Space Missions

On 13 November 2019, at the margins of the New Space Europe Conference, Ms. Paulette Lenert, Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs and Ms. Simonetta di Pippo, Director of United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) signed a funding agreement to support UNOOSA’s new “Space Law for New Space Actors” project.

The space age has gone through two paradigm shifts since the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957. Until the early 1990s, ‘Space 1.0’ was the province of government-run, taxpayer-funded space programs. Civil space agencies such as NASA, Russia’s Roscosmos and the European Space Agency, along with military and major aerospace prime contractors, were the main players. Then a paradigm shift to ‘Space 2.0’ got underway when the commercial space sector entered the global market and began to  achieve dominance.

As part of the partnership between SpaceWatch.Global and Dr. Olga Stelmakh-Dresher, we have been granted permission to publish selected articles. This is “From Sustainable Development Goals to Space Sustainability Goals″, originally published on 4 August 2019 at spacegeneration.org

On 4th November 2019 the Austrian Space Forum´s (OeWF) new analog astronaut class of 2019 concluded their challenging training at a formal ceremony at the London Institute of Physics.

GomSpace A/S and the European Space Agency (ESA) signed an addendum to continue development of the Juventas CubeSat in support of the Hera mission.

Six New Zealand research projects have received NZ$500,000 each to fund the development of innovative space technologies including satellite control systems and ocean and coastal monitoring satellites.

The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) launched the 22nd edition of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) Humans in Space Symposium (HIS) at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. The UAE is the first country in the MENA region to host this conference, from 11 to 14 November 2019.

On 6 November 2019, on the occasion of President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to the People’s Republic of China, Centre national d'études spatiales (CNES) President Jean-Yves Le Gall and Zhang Kejian, Administrator of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), signed in the presence of Presidents Macron and Xi Jinping a joint statement covering two fields of investigation.

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) has shipped a 16kg Target satellite for Astroscale's End-of-Life Services by Astroscale demonstration (ELSA-d) mission to Tokyo, where it will be bolted to the Chaser satellite for environmental testing ahead of launch in 2020.

In this article, Simon Drake, MD of Space Ventures Investors, CEO of Space Commodities Exchange, and organiser of Space Resources Community Voice, explores the reasons why space really has to rise to the top of politicians' lists of priorities and why it's down to us to do something about it.