Space Missions

Satellite operators Eutelsat Communications and OneWeb have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to create a leading global connectivity company through a merger between them in an all-share transaction, Eutelsat said. Eutelsat will combine its 36-satellite geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) fleet with OneWeb’s constellation of 648 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. 

China has successfully docked Wentian, the second module of its Tiangong space station to the first, Tianhe section, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said. The rendezvous and docking process with the forward port of Tianhe went smoothly, taking approximately 13 hours. Wentian will be moved to a side port with the help of the module's 10-meter-long robotic arm.

Airbus and Northrop Grumman have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to address the UK Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) Skynet Enduring Capability (SKEC) military satellite communications requirements as a joint team, Airbus said. The merging of the experience, knowledge, and capabilities of the two companies will enable optimal solutions for the space and ground segments of Skynet.

In this Space Café Radio – SpaceWatch.Global Event coordinator and Space Café Young Global Talents Host Chiara Moenter spoke with Robert Meisner, Earth Observation Outreach and Φ-Experience coordinator at ESA, at the Living Planet Symposium in Bonn. This symposium is the world’s largest Earth Observation conference.

Satellite technology company, Satellite Vu (SatVu), has commissioned a new clone of its original satellite in collaboration with small satellite supplier, Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL), to double its data collection capacity, SatVu said. The second thermal imaging satellite will collect thermal data utilizing SatVu’s Mid Wave Infra-Red (MWIR) technology.

NASA is postponing the fifth commercial crew mission, Crew-5, to the International Space Station (ISS) by several weeks due to damage caused to the Falcon 9 booster during transport, the agency said. The launch was originally planned for early September but NASA said it will now not take place before 29th September.

Space materials and software developer, G-Space, has been selected by the NASA Science Mission Directorate for a highly competitive award to provide unique microgravity insights from the openly available data in NASA’s Physical Sciences Informatics (PSI) Systems, the company said. 

ESA’s Samantha Cristoforetti became the first European female spacewalker when she went outside the International Space Station (ISS) with Russian cosmonaut, Oleg Artemyev, to complete a seven-hour mission working on the space station. Works carried out by the pair included installing platforms and workstation adapter hardware to the Nauka laboratory module.

In this Space Café Radio - SpaceWatch.Global publisher Torsten Kriening spoke with Dr. Brian Weeden, Director of Program Planning for Secure World Foundation, at the LEO Kinetic Space Safety Workshop in Lausanne about threats and risks in Low Earth Orbit and how to move forward to a sustainable future in space. This episode talks about Space Situational Awareness, our awareness level, mega-constellations and risk management of the current situation.

The French Space Agency, CNES (Centre National d’Études Spatiales), selected private European launch service provider, Isar Aerospace, to operate its rockets at the Diamant site of CSG (Centre Spatial Guyanais) in French Guiana, Isar said. The company has signed a binding term sheet for conducting commercial and institutional launch operations at CSG starting from 2024.