Following initial announcements in December 2020, Japan’s Sumitomo Forestry and engineers at Kyoto University have confirmed aspirations for an orbital mission of a small satellite based on a wooden structure. The system, which is expected to aid efforts to reduce the number of dangerous space junk, is scheduled to enter… Read More »Japanese wooden satellite scheduled for 2022
In an unusual submission to the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), Chinese authorities came forward to report on orbital incidents and collision risks allegedly caused by Starlink satellites. In doing so, China appealed to the U.S. (as the state responsible for SpaceX instruments under principles… Read More »Chinese authorities report collision risk with Starlink satellites to the UN
After numerous different predictions in recent hours indicating the possible fall regions of the segment with a several-ton payload of the Russian Angara A5 rocket, the deorbiting of its remnants, ended up in an area matching the original predictions – the oceanic zone in the South Pacific, considered a graveyard… Read More »How Angara 5 ended up
Synspective, Inc., which is building a small SAR satellite constellation, announced that it has signed a new contract with Rocket Lab to launch a second demonstration satellite, StriX-beta, on Rocket Lab’s Electron small launch vehicle in early 2022. This contract also includes the launch of two small SAR satellites to… Read More »Synspective signs a contract to launch second satellite
iQPS, which is promoting the construction of a constellation of 36 small SAR satellites, announced that it has raised 3.85 billion yen ($33.8 million) in the first close of its Series B round. The total amount of funding raised so far is approximately 7.2 billion yen ($63.2 million). iQPS had… Read More »iQPS makes progress with its constellation build-up
Military rivalry in space between the US, China and Russia is growing as the recent events demonstrate. In an interview with “The Washington Post” newspaper, the deputy chief of space operations of the US Space Force component, Gen. David Thompson indicated that US satellites in orbit are the target of… Read More »On growing space rivalry between the US, China and Russia
The Israeli media have reported on the serious, albeit unofficial reservations which the Israeli Ministry of Defence has expressed regarding the expected sale of Spacecom, a satellite company, to the Hungarian company 4iG. This concerns the intention, signalled in June this year, to acquire 51% of the shares in this… Read More »Can Spacecom sale get blocked?
NASA has announced that it has completed assembly of the SLS launch vehicle that will be used to launch the Orion spacecraft, which will carry astronauts in the Artemis program. At the same time, the agency also announced that the first launch of the SLS rocket, an unmanned lunar orbit… Read More »SLS rocket scheduled to launch in February 2022
On October 26, the United Kingdom’s Space Agency and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) announced that they have selected two debris removal companies, including Astroscale, and one space situational awareness company to participate in a joint research program on space debris removal. The plan is to… Read More »UK’s space agency supports foreign companies in space debris removal segment
On Sunday, October 24 this year from the spaceport Kourou in French Guiana was successfully launched into space a payload containing two heavy telecommunications satellites. One of them was an instrument created for the French armed forces: Syracuse-4A. It is a system that is expected to provide France with a… Read More »Syracuse-4A enhances French defense capabilities in space