Government

Brussels may shut the UK out of the Horizon science programme, the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation, and block the UK’s involvement in the EU’s Copernicus environment monitoring Earth observation programme as part of post-Brexit trading agreements for Northern Ireland. Britain’s participation in the Euratom nuclear research partnership is also likely to change.

The Rwandan Space Agency (RSA) and the Global Satellite Operator’s Association (GSOA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance satellite communication services and fast-track Africa’s digital inclusion plans, Africa News reported.  The agreement was signed by Aarti Holla-Maini, Secretary-General of GSOA and Colonel Francis Ngabo, RSA’s Director-General.

Ball Aerospace selected launch and space systems company, Rocket Lab, to manufacture the Solar Array Panel (SAP) to power NASA’s Global Lyman-Alpha Imager of Dynamic Exosphere (GLIDE) mission spacecraft planned to launch in 2025, Rocket Lab announced. The heliophysics mission will study variability in Earth’s atmosphere.

NASA has selected two science instrument suites during the second selection through the agency’s Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon (PRISM) call for proposals, to explore the Moon under the Artemis program. The Lunar Vulkan Imaging and Spectroscopy Explorer (Lunar-VISE) and the Lunar Explorer Instrument for space biology Applications (LEIA)

A micrometeoroid, the size of a dust grain, slammed into one of the James Webb Space Telescope’s 18 primary mirror segments at high speed, causing a noticeable effect on its performance, NASA said. This was the fifth impact detected since Webb’s launch five and a half months ago.

The president of the French Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) space agency, Philippe Baptiste, signed the Artemis Accords on behalf of the country, affirming its commitment to sustainable space exploration by following a common set of principles.  France agreed to promote the beneficial use of space for all of humanity prior to celebrating CNES’ 60th anniversary.

NASA selected Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace to provide astronauts with next generation spacesuit and spacewalk system capabilities in low Earth orbit and on the Moon as well as future human missions to Mars, the Agency said. The arrangement allows for NASA expertise to be paired with commercial innovation to support continued science in the space environment.

The General Assembly of the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) appointed Hermann Ludwig Moeller as the Director of the Institute, effective 1st September 2022, ESPI said. Mr. Moeller is succeeding Jean-Jacques Tortora, who became ESPI’s Director in June 2016.

Several pieces of suspected space debris fell onto the rural parts of western India, Indian media reported. The time of the incident suggests these could be Chinese rocket parts re-entering Earth’s atmosphere.  The objects crashed into the ground in Gujarat within a 15-km radius, accompanied by a loud noise.

Airbus announced it has been awarded a contract from ESA to further develop the implementation of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). The mission design and final technology development are due to be completed by 2024, with a planned launch in the late 2030s.