Policy and Law

LuxIMPULSE has awarded NorthStar Earth & Space a contract to accelerate Space Situational Awareness (SSA) services launching later in 2023. LuxIMPULSE is the national space program in Luxembourg for the promotion of research, development, and innovation. It is managed by the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA) with the European Space Agency (ESA) to support companies established in Luxembourg. The contract has been funded by the Government of Luxembourg through an ESA contract.   

The UK can now participate in Horizon Europe and Copernicus programs through a bespoke new agreement with the EU. The deal that the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, secured comes with improved financial terms for the UK's participation. It allows UK researchers to apply for grants and bid to take part in projects under the Horizon program, with certainty that the UK will be participating as a fully associated member for the remaining life of the program to 2027.

The 6th CASSINI Hackathon, titled “Space for International Development and Humanitarian Aid,” is gearing up to tackle pressing global issues with innovative solutions. The event hosted by N3XTCODER in Germany will take place from November 3rd to 5th across 11 locations in Europe. The Hackathon will focus on innovative solutions to advance international development and humanitarian aid. 

Astrobotic have begun work on two NASA Small Business Innovation Research contracts that will further research on lunar plume-surface interactions (PSI), a key area of risk and uncertainty for lunar landing. This testing will generate valuable new data about how lunar dust stirred up by a lander's rocket plumes will affect landing systems, onboard payloads, landing sites, and nearby surface infrastructure on upcoming missions. The first project, 'Floatinator,' aims to control and eliminate a significant testing variable – namely, Earth gravity – that has limited ground-based lunar PSI tests.

UK space agency announces vital US/UK partnership in electric space propulsion between Britain’s Pulsar Fusion and the University of Michigan. Pulsar is seeking ways to leverage the unique test capabilities of the University of Michigan for Hall thrusters. Therefore, the focus of this preliminary Phase I effort is to identify export-compliant paths for allowing this.

TNO, the Institute of Communication and Computer Systems (ICCS), and a consortium of other European partners join forces in the LaiQa-project to develop space internet for cities and continents. Signal losses in fiber over distance are a major hindrance to the future of global quantum internet. Therefore, the project focuses on using satellites to connect cities and continents to eventually become a part of the global quantum internet and fully benefit from its promising applications.

Space Café "Law Breakfast with Steven Freeland" will analyse current space developments with a legal focus. It will, at the same time discuss and ‘demystify’ the law for everyone. In our next Space Café “Law Breakfast with Steven Freeland”, Host Steven Freeland, Emeritus Professor of International Law at Western Sydney University, Sydney and Professorial Fellow at Bond University, Australia, and Co-Host Torsten Kriening, SpaceWatch.Global’s Publisher, welcome Ann Vandenbrouke and Martin Reynders.

Azerbaijan has adopted the Law on Space Activities on 4 August 2023, consequently developing its national space legislature. It consists of six chapters and 24 articles and regulates the legal, economic and organizational bases of space activity in Azerbaijan. In addition to relations for the implementation of national activities in space and entrepreneurial activities in the space industry, the document concludes with a thorough analysis of safety in space activities and the space industry.

Join us at our next Space Café Israel by Meidad Pariente, - Season 2 - Episode 1, where we have the incredible honor of hosting none other than Uri Oron, the Director General of ISA - the Israel Space Agency! Sky's No Limit: Israel's Trailblazing Odyssey in Space! With a distinguished career spanning over 30 years at the IAF, Uri's vast experience includes serving as the head of the IAF Intelligence Division.

The International Space University (ISU), Rice University, and NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) have announced the hosting of the 2024 Space Studies Program (SSP24) in Houston, Texas. The program, which will run from June 8 to August 3, 2024, will hold at Rice’s historic campus, a location deeply rooted in the annals of space exploration.