Space Missions

UAE Space Agency announced on the 28th of May the Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt, the EMA. The concept plan of the mission to the main asteroid belt began in 2019. The Emirati spacecraft will take a 5 billion km trip to a region between Mars and Jupiter to study asteroids. “The initial idea of what should we do after the Emirates Mars Mission actually started one or two years prior to the launch of the Hope probe,” Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of State for Public Education and Advanced Technology, and chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency, exclusively told The National on Wednesday.

The United States Department of State has released the first-ever Strategic Framework for Space Diplomacy to advance U.S. global space leadership. Through this Framework, the Department will expand international cooperation on mutually beneficial space activities, including through the Artemis Accords and commitments against destructive anti-satellite missile tests. Furthermore, the Department will encourage responsible behaviour, strengthen understanding and support for U.S. national space policies, and promote international use of U.S. space capabilities.

China launched three astronauts to its Tiangong space station on Tuesday, putting a civilian into orbit for the first time as it pursues plans to send a crewed mission to the Moon by the end of the decade, according to Times of India. 

Satellite Vu, the UK climate tech company, has announced its Series A2 of £12.7m, bringing its total investment to £30.5m in Venture Capital funding. The funding will help the Company accelerate its mission to provide sustainable solutions to global issues. Molten Ventures led the round, with participation from Seraphim Space Investment Trust PLC, A/O Proptech, Lockheed Martin, Ridgeline Ventures, Earth Sciences Foundation, and Stellar Ventures - all existing investors.

Copernicus Space Corporation has announced that Andrew Rush has joined the Company as its President and Chief Executive Officer. The Company leverages deep knowledge of astrophysics, space systems engineering, and synthetic biology to pioneer a unique space technology platform for distributed, intelligent in situ Swarm Exploration™. 

OneWeb and Arctic Space Technologies have announced a leap forward in the construction of the OneWeb Satellite Network Portal (SNP), a hyperscale satellite ground station installation at the Arctic Space Technologies’ Space Center in Piteå. The companies signed a bilateral agreement in December of 2022 and have now finalized the detailed design work as well as obtained all approvals for the construction of the SNP. As a result,  the agreement will see the installation and operationalization of 27 satellite tracking antennas by Q3 2023.

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. has successfully completed the second of two dedicated Electron launches to deploy a constellation of tropical cyclone monitoring satellites for NASA. The "Coming To A Storm Near You" launch lifted-off on May 26 at 15:46 NZST (03:46 UTC) from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula, deploying the final two CubeSats of NASA’s TROPICS constellation to orbit.

Arabsat has launched its Airbus-built Badr-8 telecommunications satellite from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Based on Airbus’ latest geostationary Eurostar Neo satellite, Badr-8 will provide connectivity for users across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia.

ispace, inc. has announced today that it has reviewed and completed the analysis of the flight data from its HAKUTO-R Mission 1 landing sequence on April 26, 2023.

SpaceWatch.Global is pleased to present: The Space Café Podcast #81: Knicole Colon - Renowned NASA Astrophysicist and Expert in Exoplanet Exploration. The hunt for a second home. Join us in this thought-provoking episode as I sit down with Dr. Knicole Colon, a distinguished astrophysicist from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, to uncover the mysteries of exoplanets and discuss the future of space exploration.