Satellite

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.

Kacific1 was launched successfully into space aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 7.10pm Eastern Standard Time  (UTC-5) on 16 December 2019 from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, USA.

HawkEye 360 Inc., the first commercial company to use formation flying satellites to create a new class of radio frequency (RF) data analytics, reports it has been awarded a contract for a commercial RF survey study from the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)

Recently established Australian ground segment operator Capricorn Space and Japanese Ground Segment as a Service provider Infostellar have signed an agreement that will enable Infostellar customers access to their satellite constellations from the Australian Ground Network – West (AGN-W) site near Mingenew in Western Australia.

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.

Following nearly two years of collaboration on terrestrial surveillance between the Agency for Aerial Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA) and Aireon, the two organizations have concluded the use of space-based ADS-B for surveillance services beginning 1 January 2020 within the six flight information regions (FIRs) of ASECNA: Antananarivo, Brazzaville, Dakar Terrestrial, Dakar Oceanic, N'djamena and Niamey.

Kepler Communication has selected SpaceX as launch partner to deliver a portion of its first Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation into space onboard SpaceX's reusable Falcon 9 launch vehicle.