The collaboration will combine SAR satellite imagery with property insights to enable insurers to respond to flood claims with greater efficiency and accuracy

CHICAGO & HELSINKI (Arturo PR) — Arturo, the proptech company that delivers intelligent analytics from individual property to portfolio, and ICEYE, a world-leading SAR data provider and expert in natural catastrophe solutions, announced today a partnership that will change what’s possible with insurance response to flood events. ICEYE’s near real-time flood imagery that provides flood depth, extent and duration data will combine with Arturo’s portfolio and property characteristics data to give insurers the ability to estimate and triage flood damages immediately following a flood event.

WASHINGTON (NASA HQ PR) — The head of NASA’s largest space science mission has been named one of the most influential people in the world by TIME. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Program Director Gregory Robinson was named to the TIME100, the magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential leaders. Robinson shares this year’s recognition with other TIME100 honorees such as President Joe Biden and Oprah Winfrey.

BONN, Germany (ESA PR) — GHGSat, a leader in high-resolution greenhouse gas monitoring from space, has officially joined ESA’s prestigious Third Party Mission Programme. Announced today at the Living Planet Symposium currently taking place in Bonn, data from the company’s fleet of commercial satellites will be provided, free of charge, to researchers working in the fields of Earth science and climate change. Users will be able to access greenhouse gas measurements from sites all around the world.

Through ESA’s Third Party Missions Programme, ESA allows high quality data from a wide range of Earth observation satellite missions developed and operated by other agencies to be accessed to the wider scientific community. The programme, which has been operating for over 45 years, includes over 60 instruments on more than 50 space missions.

DUBLIN, Ireland (Ubotica Technologies PR) — Ubotica Technologies, the leading provider of smarts for smart satellites, closed an oversubscribed Seed round with a global syndicate led by Atlantic Bridge and including co-investment from US based Dolby Family Ventures and the world’s leading Investor in Space, Seraphim Space. Addressing major challenges by providing real-time actionable insights direct to users from space, Ubotica™ has developed the energy efficient CogniSat™ on-board processing system. This new investment includes funding for the next generation of the CogniSat platform and targeted team growth.

Announcing the funding, Fintan Buckley, Co-Founder and CEO of Ubotica Technologies, said: “We are at the heart of semi-autonomous satellite systems that provide real-time insights from flexible on-board processing and that use affordable, low energy hardware. The Ubotica CogniSat platform was developed by technology innovators with deep insight of processing hardware, computer vision software and AI system integration. CogniSat technology has already been flight proven in space projects with partners in Europe and the USA, including with NASA JPL on the International Space Station and with the European Space Agency (ESA) on Φ-Sat-1.”

CHANTILLY, Va. (NRO PR) — The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) today announced the results of its largest ever commercial imagery contract effort, awarding Electro-Optical Commercial Layer (EOCL) to BlackSky, Maxar, and Planet. Valued at billions of dollars over the next decade, these contracts mark a historic expansion of the NRO’s acquisition of commercial imagery to meet increasing customer demands with greater capacity than ever before .

“The NRO has a longstanding strategy of ‘buy what we can, build what we must’,” said .Dr. Chris Scolese, director of the NRO. “The diversity offered by our expanding architecture comprised of both commercial and NRO systems increases our resilience and enables an integrated approach to the threats facing our Nation.”

Due to its unclassified and shareable nature, commercial remote sensing data offer important benefits, including increased transparency, mission-critical awareness , and humanitarian assistance. EOCL ‘s unique situational design, featuring user-friendly license agreements and built-in contract flexibility, maximizes shareability across a diverse customer base.

By Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

To better leverage commercial capabilities, the U.S. Space Systems Command (SSC) has launched a program, the Front Door Initiative, to help companies better navigate the command’s convoluted organizational structure.

“When you guys come to us, you know who to talk to,” said Maj. Adam Bernetta, program manager for SSC’s Space Enterprise Consortium, during a keynote address on Tuesday at the Space Tech Expo in Long Beach, Calif.

Thirty years ago, governments accounted for 90 percent of space activity. With the commercial sector rapidly catching up, the US Space Force (USSF) realized it needs to improve its cooperation with private industry, Bernetta said.

WASHINGTON (NASA HQ PR) — NASA has awarded a sole-source contract to the National Academy of Science of Washington to conduct studies on questions of national importance within the domain of NASA science and technology programs relating to space science, Earth science, and biological and physical science in space. The Strategic Advice Supporting NASA Science and Technology Programs in Space Science, Earth Science, Biological and Physical Science in Space (SASNSTP) contract is a cost reimbursement, […]

HOUSTON (Axiom Space PR) — Axiom Space, a leader in human spaceflight currently building the world’s first commercial space station, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Italian government to further their existing collaboration, including the potential for the development of space infrastructure integrated with the future Axiom Station. The agreement was signed by the President and CEO of Axiom Space, Michael Suffredini, and Italy’s Minister for Technological Innovation and Digital Transition, Vittorio Colao, on 19 May in Rome, Italy.

Agreement expands availability of LEO connectivity for commercial shipping, to transform operational efficiency and to support smarter shipping.

LONDON (OneWeb PR) — OneWeb, the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications company, and Navarino, one of the world’s leading maritime technology companies, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to become a global Distribution Partner to deliver high speed, low latency connectivity to the global commercial shipping industry. 

Combining Navarino’s maritime technology solutions with OneWeb’s high speed, low latency connectivity will offer maritime customers seamless access to OneWeb’s fast, reliable, and affordable connectivity solutions. A series of sea trials will be undertaken with Navarino focusing on the first vessels connected from Q1 2023. 

WASHINGTON (NASA HQ PR) — As NASA’s exploration continues to push boundaries, a new solar sail concept selected by the agency for development toward a demonstration mission could carry science to new destinations.

DAKAR, Senegal (Avanti PR) — Avanti Communications (“Avanti”) and Free in Senegal today announced a five-year partnership agreement under which Free in Senegal will build and host a new satellite gateway in Senegal for Avanti’s HYLAS 4 state-of-the-art Ka-band satellite.

Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg (Anisoprint PR) — Anisoprint, a continuous fiber 3D printing solution provider, signs a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nanoracks Space Outpost Europe, the leader in the commercial utilization of the International Space Station, to strengthen its position as a space technology developer and become a part of the low Earth orbit and lunar economy.