Satellite Launch Business

Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) won the 2022 round of the German Aerospace Center’s (DLR) microlauncher competition with a prize value of €11 million, RFA announced. As a result, the German government became an anchor customer of the RFA One launch service.

SpaceWatch.Global is pleased to present: The Space Cafe Podcast #053: ESA director Géraldine Naja on the commercialization of ESA, the Russian absence, and why ESA might just be waiting for your job application. The European Space Agency (ESA) has set sail to begin commercial operations. But what does that mean?

Rocket Lab announced it has been selected by Virginia-based radio frequency geospatial analytics provider HawkEye 360, to launch three Electron missions. The first of the three missions is scheduled to be Rocket Lab’s inaugural Electron launch from Launch Complex 2, Virginia, planned for December this year.

In this Space Café Radio -  SpaceWatch.Global Event coordinator and Space Café Benelux Host Chiara Moenter spoke with Ane Aanesland, co-founder, president, and CEO of ThrustMe, an industrial space startup providing simple solutions to maneuver satellites in space about the origins of ThrustMe, the importance of sustainability, and what the future holds.

Our Space Cafe WebTalk “33 minutes with Chris Kunstadter - The Role of Space Insurers in a Changing Space Ecosystem” took place on Tuesday, 19th April 2022. Chris Kunstadter is Head of Space at AXA XL. He is actively involved in all aspects of AXA XL’s space activity, including technical, financial, and actuarial analysis, policy construction, claims handling, ...

In this Space Café Radio -  SpaceWatch.Global publisher Torsten Kriening spoke with Dr. Holger Krag, Head of the Space Safety Programme Office at the European Space Agency - ESA about the opening and the operations of the Space Safety Center at ESOC in Darmstadt on 12 April 2022.

Over the 65 years of the Space Age, the last few years have seen unprecedented acceleration of types, capabilities, and numbers of space systems. These systems have also been developed and deployed by a more diverse global space community—who could have imagined that over 90 countries would be operating satellites in orbit,

South Korea signed a contract with SpaceX to launch five of its spy satellites by 2025, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) confirmed. The first launch will take place by the end of 2023 onboard of a Falcon 9 rocket, delivering an 800-kg electro-optical infrared satellite to low Earth orbit.

France-based space company Exotrail, released its new in-space mobility service SpaceVan, a unique Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV). The debut mission will launch onboard a Falcon 9 launch vehicle in October 2023. Exotrail is planning at least three subsequent missions throughout 2024 using different launch providers. 

In this episode of Space Café Australia, Dr. Annie Handmer speaks with Southern Launch CEO Lloyd Damp about the journey towards commercial launch from Australia. In 2006 Lloyd graduated with a degree in Space Engineering from the University of Sydney and holds a Masters in aero-structural optimisation,