Tag Archives: ESA

Viasat, Inc. has demonstrated a UK satellite-based augmentation system (UK SBAS) for the first time, showing how highly accurate GPS data can maximize safety and improve efficiency. The test flight, from Cranfield Airport using the National Flying Laboratory Centre's Saab 340B aircraft showcased a UK-based SBAS that delivers more precise, reliable navigation data.

ESA held its Annual Directors General Press Conference at its PARIS HQ on 11 January 2024. A recording is available here  and a slide deck here. Among the many topics covered, one generated several burning questions: NASA having just a few days earlier announced Artemis II and III delays, would that impact ESA, and if yes, how? 

SPACEBEL has announced a contract with OHB Italia S.p.A. (Milano), the prime contractor of the Comet Interceptor mission, a European Space Agency (ESA) and Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) program.  As a result of the contract, SPACEBEL will provide the Central Software that manages the whole spacecraft, its platform equipment and its payload instruments. This new project will involve a team of up to ten SPACEBEL engineers over the next two years.

Sustainability reporting SaaS company Earth Blox has announced its availability on Google Cloud Marketplace. The company provides customers with a scalable and customisable platform to rapidly assess climate and nature-related risks and impacts for millions of assets and facilities worldwide. Google Cloud Marketplace lets users quickly deploy functional software packages that run on Google Cloud and allows customers to easily start up a familiar software package with services like Compute Engine or Cloud Storage, with no manual configuration required.

Teams from Telespazio, ALTEC and Thales Alenia Space successfully completed the first System Validation Tests (SVTs) this week for the European Space Agency’s reusable Space Rider spacecraft. The ground segment tests aim to validate the interfaces between the ground and flight segment elements. This testing is a key aspect of the Space Rider Phase D activities which began last July. 

NASA has launched its Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) instrument as a payload on Intelsat 40E aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The instrument aims to provide unprecedented resolution of monitoring major air pollutants – down to four square miles. As a result, it also aims to improve life on Earth by revolutionizing the way scientists observe air quality from space. 

The Council of the European Union (The Council) have adopted conclusions on ‘Space traffic management: state of play’. The conclusions address the challenges of an increasingly congested orbital space and the need for a common approach to ensure a safe and sustainable European space policy. As a result, the conclusions stress the urgency of developing an EU space traffic management (STM) approach, which will contribute to space safety, sustainability and security, and welcome the progress made so far.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced the appointment of two new Directors by its 22 Member States at its council meeting. As a result, Laurent Jaffart will become the next Director of Connectivity and Secure Communications, and Marco Ferrazzani will become the next Director of Internal Services.

UK-based orbital launch services company, Orbex, has won £3.3 million in funding from the UK Space Agency as part of the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) “Boost!” initiative. The initiative, which is part of ESA’s Commercial Space Transportation Services and Support programme, aims to further the development of world-leading space launch technologies.

Researchers are using a human-machine collaborative approach to assess areas of poverty in underdeveloped nations. Providing an accurate assessment of poverty is a global challenge with 53 countries not conducting agricultural surveys in the past 15 years, and 17 countries not publishing a population census. To fill the data gap new technologies are being used to estimate poverty using alternative sources including street views, aerial photos, and satellite images.