The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded the U.K. branch of D-Orbit a contract to develop debris removal technology, the company announced Wednesday, Sept. 8. The ESA contract is worth $2.6 million (2.2 million euros) as part of ESA’s Space Safety Programme (S2P). D-Orbit will development and perform an in-orbit demonstration of a “Deorbit Kit”…

Rocket Lab has signed a deal with in-space manufacturing company Varda Space Industries to produce three Photon spacecraft that will integrate with the company’s “space factories.”   Varda Space is working to commercialize space manufacturing to build fiber optic cables, pharmaceuticals, and semiconductors, which the company says have higher performance when produced in zero-gravity. Varda Space…

Malaysian satellite operator Measat was unable to salvage the Measat-3 satellite after it suffered an anomaly in late June. The company announced Friday that it is now in the process of de-orbiting the satellite, which will take place over the next few weeks. Measat still does not know the cause of the anomaly and said…

Space debris removal company Astroscale secured two significant endorsements of its long-term sustainability solutions within its home nation of Japan — its first collaborative partnership agreement with a launch service provider, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), and an in-orbit servicing robotics research contract with the Japanese government. MHI, one of Japan's largest global aerospace companies, will…