Tag Archives: Commercial Space

Chinese automotive and technology giant Zhejiang Geely Holding Group announced on 3 March 2020 that it is investing 2.27 billion Yuan (US$326 million) in a satellite manufacturing facility to be located in the coastal city of Taizhou, Zhejiang province, considered to be the ‘hometown’ of the company. The satellite manufacturing …

The European Space Agency (ESA) is calling on ambitious start-ups to join the new ESA Start-up Competition. This opportunity is open to entrepreneurs in all ESA Member States that are developing innovative services and/or products using space technology. The winners will be offered tailor-made ESA technical and business support in …

Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. announced on 25 Febrary 2020 that in preparation for the re-opening of spaceflight sales, it is introducing the One Small Step initiative.

Sydney-based Australian space company Saber Astronautics plans to launch an app to allow anyone with a telescope to track satellites and space debris, according to a report in spaceconnectonline.com/au published on 27 February 2020.

By Raphael Roettgen The over US$220 million of announced space-related financing rounds in February 2020 handily beat the January number (US$170 million). Two satellite communication companies, American Astranis (with its $90 million in equity and venture debt) and French Kinéis, were responsible for US$200 million of the total amount. Just …

With the rise of the small satellite, industry launch vehicles need new solutions to offer  tailored and cost-effective access to space. The space industry took a big leap forward when SpaceX started recovering the first stage of its rockets, thus decreasing launch prices drastically. Currently, reusability is one of the trending topics in the launcher industry.

In May 2019, Spanish company PLD Space suffered a catastrophic engine failure, which caused material damage, including the loss of the first flight version of the TEPREL-B liquid rocket engine, developed by PLD Space for MIURA 1 launch vehicle.

Channel network and content distributor AfricaXP has signed multi-year agreements with Eutelsat Communications for Ku-band capacity on two Eutelsat satellites, positioned at 16° East and 7° East.

AAC Clyde Space has been selected to supply batteries to the Nova-C lunar lander mission led by the U.S. company Intuitive Machines.

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has issued an industrial capacity-building contribution announcement of opportunity (AO) for the Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program (LEAP), as reported by Space Q.