Open Cosmos signs contract with the European Space Agency to progress key elements of the NanoMagSat mission concept: a pioneering small satellite constellation to monitor Earth’s magnetic field and ionospheric environment

• Through a €5.2m contract with ESA, Open Cosmos, together with IPGP, CEA-Leti, COMET-Ingenieria and University of Oslo are working on activities to de-risk the critical elements of the NanoMagSat mission;
• The NanoMagSat mission concept is a small satellite constellation aiming at flying a novel suite of instruments to monitor the Earth magnetic field and the ionospheric environment at high revisit times;
• The magnetic field of the Earth is crucial to life and acts as a shield against incoming energetic charged particles. Identifying and understanding Earth’s magnetic field multiple sources is also essential to aid precise navigation, reveal properties of the shallow and deep Earth, and provide key information for geophysical surveying of minerals;
• The NanoMagSat mission aims to be a worthy successor of previous missions such as Oersted and CHAMP and ideally complement and extend the measurements of the electromagnetic field beyond the Swarm mission launched in 2013

OXFORD (Open Cosmos PR) — Open Cosmos – the leading SpaceTech startup simplifying access to space to help solve the world’s biggest challenges – is today announcing its latest contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) on the NanoMagSat mission concept. 

GREENBELT, Md. (NASA PR) — On behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA has selected two firms for the Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) Ocean Color (OCX) instrument Phase A Study. These contracted firms will help meet the objectives of NOAA’s GeoXO Program. 

The firms selected are Ball Aerospace of Boulder, Colorado and Raytheon Intelligence & Space, El Segundo, California. The total value of each of these twenty-month firm-fixed-price contracts is approximately $5.2 million. The work will be performed at the contractors’ facilities.

FAA Statement The FAA intends to issue the Final Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) for the SpaceX Starship / Super Heavy project on June 13, 2022. Interagency consultation is ongoing. The completion of the PEA will not guarantee that the FAA will issue a launch license. SpaceX’s application also must meet FAA safety, risk and financial responsibility requirements. In addition, the comments submitted during the Draft PEA public comment period are posted here. 

• Record Q1 Revenue, up 91% Compared to Prior Year Period
• Imagery and Software Analytical Services Revenue Grew to 70% of Total Revenue

HERNDON, Va. (BlackSky PR) — BlackSky Technology Inc. (“BlackSky” or the “Company”) (NYSE: BKSY), a leading provider of real-time geospatial intelligence and global monitoring, today announced its results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2022.

First Quarter Financial Highlights:

• Record revenue of $13.9 million, up 91% from prior year period
• Imagery & software analytical services revenue improves 63% over prior year’s quarter
• Net loss of $20.0 million
• Adjusted EBITDA ⁽¹⁾ loss of $9.5 million
• Cash balance at the end of March 2022 was $138.4 million
• Capital expenditures of $13.4 million

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

Moon dust poses a major challenge to NASA as the space agency prepares to return astronauts to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. The abrasive, glass-like dust sticks to spacesuits, irritates throats and lungs, and threatens to clog vital equipment.

To address these challenges, NASA has selected lunar dust mitigation projects from Force Engineering, Innovative Aerospace, Smart Material Solutions and Cornerstone Research Group for continued funding under its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The Phase II grants are worth up to $750,000 each. The companies previously received smaller SBIR Phase I grants.

Demonstrating a new era of software-driven asteroid discovery

SAN FRANCISCO (B612 Foundation PR) — The Asteroid Institute, a program of B612 Foundation, today announced it is using a groundbreaking computational technique running on its Asteroid Discovery Analysis and Mapping (ADAM) cloud-based astrodynamics platform to discover and track asteroids. The Minor Planet Center has confirmed and added the first 104 of these newly discovered asteroids to its registry, thus opening the door for Asteroid Institute-supported researchers to submit thousands of additional new discoveries. 

LONGUEUIL, Quebec (CSA PR) — The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and Impact Canada have selected the 20 semi-finalists for the Deep Space Healthcare Challenge, a competition to develop innovative healthcare technologies for people living in remote communities now, and crews on long-duration space missions in the future.

The teams selected by the Deep Space Healthcare Challenge jury will receive $30,000 in prize money and advance to Stage 2. In the second stage, semi-finalists will build a proof-of-concept that can generate data in a lab environment.

The semi-finalists are:

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

NASA is funding a trio of research and development (R&D) projects by Nanoracks, Teltrium Solutions and Emergent Space Technologies aimed at enabling swarms of small satellites to better operate in Earth orbit and to explore other worlds.

The companies each received Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II awards worth $750,000 to continue work on the their technologies. They each received smaller awards under the first phase of of the program.

Nanoracks, which is based in Houston, is focused on reusing spent rocket stages known as Outposts to help improve communications with satellite swarms exploring the moon and other planets.

MANOA, Hawaii (University of Hawaii at Manoa PR) — A University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa-led project to better predict and understand weather in space earned a major boost from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The four-year, $2.5 million grant will fund a project to construct a space weather station center on the UH Mānoa campus and deploy a neutron monitor on Maui, which researchers say will greatly improve their research in this critical field.

• Revenue increased to $18.1 million resulting in 86% year over year (YoY) growth
• ARR of $81.6 million reflected $10.9 million of sequential and 134% YoY growth
• Improved full year guidance – increased ARR low end range; lowered operating loss¹
• Reaffirmed remaining guidance

VIENNA, Va. (Spire Global PR) — Spire Global, Inc. (NYSE: SPIR) (“Spire” or “the Company”) a leading provider of space-based data, analytics and space services, today announced results for its quarter ended March 31, 2022.

“The first quarter was defined by strong execution, delivering results that exceeded our expectations on the top and bottom line. As market volatility, inflationary pressures, and supply chain constraints continue to make headlines, Spire is bringing insights to help our customers drive stability and operational efficiencies during these dynamic times,” said Peter Platzer, Spire’s CEO. “Customers recognize the value of Spire data, and we have seen them expand across our data products and up the data value chain. We look for continued growth and further customer diversity as more use cases for Spire’s data become apparent.”

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, 30 May 2022 (Astrocast PR) – Astrocast, a leading global nanosatellite IoT network operator, today announced the signature of an agreement to acquire Hiber, a Netherlands-based, IoT-as-a-Service provider. Under the agreement, Astrocast agreed to acquire all of Hiber’s shares in exchange for the issuance of new Astrocast shares, representing 16.5% of Astrocast’s share capital, calculated prior to its previously announced public offering on Euronext Growth Paris. Hiber’s shareholders also agreed to invest €10.45 million in Astrocast’s public offering.

Hiber provides asset monitoring and tracking solutions to industrial customers, through satellite-connected devices that allow customers to monitor and track assets in remote locations. Its services include wellhead monitoring for major oil and gas companies and asset tracking for off-grid worksites in sectors such as agriculture, forestry, and mining. Its business model is based on multi-year subscriptions covering sensors, network hardware, satellite connectivity and a dashboard.

Revenue Increased 1075% in First Quarter 2022 from First Quarter 2021

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Sidus Space PR) — Sidus Space, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIDU), a Space-as-a-Service satellite company focused on commercial satellite design, manufacture, launch, and data collection, today announced recent company highlights and financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2022.

Q1 2022 Financial Highlights:

• Revenue increased to $1,799,335 for the three months ended March 31, 2022 from $153,136 in the comparable period of 2021, an increase of 1075%. This was driven by growth in number of customers and significant growth in the size of contracts.
• Gross Profit increased to $978,337 for the three months ended March 31, 2022 from a loss of $134,540 in the comparable period of 2021. This was primarily attributable to the increase in revenue and decrease in labor intensive contracts and an increase in our higher margin Satellite-as-a-Service business line.
• Operating Expenses increased to $3,242,783 for the three months ended March 31, 2022 compared to $385,174 for the three months ended March 31, 2021. This was primarily the result of the expansion of staff, the leasing of more space for expansion and a one-time non-cash expense of $1.2M.
• As of March 31, 2022, the Company had $10.4 million in cash.