Satellite News
Thales Alenia Space to Build State-of-the-art ASTRA 1P and ASTRA 1Q Satellites for SES
Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), announced that it has signed a contract with SES to deliver 2 Ku-band geostationary satellites, ASTRA 1P and ASTRA 1Q to serve SES’s major European broadcasters’ content distribution operations as well as deliver connectivity services over Europe at 19.2°E. Spacebus NEO, the most attractive solution for very demanding capacitive missions ASTRA 1P, a classic wide-beam satellite, will support SES’s prime TV
Satellite operator Telesat goes public
Telesat Corporation announced today that it is now a public company and will begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “TSAT”. This follows the closing of Telesat’s previously announced transaction with Loral Space and Communications Inc. and Public Sector Pension Investment Board,
French military intelligence satellites launch on Vega rocket
Vega delivered three CERES payloads for the French Ministry of the Armed Forces. Each payload is equipped with high-performance sensors. Flying in formation in low Earth orbit, they will offer all-weather observation, daily revisit frequency, and can collect data enabling the characterisation and location of transmitters
US-European satellite to track world’s water
An international team of engineers and technicians has finished assembling a next-generation satellite that will make the first global survey of Earth’s surface water and study fine-scale ocean currents. The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission is just a year out from launch, and the final set of tests on the spacecraft have started. SWOT is a collaboration between NASA and CNES
French satellite startup Kinéis gets regulatory nod for U.S. expansion
French startup Kinéis secured regulatory approval Nov. 18 to connect internet of things devices in the United States to its planned nanosatellite constellation.
Exploration News
U.S. officials: Space station at risk from ‘reckless’ Russian anti-satellite test
Russia shot down an old Soviet-era military spacecraft Monday in a test of an anti-satellite weapon, scattering hundreds of thousands of debris fragments that will remain in orbit for years or decades, U.S. government officials said. The crew on the International Space Station sheltered in their lifeboats Monday as the complex flew through the debris field.
Planetary Defenders: After NASA’s DART Comes ESA’s HERA
The world will be watching the milestone launch of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test, DART , spacecraft on Wednesday, 24 November, intended to alter one small part of the Solar System forever. DART will collide with the small moon of an asteroid in order to shift its orbit around its parent body – to test the concept of diverting threatening objects away from Earth.
Launcher News
SpaceX targets January or February for first launch of world’s largest rocket
SpaceX’s team in South Texas is gearing up to be ready for the first combined launch of the Super Heavy booster and Starship mega-rocket as soon as January, assuming the company completes launch pad construction, ground testing, and secures regulatory approval from the Federal Aviation Administration, founder Elon Musk said Wednesday.
Latest Vega Launch Paves Way for Vega-C
A European Vega rocket fired into space from French Guiana Tuesday clearing the way for final modifications on the Vega launch pad for an uprated version of the booster set to debut next year.
Astra’s Rocket 3.3 reaches orbit on fourth attempt
Astra Space’s Rocket 3.3 successfully reached orbit on a Nov. 20 launch, the fourth orbital launch attempt by the small launch vehicle startup.
Rocket Factory Augsburg lands new customer in build up to first launch
German launch startup Rocket Factory Augsburg has signed a new customer for the first launch of its RFA One rocket next year.
NewSpace News
Demo’ing SAR OISL Capability With The SDA’s Architecture Is Capella Space
Capella Space has announced that the company will become the first commercial synthetic aperture radar (SAR) supplier to demonstrate Optical Inter-Satellite Link (OISL) compatibility with the U.S. Space Development Agency (SDA)’s new National Defense Space Architecture (NDSA). SAR data is a highly valuable asset for the SDA and the U.S. Department of Defense
Sierra Space raises $1.4 billion
Sierra Space, the space subsidiary of Sierra Nevada Corporation, has raised $1.4 billion in a Series A round that values the company at $4.5 billion.
Fleet Space raises $26.4 million in Series B round
Fleet Space Technologies raised $26.4 million in a Series B investment round that puts a value of $126 million on the Australian internet-of-things satellite constellation.
Universal Docking Device Debuts From Astroscale
Astroscale Holdings Inc. (“Astroscale”) has revealed a universal docking device the company hopes will become a standard fitment on all, future, LEO satellites. There are an unprecedented number of satellites due to launch over the next decade, the majority into LEO, (250 to 2000 km above Earth). The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has approved 16,447 satellites […]
RFA and Lúnasa’s MoU Will Provide Flexible Cost-Effective In-Orbit Services
These two companies are consolidating their partnership in the field of space logistics to offer small satellite customers flexible and cost-effective launch services. Lúnasa Ltd. and Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA) have jointly signed a memorandum of understanding. The two companies are consolidating their partnership in the field of space logistics to offer small satellite […]
Space Safety News
U.S. officials: Anti-satellite test another sign of Russia’s aggressive intentions in space
U.S. Space Force officials Nov. 17 condemned Russia’s missile strike that destroyed a defunct satellite COSMOS1408 in low Earth orbit just below 500km.
Live coverage: Space station crew members take cover from space debris
Mon, 15 Nov 2021 13:51:32 +0000
The seven astronauts and cosmonauts living on the International Space Station took refuge Monday morning inside their Dragon and Soyuz ferry ships after a space debris field threatened to pass near the outpost
US still characterizing damage of satellite struck in Russian missile test
The United States is still characterising the damage from an anti-satellite missile test allegedly conducted by Russia earlier this week, US Space Command Deputy Commander John Shaw said
When debris disaster strikes
In 2021 so far, some 2467 new objects large enough to be tracked have been added to world catalogues of orbital objects, out of which 1493 are new satellites and the rest are debris. While new objects are added, others are dragged down to Earth by the atmosphere where they safely burn up, resulting in a net increase of at least 1387 trackable objects between 2020 and 2021.
LeoLabs tracks debris cloud expanding in low Earth orbit
LeoLabs expects to be issuing collision alerts for many years to help satellite operators dodge the new debris field.
