Space Exploration

Capella Space, an American space technology company with data and satellite solutions for government and commercial applications, announced $60 million in growth equity financing in a follow-on to their Series C funding round through Thomas Tull’s US Innovation Technology Fund (USIT). Capella Space is one of the first companies to close financing through Tull’s USIT Fund, bringing the company’s total funding to approximately $250M.

The HAKUTO-R Mission 1 lander, which was successfully launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on December 11, 2022, completed its first orbit control maneuver on December 15, 2022. A second orbital control maneuver followed this on January 2, 2023.

This Space Café WebTalk will feature Matthias Wachter , Managing Director NewSpace Initiative, in conversation with Torsten Kriening, publisher of SpaceWatch.Global. Departure or standstill - Why 2023 will be decisive for European space. Matthias is Managing Director of the German NewSpace Initiative and Head of International Cooperation, Security Policy, Raw Materials and Space at the Federation of German Industries (BDI).

KBR has selected Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) to provide all Outside the Continental United States (OCONUS) SWFO Antenna Network (SAN) services. The KBR and KSAT team are developing a blended network, including U.S. government ground station sites with KSAT-owned capabilities delivered as a service.

NorthStar Earth & Space Inc. has closed a $35 million Series C funding round with US-based private equity lead Cartesian Capital Group, LLC, through an affiliated entity, Pangaea Three Acquisition Holdings III, LLC. NorthStar will use the funding to launch an advanced Space Situational Awareness service by mid-2023

By virtue of Sweden assuming the Presidency of the Council of the European Union (first semester, 2023), the Country has released its Swedish Presidency program that covers its plans for space. The program sets out the priorities and main direction for the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union from 1 January until 30 June 2023. The priorities cut across many facets, including space. 

Space technology company, Voyager Space, and advanced aerospace and defence solutions provider, Airbus Defence and Space, entered into a partnership to develop and operate Starlab space station. The station will serve NASA as well as a global customer base of space agencies and researchers, Voyager said.

ispace, inc., a global lunar exploration company, has announced that its HAKUTO-R Mission 1 lunar lander has successfully carried out its second orbital control maneuver in accordance with its mission operations plan. The maneuver happened shortly after midnight on Jan. 2, 2023 (Japan Standard Time), with the operations management coming from ispace’s mission control center located in Nihonbashi, Tokyo

Two CubeSats are on a quest to provide insight into space weather disturbances and the subsequent impact on communication signals, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The CubeSats, the Plasma Enhancements in the Ionosphere-Thermosphere Satellite (petitSat), and Scintillation Prediction Observations Research Task (SPORT) arrived at the International Space Station on November 27, 2022.

The NASA-funded LunaH-Map (Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper) spacecraft, launched on Artemis 1, did not make it into orbit around the moon due to a problem with the propulsion system. Engineers are currently trying to fix thrusters to then try to insert the cubesat into its designated orbit around Moon.