Satcoms

The quantum encryption technology specialist Arqit goes public and raises $400 million through a merger with the publicly traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Centricus, the companies announced. The pro forma equity value of the business combination is approximately $1.4 billion, the companies said, and the pro forma enterprise value approximately $1.0 billion

This Space Café Spain will feature Carlos Entrena, founder and CEO of Plus Ultra Space Outposts in conversation with Izan Peris, a friend of SpaceWatch.Global and fellow space entrepreneur. Does Spain have a role in the new lunar economy? Space Café Spain will hold its inaugural episode with Carlos Entrena,

Scorpio Shipmanagement equips its entire tanker and bulker fleet and connects its vessels with Marlink’s hybrid VSAT network solution, the company based in Oslo and Monaco said. The service extension will provide Scorpio with higher bandwidth services to meet an increasing level of business need for higher data rates and usage volumes.

One interesting development in the space sector is the rise of artificial intelligence. AI has long played an important role in space missions, and its role only continues to grow. But as AI becomes more central to humanity’s engagement with space, it raises legal and ethical challenges. Space law is well poised to respond to these challenges.

The Lithuanian smallsat bus manufacturer and mission integrator NanoAvionics partners with the IoT startup OQ Technology to build, integrate and operate a nanosatellite for the 5G IoT mission named Tiger-2. The satellite is scheduled to be launched this year, the companies said.

OneWeb acquires the Texas-based TrustComm “to offer its Low Earth Orbit (LEO) network and connectivity services to U.S. government clients and TrustComm customers”, the company said. TrustComm was established in 1999 as a provider of managed satellite communications and professional services to commercial organizations and governments, OneWeb said.

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Dongfang Hour China Aero/Space News Roundup! A special shout-out to our friends at GoTaikonauts!, and at SpaceWatch.Global, both excellent sources of space industry news. Without further ado, the news update from the week of 3 May - 9 May 2021.

The U.S. Air Force asked OneWeb and Hughes to connect the Arctic, the companies announced. Hughes and OneWeb announced their selection by the U.S. Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) “to demonstrate managed LEO satellite communications (SATCOM) services to connect the Arctic region to sites around the globe”, the companies said in a statement.

The Spanish satellite telecommunications operator Sateliot takes the lead to develop a low Earth orbit (LEO) nanosatellite constellation offering 5G coverage and a secure quantum key information exchange system. Sateliot is leading a consortium of a dozen companies and the Spanish Ministry of Defense, as a potential user, to deploy the nanosat constellation, the company said.

This Space Café United Kingdom will feature lan Jones, CEO at Goonhilly Earth Station, in conversation with neuco’s Laurie Scott, Andrew Ball and Ewan Lawrenson, friends of SpaceWatch.Global.Ian Jones, Chairman at Satellite Applications Catapult and CEO of Goonhilly Earth Station,