Satellites and rockets could launch from UK soil in 2022, with spaceports planned for Cornwall, Wales and Scotland.

• government paves the way for commercial space launches from UK soil with new regulations
• planned spaceport sites across Great Britain to create hundreds of jobs as we build back better
• regulations provide grounding for new business opportunities such as space tourism from newly established spaceports

LONDON (Department of Transport PR) — Another barrier to space exploration from UK soil is lifted today (24 May 2021), with spaceports expected to be in operation from next summer.

Developed with the UK Space Agency and the Civil Aviation Authority, new regulations being laid in Parliament today will mean satellites and rockets can launch from UK soil for the first time – with spaceports planned for Cornwall, Wales and Scotland.

DIDCOT, UK, May 24, 2021 (Astroscale UK PR) – Astroscale UK announces funding award from partners OneWeb, the global satellite communications network, to mature their technology and capability towards a commercial service offering by 2024.

This latest £2.5 million [$3.5 million] award forms part of a larger beam-hopping satellite programme, totalling over £32 million [$45.3 million], granted from the UK Space Agency, via the European Space Agency’s Sunrise Programme to partners including OneWeb, SatixFy, Celestia UK and Astroscale UK.

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — The 22nd SpaceX cargo resupply mission carrying scientific research and technology demonstrations launches to the International Space Station from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida no earlier than June 3. Experiments aboard include studying how water bears tolerate space, whether microgravity affects symbiotic relationships, analyzing the formation of kidney stones, and more.

Highlights of the payloads on this resupply mission include:

Rogue Space Systems Corporation, a developer of a fleet of satellite servicing spacecrafts, and Dawn Aerospace, a space transportation company, announced that a Cooperation Agreement has been signed between them

LACONIA, NH, May 19, 2021 (Rogue Space Systems PR) — Rogue Space Systems Corporation and Dawn Aerospace have signed a cooperation agreement where Rogue has selected Dawn Aerospace as their partner for spacecraft propulsion systems. The first project in their partnership is a 6-axis Reaction Control System (RCS) for their Laura, Charlie, Fred and Bob Orbot™ spacecraft programs. The resulting spacecraft(s) will include demonstration programs and missions as well as the deployment of Rogue’s Orbots™ destined to reside in LEO, MEO, GEO and Cislunar.

LUXEMBOURG (SES PR) – SES S.A. announced the successful launch and pricing of a hybrid bond offering in which it has agreed to sell Deeply Subordinated Fixed Rate Resettable Securities for a total amount of EUR 625 million, with a first reset date on 27 August 2026. The notes will bear a Coupon of 2.875% per annum and were priced at 99.409% of their nominal value.   The instrument’s credit […]

LOS ANGELES AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (USSF PR) — The United States Space Force, Space and Missile Systems Center has partnered with VOX Space, a US-incorporated, wholly-owned subsidiary of Virgin Orbit, to launch multiple Department of Defense satellites on a commercial rideshare mission from the Mojave Air and Space Port, California. The launch is currently scheduled for June 2021.

Video Caption: Virgin Galactic conducted a supersonic test flight today of VSS Unity, a rocket-powered piloted Spaceship that will carry commercial passengers and scientific payloads to space. Following an initial and a subsequent supersonic test flight earlier this year, this marks the third powered flight and a key step forward in Virgin Galactic’s test program.

The United States will provide support for development of the satellite-based Korean Positioning System (KPS), and South Korea will sign the Artemis Accords that will guide human exploration of the moon, the White House said last week. The announcement followed a summit in Washington between U.S. President Joe Biden and Republic of Korea (ROK) President Moon Jae-in. A White House fact sheet that described cooperative activities included the following two […]

TUCSON, Ariz., May 21, 2021 (Paragon SDC PR) — Paragon Space Development Corporation (Paragon) is proud to announce it is part of the Northrop Grumman team for the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) contract awarded by NASA. According to NASA, the HALO module will be roughly the size of a small apartment and able to accommodate short-duration stays for crews arriving on the Orion spacecraft.  Paragon is responsible for the design and […]

https://www.jaxa.jp/press/2021/05/20210518-1_j.html

TOKYO (JAXA/Kajima PR) — Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Chairman: Hiroshi Yamakawa, hereafter JAXA) and Kajima Construction Co., Ltd. (President: Jiichi Oshimi, hereafter Kajima) aim to build a base on the moon. From 2016, we have been conducting joint research with the aim of “realizing a remote construction system by coordinating remote control and automatic control”. (*1) 

In March 2019, an automated construction machine experiment was conducted at the Nishisho Experimental Field in Kashima (Odawara City, Kanagawa Prefecture) (*2). This time, as a further development of the project, we remotely operated construction experiment from a remote location in March 2021.

PARIS (ESA PR) — Metalysis and ESA announce team Malt as winner of the first phase of the Grand Challenge to develop innovative techniques for future lunar settlements.

“ESA’s Grand Challenge fosters New Space initiatives in Europe and this brings us into contact with dynamic start-up companies such as Malt. Our first challenge, in partnership with Metalysis, moves us closer to our space exploration goals and will stimulate space commercialisation in line with ESA’s Agenda 2025,” commented ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (NASA PR) — NASA has awarded $500,000 to seven winning teams in Phase 1 of the agency’s Watts on the Moon Challenge. The technology design competition challenged U.S. innovators, from garage tinkerers to university researchers a­nd startup entrepreneurs, to imagine a next-generation energy infrastructure on the Moon.

Sixty teams submitted original design concepts aimed at meeting future needs for robust and flexible technologies to power human and robotic outposts on the Moon. After evaluation by a judging panel, NASA announced the winners during a private awards ceremony May 20.