The distinguished geochemist and space scientist brings more than 20 years of leadership experience in academic and government service to JPL.

PASADENA, Calif. (Caltech PR) — Laurie Leshin, president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), has been appointed director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and vice president of Caltech. Leshin will formally assume her position on May 16, 2022, succeeding Michael Watkins, who retired in August 2021, and Lt. Gen. Larry D. James USAF (Ret.), who currently serves as JPL interim director.

Video Caption: Rocket Lab and Virgin Orbit have been disrupting the smallsat industry, but now Germany and Italy are taking this competition to the next level! Why is it getting so little coverage??

Breaking Defense has an interesting report about China developing satellite servicing capabilities: China’s SJ-21 satellite now “appears to be functioning as a space tug,” pulling a dead CompassG2, or Beidou, navigation satellite out of the way of other satellites operating in the heavily populated Geosynchronous Orbit, according to a new analysis by commercial space monitoring firm ExoAnalytic Solutions. The observations were reported today by Brien Flewelling, who serves as the firm’s […]

IBARAKI, Japan (WARPSPACE PR) — WARPSPACE Co., Ltd. (Hereinafter “WARPSPACE,” Director CEO: Satoru Tsunemachi), a spin-out space startup from the University of Tsukuba, an optical inter-satellite communication service provider, announced that it has been selected to conduct a study on space communication for the lunar exploration by JAXA, which could be a part of the Artemis plan.

WARPSPACE develops “WarpHub InterSat,” the optical inter-satellite data relay communication service for the earth observation satellite operators. The three optical data relay satellites will be launched in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) to cover the whole Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Through this network, earth observation satellites can downlink their data at a high data rate in near real-time 24/7.

MOSCOW (Roscosmos PR) — On January 27, 2022, Roscosmos State Corporation together with the Platform of the National Technology Initiative (NTI) held an online conference dedicated to the development of private cosmonautics and the implementation of the accompanying regulatory framework in Russia.

The event was attended by Sergey Prokhorov, director of the department for advanced programs and the Sphere project of the Roscosmos State Corporation, Vladislav Ivanenko, general director of the private space company Sputniks, Roman Zhits, head of the NTI Aeronet direction for private astronautics, as well as representatives of the Russian media.

LONDON (Satellite Vu PR) — Satellite Vu, an Earth observation company that offers the highest-resolution thermal imagery and insights, are set to make their carbon emissions data available to the public to raise awareness and promote accountability towards business sustainability. 

The COP26 summit at the end of 2021 reaffirmed the call for governments and businesses to take action against climate change. The global aim, initially crafted by an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, is to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2030, and 90% by 2050, and Satellite Vu will become one of the first major space companies to share their carbon emissions data publicly in a drive towards these goals. 

LONDON (Seraphim Space Investment Trust PR) — Seraphim Space Investment Trust plc (LSE: SSIT), the world’s first listed fund focused on Space Tech, is announcing today that its portfolio company D-Orbit S.p.A. (“D-Orbit”), an Italy-based and market leading space logistics and transportation company will, subject to a number of outstanding conditions, become publicly listed through a business combination with Breeze Holdings Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: BREZ), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company (the “Proposed Transaction”).

Following the close of the Proposed Transaction, which is expected to occur in the second or third quarter of 2022, the combined entity would be listed on Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker symbol “DOBT” and would imply a post money Enterprise Value of approximately $1.28 billion.

TEL AVIV (NASA PR) — In becoming the first country to sign the Artemis Accords in 2022, Israel affirmed its commitment to a common set of principles to guide cooperation among nations participating in 21st century space exploration.

Rocket-powered vehicle for testing lander navigation systems supports space companies

MOJAVE, Calif. (Mojave PR) — How can a spacecraft land itself on alien terrain? NASA needed a better answer than “very carefully.” To spur innovation towards the first autonomous landings on the Moon, the agency presented the Lunar Lander Challenge. In 2009, a young company called Masten Space Systems earned one of the top prizes.

TOKYO (Astroscale PR) — We have begun operations for our groundbreaking ELSA-d debris removal mission’s next phase: an autonomous capture demonstration in orbit. On January 25th, the ELSA-d servicer spacecraft successfully released its client spacecraft and began autonomous relative navigation, maintaining a constant and safe distance from the client spacecraft over multiple orbits, as designed. Following an excellent start to mission operations, our team detected anomalous spacecraft conditions. For the […]

After waiting 16 years for Virgin Galactic to begin space tourism flights from Spaceport America, New Mexico legislators have hit upon a new idea to try to get some revenues out of the place once the company begins commercial service later this year. The Las Cruces Sun-News reports A bipartisan bill introduced in the state Legislature seeks to close a loophole that excluded spaceflight passenger tickets from gross receipts taxes. The […]

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

HYDERABAD, India — Small satellite launch company Skyroot Aerospace reports that it has raised $4.5 million in bridge funding as part of its Series B fund-raising round.

Early Google investor Ram Shriram led the bridge round through his venture capital firm Sherpalo Ventures. Wami Capital co-led the funding round with former Google executive Amit Singhal and existing investor and former WhatsApp chief business officer Neeraj Arora, Indian media report.