Satellite

German-based risk and disaster intelligence company Mayday.ai, and Airbus have entered into a strategic partnership to enhance risk and disaster intelligence. Airbus’ data will power Mayday.ai’s next-generation platform supporting decision-makers in protecting lives, property and the environment.

Norwegian Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace has placed an order for three microsatellites with Lithuanian mission integrator NanoAvionics for a space-based maritime surveillance mission covering the North Sea area, Kongsberg said. The satellites will be based on NanoAvionics’s MP42 microsatellite bus.

Australian in-space transportation and  logistics startup Space Machines Company (SMC), announced it has secured SpaceX as a launch provider to carry its Optimus Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV) to space as part of its April 2023 rideshare mission. The mission will demonstrate the 270-kg Optimus OTV’s in-space logistics services and reinforce SMC’s role as a last-mile delivery services provider. 

Cooperation in the spheres of defense, intelligence, and trade is a useful indicator of geopolitical alignments. If this statement is true, then the cooperation in emerging subsectors of the same gives a much clearer picture of how the geopolitical alignments will shape in the future. In April 2022, India and the USA signed the bilateral Space Situational Agreement (SSA

State Secretary Martina Hirayama and Joseph Aschbacher, Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation between Switzerland and ESA establishing a joint Centre of Excellence at the Paul-Scherrer Institute in Villigen, Switzerland, ESA said.

In April 2022, ESA's new Center for Space Safety was opened in Darmstadt. Andreas Schepers spoke with Dr. Holger Krag, Head of ESA's Space Security Program, about the ESA program and the tasks of the new center. At the beginning of the interview, Krag explains the ESA program and outlines the three areas of space weather, asteroid defense and space debris.

Launch vehicle company Astra, revealed its new launch vehicle suitable for heavier payloads and more frequent launches. Rocket 4.0 is part of the company’s Launch System 2.0. The launch vehicle will be able to carry up to 300 kg into low Earth orbit at a base price of US $3.95 million.

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) announced they are opening up the Large Diameter Centrifuge (LDC) facility at the European Space Research and Technology Centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, to UN Member States.

Australian commercial space launch provider Southern Launch, announced it has opened its new headquarters following the expansion of its space launch services and applied space engineering consultancy operations in the country. The facilities in Hindmarsh, South Australia, include a warehouse for space vehicles preparing to launch as well as office space.

The United Kingdom and the United States signed a partnership to boost opportunities in the UK, the UK Government reported. The agreement lays the foundation for rockets, high-altitude balloons and spaceplanes to lift off from British spaceports. The UK and the US work together on future commercial spaceflight missions in the Smithsonian Institution, according to the partnership.