Space Missions

South Korean Intellian Technologies signed a US $60M supply deal with satellite fleet operator SES, Intellian announced. The company will equip SES with antennas that are a “mix of products operating on the ground and in the ocean,” said Intellian. The firm will provide Ka-band antennas for SES’s MEO broadband constellation, O3b mPOWER.

The Austrian Space Forum awarded the thirteenth Polar Star Award to Thomas Grübler, M.Sc., CEO and co-founder of OroraTech. The company uses satellite imaging for early detection of wildfires. First awarded in 2009, the Award honours personalities who are committed to get people excited about space.

Andøya Space is to receive US $42.9 million from the Norwegian government to build a small satellite launch base at Andøya in Northern Norway, the government announced. The project will add 150 new positions in the territory. It will also put Norway on the list of countries that are capable of launching satellites from their own land.

Finnish Kuva Space raised € 4.2 million (US $4.85 million) to establish a constellation of commercial hyperspectral CubeSats, Kuva announced. The seed round brought investments from Voima Ventures and Nordic FoodTech VC, ESA Φ-lab’s InCubed programme and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. The funding enables the company to build

Rocket Lab USA announced it has been selected to launch NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System satellite, (ACS3), on an Electron rocket. The ACS3 technology relies on a combination of materials with different properties. Lightweight booms will deploy from a 12U CubeSat designed and built by NanoAvionics of Columbia, to support a solar sail.

Thomas Pesquet became commander of the ISS this week, taking over from JAXA astronaut and fellow Crew-2 member Akihiko Hoshide. Thomas will hold this role until before Crew-2 return to Earth in November. He is the fourth European and the first French commander of the ISS. Pesquet accepted his new position during a traditional ceremony of a key being handed over to him by Hoshide.

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) is targeted to launch on 23rd November aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base, NASA announced. The mission will be an evaluation of technologies for preventing a hazardous asteroid from impacting Earth. DART will be the first demonstration of the kinetic impact deflection technique.

Satellites orbiting the Earth provide many tangible benefits to billions of people around the world on a daily basis. However, space is becoming increasingly congested and the continuity of these benefits cannot be taken for granted. For more than a decade, Secure World Foundation (SWF) has focused its efforts promoting the sustainable use of outer space.

Russian actress Yulia Peresild, 37, and film director Klim Shipenko, 38, arrived at the ISS on Tuesday after a smooth take-off from Baikonur Cosmodrome. They are on a 12-day mission filming the first movie in orbit. The crew travelled in a Soyuz MS-19 spaceship and docked behind schedule.

Warpspace has closed Series A round with Japanese leading venture capitals, such as SBI Investment and Mizuho Capital, the company said. This brings the total amount of funding to over USD 9 million since the company was founded in 2016. With Mizuho Capital on board, three large Japanese banks are now listed on the company’s list of investors.