Government

As part of the partnership between SpaceWatch.Global and the European Space Policy Institute, we have been granted permission to publish selected articles and briefs. This is ESPI Briefs No. 27: ‘Space Policy Directive 2: ITAR, an instrument of U.S. dominance’, originally published in December 2018. 1. The International Traffic in Arms …

Jean-Yves Le Gall, President of the French national space agency – the Centre national d’études spatiales (CNES), opened the International Affairs Seminar at the agency’s head office in Paris on 13 May 2019. This event, aimed principally at the French space industry, is designed to present a panorama of space …

Representatives of Japan’s Hokkaido University recently visited Myanmar to discuss the possibility of building a small Earth observation satellite with counterparts at the Myanmar Aerospace Engineering University, according to an English-language report in the Myanmar press. If approved, the Earth observation satellite project is likely to begin in the 2019-2020 …

Japan’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has revealed that it will assign 100 military personnel to its Space Domain Mission Unit that is expected to be stood up by Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 and will based at the Fuchu Air Base, operated by the Japanese Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF), west of …

Rocket Lab announced on 10 May 2019 that its next flight will launch multiple spacecraft on a mission procured by satellite rideshare and mission management provider, Spaceflight. The launch window will open in June, with launch taking place from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula. The …

The UK’s long awaited defence space strategy has been leaked to The Times, one of Britain’s leading newspapers, and reveals a growing acknowledgement of threats against satellites by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and hints at the development and procurement of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and positioning, navigation, and …

Hughes Communications India Ltd, (HCIL), a majority-owned subsidiary of Hughes Network Systems, LLC (Hughes), the world’s leading provider of  broadband satellite networks and services, and Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel), India’s leading telecommunications services provider, announced on 7 May 2019 an agreement to combine their Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) operations …

The EDRS-C satellite, the second node of the SpaceDataHighway network (also known as the European Data Relay System – EDRS), will be launched into geostationary orbit at 31° East on 24 July 2019 by an Ariane 5 launcher. Once positioned above Europe, it will provide redundant back-up for the SpaceDataHighway system, double …

A four co-primes consortium formed by Airbus and Thales Alenia Space (both in Spain and France) has been selected by Hisdesat Servicios Estratégicos S.A. (Spanish Governmental Satellite Operator) to build two SpainSAT NG satellites. Used for governmental communications, these new generation satellites will replace the existing SpainSAT and Xtar-EUR satellites. …

CGI has signed an agreement with Thales Alenia Space France to enhance and maintain security software for the Galileo satellite navigation system. Valued at approximately 14 million euros, the contract will last until the end of 2020. CGI experts are working on this strategic project from Rotterdam and Toulouse. CGI …