Earth observation

Arianespace's Soyuz accomplished a flawless launch from the Guiana Space Centre (GSC), Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, on 18 December 2019 orbiting COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation for the Italian space agency ASI and the Italian Ministry of Defence, CHEOPS for the European Space Agency (ESA), ANGELS and EyeSat for French space agency Centre national d'etudes spatiales (CNES), and OPS-SAT for operator Tyvak on behalf of ESA.

D-Orbit, an Italian systems and services provider for the traditional and New Space sectors, has announced a new funding round led by Seraphim Capital, the world's largest venture capital fund dedicated to investing in New Space companies.

GomSpace and Lockheed Martin Space announced on 18 December 2019 their agreement to develop and deliver a tailored GomSpace 6U nanosatellite to Orbital Micro Systems (OMS) in the United Kingdom.

The 8th African Leadership Conference on Space Science and Technology for Sustainable Development was hosted at the UN Economic Commission for Africa, in Ethiopia from the 2nd to the 4th December 2019. Over 200 participants joined the conference from 31 countries, 21 of which were African countries.

The member states of the BRICS economic bloc – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – are in the midst of negotiating a mutually beneficial framework that will allow each country to access certain Earth observation satellites from each other, according to various press reports.

Capella Space, an information services company providing Earth observation data on demand, today announced it will launch seven synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites and start commercial operations in 2020.

The President of the French national space agency, the Centre national d'études spatiales   (CNES), Jean-Yves Le Gall, visited Dakar, Senegal, on 12 December 2019 to take part in the commemorations marking the 60th anniversary of the Agency for the Safety of Air Navigation in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA).

The government of the Central Asian state of Turkmenistan has announced that it has agreed to the technical requirements for the design, construction, and launch of its first Earth observation satellite, according to press reports in Turkmenistan.

The first satellite COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation (CSG-1) is ready to be launched from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

An Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), in its fiftieth flight (PSLV-C48), successfully launched RISAT-2BR1 along with nine commercial satellites from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota, on 11 December 2019.