Tag Archives: European Commission

Our Space Cafe WebTalk “33 minutes with Catherine Kavvada - Secure connectivity and Space Traffic Management made by Europe” took place on Tuesday, 5th April. Catherine Kavvada is a director for Innovation and outreach at the Directorate General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS) at the European Commission in Brussels. Kavvada is a trained lawyer

Arianespace has been awarded a launch contract by the European Space Agency (ESA) on behalf of the European Commission, to launch Sentinel-1C in the first half of 2023 on Vega-C, Arianespace said. The 2.3-tonne satellite, will be deployed in a Sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of about 690 km.

The European Commission announced a number of initiatives in areas critical for defence and security within the European Union. These comprise the conventional defence industry and equipment on land, sea, air, cyber, hybrid and space threats. The Commission’s aim is to strengthen the Union's ability to counter fast-changing multi-layered threats.

Launch service provider Isar Aerospace announced it has won the European Commission’s EIC Horizon Prize “Low-Cost Space Launch” award, receiving €10M in prize money. The prize was awarded to Isar for its launch service solution using the two-stage launch vehicle, Spectrum. The rocket offers flexible and cost-efficient access to space for small and medium-sized satellites and constellations.

Europe has to accelerate the development of its space assets and architectures to “weigh in on the global stage”, the European commissioner for internal market, Thierry Breton, said. The commission will therefore launch the European Space Launcher Alliance, the "first ever" Space Partnership and a European Space & Defence Strategy, he said.

UN:IO consortium members will conduct a feasibility study to create a sovereign communications network for Europe by 2025, the company announced. The European Commission funded the project with €1.4M. The consortium comprises 14 NewSpace companies led by satellite manufacturer Reflex Aerospace, launch provider Isar Aerospace and laser specialist Mynaric.

The recently established consortium of 22 European companies from 8 countries, New Symphonie, has won a concept study for the European Commission (EC) aiming to develop new ideas for an innovative European broadband constellation, Euroconsult reported. The project is called “New Space solutions for long-term availability of reliable, secure, cost-effective space-based connectivity”.

Greece builds up its national satellite capabilities and received support from the European Space Agency (ESA) to do that. The Greek Ministry of Digital Governance said it will implement its Greek National Satellite Space Project, with the technical support of ESA. The project is part of Greece´s Recovery and Resilience Facility plans

EU member states and the European Commission cut the budget of the Horizon Europe space research partnership, aimed to drive EU competitiveness in the global market, Science Business reported. Industry partners will have to decide now if it is worth going ahead with the project or not.

Iceye on Copernicus: the company announced it has become a Contributing Mission to the Copernicus Programme, the largest Earth observation programme in the world. According to the agreement, Copernicus services will have access to Iceye’s synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) imagery. The collaboration will be funded by the European Commission and operated by ESA.