SANTA CLARA, Calif. (Momentus PR) — Momentus Inc.  (“Momentus” or the “Company”), a commercial space company offering in-space satellite transportation and hosted payload services, today announced a launch service agreement for deploying Skykraft’s microsatellite on Vigoride’s mission in June 2021.

Skykraft’s spacecraft is a pathfinder for a future large LEO constellation, and will be deployed via a new separation ring named EOS and developed by MECANO ID under a CNES contract thanks to the partial financing of the Future Investment Plan.

OneWeb resumes operations – on-track to emerge under new ownership by end of year

London, UK, Friday, 2 October 2020 – OneWeb, the communications company building a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation to deliver global connectivity, has achieved a major step in its reorganisation process. On 2 October 2020, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York confirmed OneWeb’s Chapter 11 plan of reorganisation (the “Plan”), ensuring that the company remains on target to resume full business operations imminently.

The expansion lends support to the emerging interest in aviation, space, and defense innovation and fosters connections within the Indian ecosystem

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 1, 2020 (Starburst PR) — Starburst, the world’s first and only global aerospace and defense accelerator, today announced its expansion into India to engage directly with vibrant local aerospace and defense startups and facilitate communication between aerospace and defense corporates and innovative startups within domestic and global landscapes.

As part of the expansion,  Starburst is deploying a local consulting team and venture development platform that will strengthen the capabilities of domestic players in aerospace and defense, and provide access to a global network of participants who are leaders in the industry. The expansion will also allow collaboration with frontier tech and heavy engineering companies, while providing specialty services to the startup community in India.

BUENOS AIRES, Octoboer 02, 2020 (Satellogic PR) — Satellogic, the first company to develop a scalable Earth observation platform with the ability to remap the entire planet at both high-frequency and high-resolution, today announced the public launch of their Global Consortium of Geospatial Imagery. European Space Imaging, the leading supplier of global imagery in Europe and North Africa, joins as a founding member of the Global Consortium. Other partners include Eartheye from Singapore covering JAPAC, and 5CI Brazil and Colombia in Latin America.

Through the Global Consortium, European Space Imaging and fellow affiliates will leverage Satellogic’s Constellation to provide their customers with high resolution, high frequency, affordable geospatial imagery. Satellogic’s Constellation currently consists of four commercial NewSat spacecraft in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). In the near-term, a scheduled 2020 dedicated launch will add another 10 spacecraft to Satellogic’s Constellation. Through additional launch agreements, Satellogic expects to have 60 satellites in orbit by 2023.

Northrop Grumman’s Antares and SpaceX’s Falcon 9 boosters are scheduled to launch less than 30 minutes apart on Friday night, providing spectacular light shows for residents along the U.S. East Coast. Antares is set to launch a Cygnus resupply ship to the International Space Station (ISS) from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia at 9:16 p.m. EDT. The cargo vehicle would reach ISS early on Monday morning. NASA TV will […]

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Oct 1, 2020 (Boeing PR) — Boeing [NYSE: BA] has received one of three development contracts to build a satellite payload prototype and develop a new secure, resilient satellite communications architecture for the U.S. Space Force’s Evolved Strategic SATCOM (ESS) program.

ESS will be a military satellite communications (MILSATCOM) system. It is a critical component of the U.S. Space Force’s strategy.

The initial ESS development contract is valued at $298 million. Contracts for the full ESS system are expected to be awarded in 2025.

GOTHENBURG, Sweden (Charlmers University of Technology) — Communications in space demand the most sensitive receivers possible for maximum reach, while also requiring high bit-rate operations. A novel concept for laser-beam based communications, using an almost noiseless optical preamplifier in the receiver, was recently demonstrated by researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden.

LUXEMBOURG (Luxembourg Space Agency PR) — A new research project named ENTRUSTED was launched on 15 September 2020. ENTRUSTED stands for European Networking for satellite  Telecommunication Roadmap for the governmental Users requiring  Secure inTeroperable innovativE  and standardiseD services.

ENTRUSTED will be implemented by almost 20 organisations representing EU Member States including Luxembourg and EU agencies. With a budget close to EUR 3 million, allocated under Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, ENTRUSTED will deliver its expected results by February 2023.

PARIS (CNES PR) — Monday, September 28, 2020, Jean-Yves Le Gall, President of CNES, met with Zhang Kejian, Administrator of the CNSA (China National Space Administration). 

Their last meeting took place in Beijing on November 5, 2019 on the occasion of the official visit of the President of the Republic to China and the signing of the Joint Declaration on Cooperation Relating to the Chang’e 6 Mission and a Mission satellite for monitoring the water cycle.

Ground sensors leave rockets stuck on Earth

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. — A Northrop Grumman rocket carrying supplies for astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) failed to get off the launch pad in Virginia on Thursday evening, marking the third scrubbed American launch in less than 24 hours.

A computer called an automatic halt to the launch of the Antares booster at 2 minutes 40 seconds before the planned liftoff at 9:43 p.m. EDT. The rocket is carrying a Cygnus resupply ship with cargo bound for ISS.

Video Caption: Today we performed a test of the Alpha flight first stage. The four Reaver engines performed 35 seconds of thrust vector control maneuvers, challenging the flame deflectors to constrain all that Reaver power! Today’s test was a major step in Firefly’s march to first flight.

PITTSBURGH (Astrobotic PR) — After three years of intensive engineering work, Astrobotic’s CubeRover is on its way to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The CubeRover is designed to provide an affordable mobile outlet for scientific instruments and other payloads to operate on the surface of the Moon. This occasion marks the first time Astrobotic’s Planetary Mobility department has delivered rover hardware to an outside entity.