E-letter: Briefs

Astranis Space Technologies sees dual-use potential for its MicroGEO satellite platform for both government and military applications. CEO John Gedmark and new Vice President of Government Sales Scott Jacobs discussed […]

French space company Exotrail will debut a new orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) for rideshare missions called the SpaceVan on the SpaceX rideshare mission set for October 2023.  The company said […]

Astra Space, Inc. will supply LeoStella with spacecraft engines under a new contract announced Tuesday. Astra is a smallsat launcher and is expanding into space technologies. The launcher acquired propulsion […]

Viasat has signed an MoU with Bahrain Telecommunication Company (Batelco) to distribute satellite broadband connectivity to businesses in the Middle East and North Africa region. Batelco is a digital solutions […]

Indonesian telecommunications company PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN) selected Hughes Network Systems’ Jupiter ground platform for its Nusantara Lima satellite. Under the contract announced Tuesday, a total of 11 Jupiter […]

Former Inmarsat CEO Rupert Pearce is joining energy service company Highview Power as CEO, the company announced Monday.  Pearce led Inmarsat for nearly a decade before his departure in early […]

Aerojet Rocketdyne secured its largest-ever RL10 engine contract to deliver 116 engines for United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur Rocket. Aerojet announced the deal on Monday, financial terms were not disclosed. The […]

Satellite industry veteran Yoel Gat died on April 8, SatixFy Communications announced Sunday. Gat was a 40-year veteran of the satellite industry and co-founded Gilat Satellite Networks, RaySat, and SatixFy. […]

Axiom Space and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. are forming a joint venture in Japan to offer on-orbit services to commercial and government customers. The agreement announced Monday comes after Mitsui […]

SpaceX launched an all-private astronaut crew to the International Space Station on Friday, marking the first such mission to the ISS. The mission is for Axiom Space, a company working […]

Alaska Airlines is expanding its partnership with Intelsat to provide in-flight connectivity (IFC) on 105 of the company’s new fleet of Boeing 737MAX aircraft. Intelsat-equipped aircraft deliveries have already commenced […]

U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command (SSC) may hold an industry day to hear from commercial companies about possible technologies for space debris removal, the profit potential for such companies […]

Thales Alenia Space is joining forces with AIKO to develop advanced software for space systems, the two companies announced April 8. The partnership will primarily study the use of artificial […]

United Kingdom operator Inmarsat confirmed Thursday that its second I-6 series satellite — I-6 F2 — has begun the months-long thermal vacuum testing process. The satellite, manufactured by Airbus Defense […]

U.S. and United Arab Emirates-based space tech company Precious Payload released the first API software integration of the “Launch.ctrl” space navigation tool it developed with “ienai GO” software by Spanish propulsion solutions provider Ienai […]

SES continued to fortify its cloud strategy with the signing of a new dedicated connectivity deal with one of the world’s biggest IT companies, Oracle. The contract, which SES announced […]

The Department of the Air Force is to take advantage of efforts led by Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. David ‘DT’ Thompson on future ground moving target indication (GMTI) […]

The commercial reality of parabolic flights launched from the United Kingdom is now one step closer with the news that Blue Abyss, and 0-G Launch have signed a memorandum of understanding to […]

Investors gave a staggering $15 billion in total financing to startup space companies in 2021, according to a report published Wednesday by BryceTech. This nearly doubles the previous record of […]

LITTLETON, Colo.— Lockheed Martin later this year plans to launch the first two of three satellites that will form the company’s testbed in space to test and demonstrate advanced communications and data […]

Two dozen executives from the space industry’s largest companies signed an Aerospace Corp.-drafted industry pledge Tuesday morning to increase workforce diversity, report annual data on diversity in senior leadership roles, […]

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) has won a new contract from the UK Space Command worth 22 million pounds ($28.85 million) to build a for a 150 kg satellite based […]

Satellite imagery provider Satellogic successfully launched five additional spacecraft to Sun-Synchronous Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) on Friday aboard SpaceX‘s Transporter-4 Falcon 9 rideshare mission originating from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. […]

Aerospace manufacturer Lockheed Martin published an open-source, non-proprietary Mission Augmentation Port (MAP) interface standard for on-orbit spacecraft docking on Monday and made it available for download on their website. The […]

Thaicom is the latest satellite player to sign a deal with Amazon Web Services (AWS) as it looks to deploy a cloud-based satellite TV broadcast distribution platform for the Asia […]

QVC UK will continue to broadcast on SES satellites after the two companies signed a five-year contract renewal. In an announcement released April 4, SES said that the deal will […]

NASA has selected Blue Canyon Technologies to build eight microsatellite buses for the agency’s HelioSwarm science mission to study solar wind and space plasma turbulence. Blue Canyon, a subsidiary of […]

The U.S. Space Force is awarding Slingshot Aerospace a $25.2 million contract to support development of the company’s Digital Space Twin, which simulates scenarios in space. The Digital Space Twin […]

Boeing is opening a new small satellite production facility to take advantage of capabilities from Boeing and subsidiary Millennium Space Systems. The facility, announced Wednesday, is housed in Boeing’s manufacturing […]

ABS has won a new multi-year capacity deal with Taiwanese service provider Teleport Access Service (TAS), the company announced March 29. TAS will distribute Buddhism-based channel Hwazan TV on the […]