Space Missions

The Outer Space Institute (OSI) has published the International Open Letter on Reducing Risks from Uncontrolled Reentries of Rocket Bodies, the third international open letter that the OSI has developed and released. The Open Letter calls on governments to negotiate a multilateral agreement requiring controlled reentries and, in the meantime, demonstrate leadership by immediately and unilaterally committing to national controlled reentry regimes.

Saturn Satellite Networks has selected CesiumAstro’s Vireo-GEO active phased array RF payload for Saturn’s Space BroadbandNetworks-1 (SBN-1). The SBN-1 program consists of 6 high-throughput geostationary satellites (HTSs) that will provide satellite-based internet access services to satellite operators, capacity resellers, internet service providers, and end users.

Approximately 2 minutes and 27 seconds after liftoff an anomaly occurred on the rocket’s Zefiro 40 second stage, thus ending Arianespace’s Vega C mission, the company said. Data analyses are currently in progress to determine the reasons of the launch failure.

HPS’ (High Performance Space Structure Systems) ADEO braking sail has successfully deployed aboard D-Orbit’s ION satellite carrier, which will now sail to the edge of Earth’s atmosphere in the shortest possible time to then fully burn up, HPS said. The “Show me your Wings” mission is the final proof-of-concept flight.

Airbus has successfully achieved the System Critical Design Review (CDR) on the EGNOS V3 satellite-based augmentation system. According to the Company, the EGNOS V3 (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service)'s design will add key security features for the most safety-critical applications, such as aircraft navigation and landing. Furthermore, it will provide entirely new services for maritime and land users. EGNOS V3 is the second generation of the overlay system and will improve the performance of GPS and Galileo.

SES has announced that it has successfully launched the first two O3b mPOWER satellites into space aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, United States. With a design that will deliver unprecedented performance with a first-of-its-kind software-driven payload, O3b mPOWER is SES’s second-generation medium earth orbit (MEO) system.

In the sixth episode of Space Café Israel, Meidad Pariente is in conversation with Dr. Reut Sorek Abramovich. Can you share something personal that isn’t written in your LinkedIn profile? So my special thing started when I was doing my PhD in Sydney, Australia, and I decided I needed to gain something that will help me mentally and psychologically. So I started doing belly dancing. And people don't know this but I was pretty good at it.

Maxar Technologies has announced that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement which will see Advent International (“Advent”), one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors, acquire the Company. The acquisition will feature an all-cash transaction that values Maxar at an enterprise value of approximately $6.4 billion. Following the closing of the transaction, Maxar will remain a US-controlled and operated company.

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy released a National In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM) Implementation Plan. The plan is to advance the United States’ strategic vision as in the first-ever ISAM National Strategy, which outlines ways to build capabilities and technologies in space, consistent with the U.S. Space Priorities Framework. 

EUMETSAT has announced the successful launch of its Meteosat Third Generation-Imager 1 (MTG-I1) from the European Space Centre in Kourou. As a result, EUMETSAT Director-General Phil Evans said the successful launch of MTG-I1 was a critical milestone for the organization, bringing the goal of delivering essential data from the satellite’s instruments to meteorologists one step closer