-orbit.

Elon Musk's claim that the governmental and societal response to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic is an overreaction and "dumb" has caught up with him (again) as it was revealed that the 30 March 2020 scheduled launch of Argentina's SAOCOM-1B remote sensing satellite by a SpaceX Falcon 9 satellite launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (AFS) in Florida, United States, has been postponed.