Positioning Navigation and Timing

As part of the partnership between SpaceWatch.Global and Orbital Gateway Consulting we have been granted permission to publish selected articles and texts. We are pleased to present “Dongfang Hour China Aerospace News Roundup 29 November- 5 December 2021”. Hello and welcome to another episode of the Dongfang Hour China Aero/Space News Roundup!

Two more: Arianespace has successfully launched two more Galileo satellites, growing Europe’s navigation constellation to 28 satellites, the European Space Agency (ESA) said. Soyuz launcher VS-26, operated by Arianespace and commissioned by ESA, lifted off with the pair of 715 kg satellites from French Guiana on 5 December, ESA said.

Plus Ultra Space Outpost (Plus Ultra) and Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA) have signed an agreement to launch a demonstrator mission to the Moon, RFA announced. RFA will launch Plus Ultra’s first satellite in 2023 on an RFA ONE launch vehicle. The vehicle uses industrial automation and staged-combustion propulsion, according to the company.

Three new directors, two more women on board: the European Space Agency (ESA) has appointed Géraldine Naja, Simonetta Cheli, and Francisco-Javier Benedicto Ruiz as new directors at its helm, the agency said. Géraldine Naja has been appointed to the new position of Director of Commercialisation, Industry and Procurement (D/CIP), based at ESA Headquarters in Paris as of 1 November 2021.

KTN and the Space and Geospatial Virtual Pavilion is calling for organisations to pay them a visit to better understand the use of location intelligence. The technology can help companies working to tackle climate change sustainably to improve operations and meet global climate targets.

The Italian Space Agency (ASI) cooperates with Quascom and NASA to launch project NEIL to experiment satellite-based positioning on the lunar surface, ASI reports. Project NEIL (Navigation Early Investigation on Lunar surface) is linked to NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Service mission.

BAE Systems acquired In-Space Missions to make it a fully-owned subsidiary, In-Space announced. In-Space, founded in 2015, designs, builds and operates bespoke space missions for customers. The company specialises in space services for earth observation, navigation, satellite communications, and space exploration.

Orolia is paid €70 million to provide atomic clocks for the first 12 satellites of the Galileo Second Generation System (G2S), Orolia announced. The funding comes in two contracts, one with ESA and the other with Leonardo. The news comes after the European Commission and ESA chose Orolia’s Skydel GNSS signal simulation core engine for the G2S radiofrequency constellation simulator in May.

Masten Space Systems was awarded a Phase II SBIR contract to develop and test a lunar positioning and navigation network prototype, Masten said. The GPS-like solution is part of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s AFWERX program. The network will boost cislunar security, improve landing accuracy and hazard avoidance by providing location tracking for spacecraft and astronauts on the lunar surface.

The space-based data and analytics provider Spire Global will provide radio occultation satellite data to Eumetsat, the company said. Eumetsat, the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites – is a satellite agency which gathers, and gives access to, accurate and reliable satellite data on weather, climate, and the environment.