Earth observation

A new partnership was announced on the 7th of June between the Satellite Applications Catapult and GHGSat, a satellite-based and aerial remote sensing technology and emission data provider, to provide satellite data on domestic and international methane emissions for R&D in the UK. 

Arianespace has announced the signature of a launch contract for the Earth observation satellite Kompsat-6 (KOrean Multi-Purpose SATellite-6) for the Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). The launch company will subsequently deliver the satellite to orbit with the European light launcher Vega C from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana in December 2024.

Azista BST Aerospace will launch its first satellite ABA First Runner (AFR), aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on 12th June 2023 as part of the Transporter 8 Mission. This follows from the Company's creation of a 50,000-square-foot facility capable of supporting the production of two satellites per week.

On the 1st of June following the opening session of  the European Navigation Conference (ENC) the main procurement batch of Galileo Second Generation initiated last summer has been finalised. The system is ready for its In Orbit Validation development phase.

Pixxel has announced $36 Million in a Series B funding round with participation from new investors such as Google, along with existing investors Radical Ventures, Lightspeed, Blume Ventures, growX, Sparta, and Athera. The new funds will advance Pixxel’s mission to build the world’s first and highest-resolution hyperspectral satellite constellation, delivering actionable climate insights on a planetary scale. It will also help further the development of Aurora: Pixxel’s AI-powered analytics platform to make hyperspectral analysis accessible for everyone.

In this  Space Café Radio - SpaceWatch.Global Editor in Chief Dr. Emma Gatti spoke with Savino Ruà,  International Relations Officer at DG DEFIS (European Commission) and  Cecilia Donati, Policy Officer Digital and Space for Development at DG INTPA (European Commission) about the recent NewSpace Africa Conference 2023, which took place in Abidjan, in the Ivory Coast, between the 26th and 27th of April 2023.

Satellite Vu, the UK climate tech company, has announced its Series A2 of £12.7m, bringing its total investment to £30.5m in Venture Capital funding. The funding will help the Company accelerate its mission to provide sustainable solutions to global issues. Molten Ventures led the round, with participation from Seraphim Space Investment Trust PLC, A/O Proptech, Lockheed Martin, Ridgeline Ventures, Earth Sciences Foundation, and Stellar Ventures - all existing investors.

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. has successfully completed the second of two dedicated Electron launches to deploy a constellation of tropical cyclone monitoring satellites for NASA. The "Coming To A Storm Near You" launch lifted-off on May 26 at 15:46 NZST (03:46 UTC) from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula, deploying the final two CubeSats of NASA’s TROPICS constellation to orbit.

On Thursday, the 25th of May, GLOC2023, Global Space Conference on Climate Change, the first Space conference entirely dedicated to Climate Change closed it’s first edition in Oslo, Norway's capital city. One of the major takeaway points was the need to make data more accessible. “People who work in crucial and critical data should be able to use the data freely,” says Dr Emma Gatti, Editor-in-Chief at SpaceWatch.Global. 

SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre (CRC), an Australian space research centre, announced on the 23rd of May that they have launched a new research program: Maya Nula. This program intends to develop Australian satellite Earth Observation (EO) capability with space sensor technology to advance Australia’s agriculture industry.