Satcoms

Paris, 13 April 2021. – The Norwegian network provider Marlink Group can close the acquisition of ITC Global, the company said. Backed by Apax Partners, Marlink obtained final regulatory approvals to acquire 100% of ITC Global from Panasonic, the group said. Marlink and ITC Global are preparing for a swift closing of the transaction in the coming weeks, the company said.

by Blaine Curcio and Jean Deville 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 “DFH Episode 8 – Chinese Space from a US Perspective (feat. Ian Christensen & Rob Ronci)", originally published 12 April 2021 here.

Two satellites from the OneWeb and Starlink constellations came dangerously close – as close as 60 meters – last week but could avoid a collision, The Verge reported. The Verge quoted representatives from the US Space Force and OneWeb who said that two satellites from the fast-growing constellations of OneWeb and SpaceX’s Starlink dodged a dangerously close approach with one another in orbit last weekend.

The U.S. Government’s budget for fiscal year 2022 requests $24.7 billion for NASA, a 6.3 per cent increase compared to this year’s spending bill, the White House said. The President’s “discretionary request” includes $6.9 billion for NASA’s human exploration of Moon, Mars and beyond, an unspecified amount for its robotic exploration of the solar system

As part of the partnership between SpaceWatch.Global and Joint Air Power Competence Centre, we have been granted permission to publish selected articles and texts. We are pleased to present “ Shortfalls in NATO’s Space Education”, originally published in the Joint Air Power Competence Centre Journal 31.

Going private: The IoT specialist Orbcomm agreed to be acquired by the U.S. investment firm GI Partners, valuing the company at $1.1 billion, Orbcomm said. The Nasdaq-listed firm, a global provider of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, said it entered into a "definitive agreement" to be acquired, in an all-cash transaction, by GI Partners, a private investment firm based in San Francisco.

Laser focus: Airbus and the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) develop a laser communication terminal demonstrator for aircraft, known as UltraAir. The project, which is co-financed by Airbus, TNO and the Netherlands Space Office (NSO), is part of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) ScyLight (Secure and Laser communication technology) programme, Airbus said. It covers the design, construction and testing of the technology demonstrator.

OroraTech, a Munich-based provider of satellite wildfire monitoring, and Spire, provider of space-based data, analytics and space services, want to partner to launch OroraTech’s first payload on a Spire 6U nanosatellite, Spire announced. The satellite planned for launch in December 2021 will carry OroraTech’s thermal-infrared camera and data processing unit designed to detect fires and transmit the data using Spire’s satellite and ground network, Spire said

OQ selects NanoAvionics for MACSAT mission

During this week’s Space Café episode, SpaceWatch.Global publisher, Torsten Kriening brought his focus back to Switzerland, interviewing Alexandre Vallet, who is the Chief of the Space Services Department, which is part of the Radio Communications Bureau at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).