PARIS (ESA PR) — Today, ESA opened its Global Space Markets Challenge. This competition is intended to be a springboard into international markets for small promising space-based companies in Europe, specialised in upstream and downstream activities.

Developments within small European companies continue to advance Europe’s expertise in technologies, create jobs, stimulate the space economy and benefit daily life through applications such as telecommunication, science data, Earth observation and navigation. This competition serves to extend their reach into international markets.

As candidates face extreme physical and mental stress during astronaut training, monitoring their health with clinical reliability is critical for safety and provides an opportunity for advancing biometric science and space exploration.

SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 6, 2021 (Biostrap PR) — AdvancingX, a research and technology leader for markets such as space exploration and the defense industry, selected Biostrap to help advance safety and optimize performance of its career astronaut candidates.

A leader in remote population monitoring and biometric science, Biostrap will play a key role in monitoring the health of career astronaut candidates by capturing clinically reliable data with its wrist-worn biosensor. This partnership may provide space science the tools necessary to develop accurate countermeasure interventions, mitigate risk and keep astronauts safe on Earth and in outer space.

SEATTLE, May 11, 2021 (Spaceflight PR) — Spaceflight Inc., the leading global launch services provider, announced today it will be launching 36 customer payloads to Sun Synchronous orbit aboard the SpaceX Transporter-2 mission, scheduled to launch no earlier than June 2021. The company purchased three ports on the mission, dubbed ‘SXRS-5’ by Spaceflight, and is managing the launch integration and mission management services for 36 payloads, including six microsatellites, 29 cubesats and one hosted payload. The mission also represents the first time the company will fly two different orbital transportation vehicles (OTVs) and the launch of the industry’s first-ever electric propulsion vehicle, Sherpa-LTE1. 

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA Administrator Sen. Bill Nelson announced Monday Robert D. Cabana, who has served as director of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida since 2008, will serve as associate administrator effective Monday, May 17. Steve Jurczyk, who held the position since 2018, announced his retirement Monday.

“Bob has a relentless determination to expand America’s role in space. Under his leadership, Kennedy has emerged as a modern, world class multi-user spaceport, partnering with commercial customers and supporting NASA’s science and human exploration missions,” Nelson said. “Bob is the real deal – he has the vision and management skills to bring NASA to even higher heights.”

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — Steve Jurczyk, who served as acting NASA administrator from Jan. 20 to May 3, 2021, announced Monday he will retire on Friday, May 14, after more than three decades of service at NASA.

Jurczyk has served as associate administrator, the agency’s highest-ranking civil servant, since May 2018. He was the highest-ranking career civil servant leading NASA throughout the pandemic and most recently oversaw the successful landing of the Perseverance rover on Mars, a successful Green Run test of the core stage of the Space Launch System rocket, the naming of the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building, the launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 to the International Space Station, and the return of Crew-1 back to Earth.

GREENBELT, Md. (NASA PR) — After nearly five years in space, NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft is on its way back to Earth with an abundance of rocks and dust from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu.

On Monday, May 10, at 4:23 p.m. EDT the spacecraft fired its main engines full throttle for seven minutes – its most significant maneuver since it arrived at Bennu in 2018. This burn thrust the spacecraft away from the asteroid at 600 miles per hour (nearly 1,000 kilometers per hour), setting it on a 2.5-year cruise towards Earth.

Flight test, delayed from February, postponed again due to problem discovered on WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft. Company will update schedule next week.

LAS CRUCES, N.M., May 10, 2021 (Virgin Galactic PR) – Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SPCE) (“Virgin Galactic” or the “Company”), a vertically integrated aerospace and space travel company, today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021.

“We continue to make strides towards our strategic objectives and have solid momentum as we focus on completing our flight test program,” said Michael Colglazier, Chief Executive Officer of Virgin Galactic. “We are committed to delivering one of the world’s most unique and transformational customer experiences, with safety at the core of everything we do. Our greatest asset is our incredibly talented group of employees, and the strength of the leadership team we have assembled for the next phase of our journey.”

TOKYO (Space BD PR) — Space BD Inc., the leading Japanese space startup providing access to space, announced that it has been appointed as the sole private partner by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for its “Selection of Private Partners in the High-Quality Protein Crystal Growth Experiment Service.” Space BD signed a basic agreement with JAXA on May 6, 2021. The experiment service is one of the privatization initiatives for ISS Kibo utilization led by JAXA.

In this project, Space BD will inherit the various know-how from JAXA through the contracted operational preparation for the high-quality protein crystal growth while improving the convenience of users and the efficiency of the experiment system by introducing a new IT system including the original smartphone App. Moreover, by utilizing the experiment opportunities provided by JAXA, Space BD will offer the service to develop business around the world.

VILNIUS, Lithuania, 10 May 2021 (NanoAvionics PR) – NanoAvionics has signed a contract with OQ Technology, a multinational satellite Internet of Things (IoT) company, to build, integrate and operate a nanosatellite for their 5G IoT mission named Tiger-2.

The 6U satellite is the second mission for the Lithuanian smallsat bus manufacturer and mission integrator with OQ Technology and the latest addition to OQ Technology’s growing low Earth orbit (LEO) constellation of nanosatellites. Their constellation intends to provide basic commercial IoT and M2M services, using 5G connectivity, to customers with a focus on Africa, Middle East, Asia and Latin America.

This week on The Space Show with Dr. David Livingston: Tuesday, May 11, 1: 30 PM PDT, 4:30 PM EDT: Hotel Mars is pre-recorded. See upcoming show menu on the home page for program details. Thursday, May 13, 7 PM PST (9 PM CST; 10 PM EST): We welcome back FRANK WHITE author of the latest edition of “The Overview Effect” with new astronaut interviews and more. Friday, May 14, […]

ICEYE’s persistent monitoring customers now have access to the world’s most comprehensive set of radar imaging capabilities.

HELSINKI, Finland, May 10, 2021 (ICEYE PR) – Finnish New Space leader ICEYE  announced today the commercial availability of wide area imaging capabilities covering 10,000 km² data acquisitions with its SAR (synthetic-aperture radar) satellite constellation. ICEYE is the only New Space SAR satellite provider to achieve wide-area Scan mode imaging, with up to a 100-times larger area coverage from the closest alternatives in the marketplace. Thanks to the completely unique system design of ICEYE’s SAR satellites, ICEYE is now able to provide the world’s single most comprehensive persistent monitoring capabilities both for land and sea data use cases.

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA and Axiom Space have signed an order for the first private astronaut mission to the International Space Station to take place no earlier than January 2022.

“We are excited to see more people have access to spaceflight through this first private astronaut mission to the space station,” said Kathy Lueders, associate administrator for human exploration and operations at NASA Headquarters. “One of our original goals with the Commercial Crew Program, and again with our Commercial Low-Earth Orbit Development Program, is that our providers have customers other than NASA to grow a commercial economy in low-Earth orbit.”