WASHINGTON (USAID PR) — The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has delivered 5,000 Starlink Terminals to the Government of Ukraine through a public-private partnership with the American aerospace manufacturer, SpaceX.

PARIS (ESA PR) — Following the Russian aggression against Ukraine, ESA’s Director General has initiated a comprehensive review of all activities currently undertaken in cooperation with Russia and Ukraine. The objective is to determine the possible consequences of this new geopolitical context for ESA programmes and activities and to create a more resilient and robust space infrastructure for Europe.

The ESA Council on 13 April acknowledged the following findings and took the following decisions.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., April 12, 2022 (Space Perspective PR) — Space travel has never been more comfortable nor kind to the environment.  Space Perspective, the Earth’s leading luxury spaceflight experience company set on advancing a better appreciation of planet Earth and the interconnectedness of the human race, today reveals Spaceship Neptune’s customizable Space Lounge™ interior.  The only carbon neutral, zero-emission way to space, Spaceship Neptune places safety, the thrilling views and interaction between Space Explorers front and center in its pioneering design, with sustainable materials embraced throughout – including a bar handcrafted using proprietary materials recycled from the unique SpaceBalloon™ connected to the capsule.  The patented 360-degree panoramic windows (0.56 meters wide x 1.54 meters high) will be the largest-ever flown to space.  Even the restroom will have a view!

DUBAI, April 12, 2022 (UAE Government Media Office) — The Emirates Mars Mission, the first interplanetary exploration undertaken by an Arab nation, has finalised a science data analysis collaboration initiative with NASA’s MAVEN Mars Mission, which will pave the way towards greater scientific collaboration and data exchange between the two missions.

CARLSBAD, Calif. (Viasat, Inc. PR) — Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global communications company, today announced it has been awarded a Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) Validation of Supplemental Type Certificate (VSTC) to install its complete, advanced Ka-band satellite system on Airbus A320 series of aircraft. This CAAC validation, Viasat’s first in China, lays the foundation for Chinese airlines to install and deploy Viasat’s industry-leading In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) system, including antenna, radome, modem, server and WAPs, on Airbus A320s.

The CAAC VSTC was awarded based on an Airbus A320 STC previously certified by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). It joins a portfolio of STCs that has been applied globally on 1,800+ commercial aircraft installed with Viasat’s in-flight connectivity system. In total, the Company’s current IFC solution has accumulated more than 16.5 million flight hours.

The complex will be home to production, assembly, and integration of Rocket Lab’s Neutron launch vehicle and is expected to bring up to 250 highly-skilled jobs to the region.

WALLOPS ISLAND, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Rocket Lab USA, Inc (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab”), a leading launch and space systems company, today broke ground on the construction of a state-of-the-art rocket production complex where the Company’s Neutron launch vehicle will be manufactured.

EAST AURORA, NY (Moog PR) – Moog Inc. (NYSE: MOG.A and MOG.B) is pleased to announce its expansion in Arvada, Colo. with the opening of a new site for its growing space operations, including its Integrated Space Vehicles Business.

The 29,000 square foot space located at 5025 Robb Street quadruples the company’s Colorado footprint and includes production areas, lab space, and clean rooms for highly engineered hardware, including space vehicle integration and testing. The new, flexible production space allows Moog to integrate several spacecraft concurrently for up to several dozen per year.

EDINBURGH (ConstellR PR) — German thermal remote sensing specialist, Constellr, has acquired Belgian hyperspectral firm ScanWorld, in a first for Europe’s emerging agricultural Earth Observation (EO) sector. The transaction will enable an unprecedented planetary health monitoring service and represents a pioneering step for fusing technological capabilities in the sector.

DENVER (iPosi, Inc. PR) — GPS/GNSS technology firm iPosi, Inc. and Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation (VT-ARC) have been contracted by the Department of Defense’s Defense Spectrum Office (DSO) to develop a GPS/GNSS system to measure radio frequency (RF) path-loss that substantially increases shared spectrum without interference. The OTA contract addresses the need for increased shared spectrum between the DoD and wireless providers who require expanded access because of skyrocketing demand for broadband 5G spectrum.

CARLSBAD, Calif. (Viasat Inc. PR) — Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global communications company, and Bahrain Telecommunication Company (“Batelco”), the leading digital solutions provider in the Kingdom of Bahrain, today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to engage in several business-to-business (B2B) service opportunities across the Middle East and North Africa (“MENA”) region.

The non-binding MOU between Viasat and Batelco focuses on the potential commercialization and distribution of satellite broadband connectivity to businesses in the MENA region.

The MOU also addresses exploring other potential service opportunities including:  

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., April 11, 2022 (CASIS PR) – On Friday, April 8, the launch of the first all-private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS), Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1), marked the beginning of a new era of privatized utilization of the orbiting laboratory. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft lifted off from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying four Axiom Space astronauts: Commander and former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría, Pilot Larry Connor, and Mission Specialists Eytan Stibbe and Mark Pathy. SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft docked with the ISS on Saturday, and the four Axiom crew members were welcomed onboard. Over the span of eight days on the space station, the Ax-1 crew members will conduct dozens of research experiments, many of which are sponsored by the ISS National Laboratory. In total, the ISS National Lab is sponsoring more than 25 experiments associated with the Ax-1 mission.

PALO ALTO, Calif. (Titan Space Technologies PR) — Titan Space Technologies has successfully deployed and run a suite of machine learning models on the HPE Spaceborne Computer-2, an edge computing and AI system aboard the International Space Station (ISS), in support of Axiom Space’s future missions and vision of smart spacecraft architectures. Working closely with Axiom and HPE, Titan was tasked with applying its space experimentation platform to a use case based on the new demands of a modern space station. Titan’s success demonstrates the applied artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities critical for conducting space experimentation on orbital destinations and spacecraft now and in the future.