SOLAN, Swden (SSC PR) — Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) announced today the formation of SSC Space Thailand, a subsidiary targeted at the Asian-Pacific market, further expanding the company’s presence in the region. The announcement marks further investment in the Asian-Pacific region, adding to SSC’s already strong presence in Australia and Thailand, including ground station facilities in both countries.

“SSC has been supporting Thai space activities for more than a decade, for example through satellite-to-ground communications for the THEOS-1 satellite program. We are now looking forward to deepening this relationship further, expanding across leading space markets in South-East Asia”, said SSC CEO, Stefan Gardefjord.

ATLANTA, Georgia, January 26th 2021 – SpaceWorks Enterprises, Inc. (SEI), along with its partners Earthly Dynamics, LLC (EDC) and Aerial Delivery Solutions, LLC (ADS), has validated autonomous and precision landing of a space-based payload return capsule through a series of successful low-altitude drop tests. The tests in Dunnellon, Florida on November 19th are the latest in a steady progression to develop SpaceWorks’ product line of entry capsules, including the RED-25 and RED-4U that provide on-demand and low-cost downmass capabilities from Earth orbit.

TURIN, Italy, January 25, 2021 (Thales Alenia Space PR) – Thales Alenia Space, joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%) has signed a contract with European Space Agency (ESA), worth €4.5 million [$5.45 million], for the study of Cis-Lunar Transfer Vehicle (CLTV), a transportation logistic space vehicle to be used for a variety of missions: from the logistic resupply of Lunar Gateway pressurized modules, to the transportation of space infrastructure in low Earth orbit, and the potential use in future missions in support of the European Large Logistic Lander (EL3).

• Maintaining safety of operations and maximising scientific return are key concerns as satellites increase in number and complexity
• Artificial intelligence offers promising solutions to modern spaceflight challenges
• ESA and Germany’s DFKI institute have launched a new lab ‘ESA_Lab@DFKI’ for artificial intelligence research

KAISERLAUTERN, Germany (ESA PR) — It’s 4 October 1957, and the Soviet Union has just lofted humanity’s first satellite – Sputnik 1 – into the pristine orbital environment around Earth, marking the start of the Space Age.

Throughout 1960s and 70s, launches quickly increase, as the USA, Soviet Union and other countries race for space, discovering and utilising the immense value of the ‘orbital pathways’ above us – a precious, limited natural resource.

DELFT, Netherlands (ISISPACE PR) — Setting a new world record, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket successfully deployed dozens of small satellites into a Sun-Synchronous Orbit for commercial and government customers, from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Being part of “Transporter-1”, a SpaceX SmallSat Rideshare Program mission, we are proud that an impressive number of 53 satellites were accommodated in ISISPACE deployers by our ISILAUNCH team as part of the ISILAUNCH34 launch campaign.

SOLNA, Sweden (SSC PR) — Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) and Airbus Defence and Space Netherlands (Airbus DS NL) have signed an MOU for collaborative activities regarding ground equipment for space-to-ground optical communication. The agreement will accelerate the development of commercially viable optical ground stations that will be offered by Airbus DS NL and used by SSC in delivering ground network services.

WHITE SANDS, NM (NASA PR) — Landing and recovery teams from Boeing and NASA recently completed a crew landing dress rehearsal at the U.S. Army’s White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico, in preparation for missions returning with astronauts from the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

PARIS (CNES PR) — SpaceBlower, in French “space blower”. The purpose of this light suborbital launcher is to eject its plume at large unmaneuverable space debris. By avoiding collision with one another and their fragmentation into several thousand others, the aim is to preserve the safety of orbits and satellites. SpaceBlower is a preliminary project initiated and funded by CNES, with the support and co-funding of Bertin Technologies (now CT France). Christophe Bonnal, senior expert at the CNES launchers department, discusses it with us.

For the first time, an international team has drawn up a list of the 50 most dangerous space debris in low orbit. This unpublished Top 50 is published online on January 22, 2021 by the journal Acta Astronautica.

PARIS (CNES PR) — It is a landmark article. For the first time, space debris in low orbit (located at an altitude of less than 2,000 km) has been classified according to their dangerousness for operational satellites by a team that includes experts from China, the United States and Russia. France via CNES is one of the signatories of this historic paper published on January 22, 2021 by Acta Astronautica and whose results had already been presented, in October 2020, at the 71st International Astronautical Congress (IAC2020).

BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. (NASA PR) — NASA conducts the first hot fire Jan. 28 in a new series of tests for production of RS-25 engines that will help power the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on future deep space missions. The test of RS-25 developmental engine No. 0528 on the A-1 Test Stand at Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Miss., marks the beginning of a seven-test series designed to provide valuable data to Aerojet Rocketdyne, lead contractor for SLS engines, as the company begins production of new RS-25 engines.

WASHINGTON, (AFNS) — Effective Feb. 1, the Space Force will use the following rank names across all Space Force systems and in all manners of address.  
 

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

NewSpacers of the world, rejoice! After a 12-year gap, orbital space tourism is back! And it’s bigger and more expensive than ever. The only bad news: Maverick will stay grounded — at least for now.