The space industry is in the midst of transformation as the industry moves from a niche market to mainstream, industry leaders said on April 8 at the LEO Digital Forum. The satellite industry is often compared to the internet and PCs in the mid -90s, and still has a long way to go, said Theresa…

Airbus Defence and Space and the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) are developing a new prototype satellite laser communication terminal for the European Space Agency (ESA). The terminal, named UltraAir, will be designed to improve connectivity between aircraft and satellites in Geostationary Orbit (GEO). Initial test demonstrations are scheduled to take place at…

BridgeComm reports that it has demonstrated high-speed optical communications of speeds beyond 100 Gb per second in a lab setting. The company announced Thursday that it will hold point-to-point demonstrations of the technology in North Carolina next week.  BridgeComm said this Optical Wireless Communications (OWC) technology can meet demands for fast and secure point-to-point data…

Astroscale, the Japanese startup that wants to remove dangerous clutter from an already congested space environment, reached a critical milestone with the successful launch of its ELSA-D debris removal spacecraft early Monday morning. Russia's GK Launch Services sent ELSA-D into space on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The mission was originally…