Satellites enter revenue generation six days after launch

HERNDON, Va.– November 30, 2021 – BlackSky (NYSE: BKSY) successfully added two satellites to its constellation following the Rocket Lab “Love at First Insight” launch from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on November 18. The satellites were fully operational and commercially available within six days of launch.

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — The evening of Monday, Nov. 29, NASA received a debris notification for the International Space Station. Due to the lack of opportunity to properly assess the risk it could pose to the astronauts, teams have decided to delay the spacewalk planned for Tuesday, Nov. 30 until more information is available. The space station schedule and operations are able to easily accommodate the delay of the spacewalk. […]

LONG BEACH, Calif. and BOCA RATON, Fla., 29 NOVEMBER, 2021 (Virgin Orbit PR) — Virgin Orbit, a leading responsive launch and space solutions company and NextGen Acquisition Corp. II (“NextGen”) (NASDAQ: NGCA), a special purpose acquisition company that has announced a planned business combination with Virgin Orbit, today announced the nominees for the board of directors of the combined company Virgin Orbit Holdings, Inc. (“Virgin Orbit Holdings”).

The Virgin Orbit Holdings board will be convened upon the closing of the business combination, which is subject to shareholder approval and other customary closing conditions. Virgin Orbit Holdings will retain the Virgin Orbit name and its common stock is expected to trade on the NASDAQ exchange under the new ticker “VORB”.

Virgin Orbit Holdings director nominees bring decades of strategic, financial, operational, industry and public company governance leadership.

WASHINGTON (Senate Commerce Committee PR) – U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., ranking member and chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, along with Sens. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., and John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., ranking member and chair of the Subcommittee on Space and Science, today sent a letter requesting that Vice President Kamala Harris prioritize space debris issues in her role as chair of the National Space Council. The Senators also sent a letter to Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to inquire about the department’s outer space-related efforts following Russia’s destructive anti-satellite test two weeks ago.    

Dates and times subject to change without notice. And remember: no wagering. December 1 Launch Vehicle: Falcon 9Payloads: 53 Starlink broadband satellitesLocation: Cape Canaveral Space Force StationTime: 6:20 p.m. EST (2320 GMT)Webcast: www.spacex.com December 1/2 Launch Vehicle: Soyuz ST-B/Fregat-MTPayloads: Galileo 27 & 28 navigation satellitesLocation: Guiana Space CenterTime: 7:31 p.m. EST (0031 GMT on Dec. 2)Webcast: https://www.youtube.com/c/arianespace December 5 Launch Vehicle: Atlas VPayloads: U.S. Space Force LDPE-1 space tug; STPSat-6 […]

This week on The Space Show with Dr. David Livingston: Tuesday, November 30 — 7 PM PST (9 PM CST; 10 PM EST): We welcome DR. BRIAN WEEDEN discusses the recent Russian ASAT test plus more on space policy for the year. Wednesday, December 01 — Hotel Mars pre-recorded. See the Upcoming Show Menu at www.thespaceshow.com for details. Sunday, December 05 — 12-1:30 PM PST, (3-4:30 PM EST, 2-3:30 PM […]

MADRID (Spanish Astrobiology Center) — Currently the Astrobiology Center (CAB, CSIC-INTA) is an integral part of the joint space mission of NASA and ESA called DART-Hera. Its objective consists of sending two spacecraft to a binary asteroid system known as Didymos 65803 and thus validating the impact techniques in order to avoid future collisions with potentially dangerous asteroids for our planet.

UPPSALA, Sweden (AAC Clyde Space PR) — AAC Clyde Space AB, a leading new space company, has won an order from U.S. Aegis Aerospace to supply its Starbuck power systems and battery solutions worth 500,000 USD (approx. 4.5 MSEK) for a satellite mission carried out on behalf of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).

The mission, the STPSat-7 led by Aegis Aerospace, is a 150 kg satellite that will host research and technology demonstration payloads for the Department of Defense Space Test Program. It will operate in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AFRL) – New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NMT) astronomers are one-step closer to having their own high-powered window to space and the universe, after receiving congressional funding for the Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer (MROI).

The university will receive $6.2 million in congressional funds to complete the first phase of the anticipated $30 million five-year project to build three telescopes and two scientific instruments of the MROI in Socorro, New Mexico.

The journey into deep space of the satellite of the Italian Space Agency’s LICIACube satellite has begun.

ROME (ASI PR) — The first planetary defense mission of NASA DART, which carries the LICIACube satellite built by Argotec, in collaboration and with the contribution of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), was launched as scheduled on Nov. 24 at 07.21 Italian time from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

ROME November 26, 2021 (Italian Space Agency PR) — The Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, and the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, signed the “Treaty for Enhanced Bilateral Cooperation” at the Quirinale, in the presence of the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, and of the Italian and French delegations.

The agreement known as the Quirinal Treaty also gives specific attention to space cooperation between Italy and France, as stated in article 7. [see below]

On the sidelines of the bilateral agreement, an Italian-French Agreement on launchers was also signed. Vittorio Colao, Minister for Technology Innovation and Digital Transition, and Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, Finance and the Recovery, agreed on the conclusions of the high level group on space matters they initiated last September.

STOCKHOLM, November 23, 2021 (Swedish Government PR) — Today, the Space Act Inquiry has submitted its report A new space law to Matilda Ernkrans, Minister with responsibility for space issues. The inquiry proposes a new space law that takes into account international regulations, promotes Swedish space operations and ensures national security needs.