KENT, Wash. (Blue Origin PR) — The Orbital Reef team, led by partners Blue Origin and Sierra Space, today announced at the 73rd International Astronautical Congress a cross-promotional deal with Centerboro Productions to portray the mixed-use space station in the HELIOS feature film. 

The mission is focused on demonstrating a new remote sensing technique for measuring soil moisture to collect data for applications like agricultural production forecasting and flood prediction

VIENNA, Va., September 20, 2022 (Spire Global PR) – Spire Global, Inc. (NYSE: SPIR) (“Spire” or “the Company”), a leading global provider of space-based data, analytics and space services, announced today the continuation of its participation in NASA’s Commercial Smallsat Data Acquisition (CSDA) Program with a new contract extension. The award is in support of NASA’s SigNals of Opportunity: P-band Investigation, or SNOOPI mission. The Purdue University and NASA team, led by Professor James Garrison, will launch a satellite into low Earth orbit (LEO) to detect and analyze P-band radio signals for the purpose of measuring root-zone soil moisture on Earth.

HOUSTON (Axiom Space PR) — Axiom Space is pleased to announce the hire of two executives to their leadership team: Catie Hague as Vice President of Strategic Communications, and Sandra Nelson as Vice President of Marketing. Hague recently retired from the United States Air Force as a Colonel after 25 years of service and most recently served as Director for Space Force (USSF) Public Affairs & Advisor to Chief of Space Operations, General John Raymond. Nelson joins Axiom Space after an award-winning career with Million Air Interlink, bringing nearly 30 years of experience to the growing Axiom Space brand. The two new Vice Presidents will play a vital role in supporting Axiom’s continued growth as a commercial space leader.

PARIS (Axiom Space PR) — Commercial space leader Axiom Space and the government of Türkiye have signed a historic agreement to send the first Turkish astronaut to space. As part of a larger effort by Türkiye to expand its space exploration capabilities and establish a national human space program, a Turkish astronaut will be trained by Axiom Space for a future space research mission. Axiom Space will also enable Turkish science and research to be conducted in microgravity.  

“Team Ohio” comprised of The Ohio State University, the State of Ohio, JobsOhio, and One Columbus Selected to Develop Facility to Support World’s First-Ever Science Park Devoted to Space

PARIS, Sept. 19, 2022 (Voyager Space PR) — Voyager Space (Voyager), today announced it has selected a proposal from The Ohio State University, the State of Ohio, JobsOhio, and One Columbus (“Team Ohio”) to locate the terrestrial analog of the George Washington Carver Science Park (GWCSP) at Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio.

• The agreement establishes a framework contract for Deployers Procurement, CubeSat and Deployer Integration on Arianespace missions.
• This multi-year framework agreement will support Arianespace’s Rideshare and Piggyback missions.
• This signature follows the success of Vega C maiden flight, launched on July 13 from Europe’s Spaceport. The next mission of the European light launcher, VV22, is scheduled for late November.

PARIS (Arianespace PR) — Arianespace, a world-leading provider of launch services for all types of satellites and destinations, and SAB Launch Services (SAB-LS), specialized in Launch Services for small satellites, announced today, during the International Astronautical Congress, the signature of a multi-year framework agreement. The contract entrusts SAB-LS to co-operate as partner of Arianespace for the provision of end-to-end services for nanosatellites wishing to fly on Arianespace missions. The agreement is specific to the supply of hardware, mission preparation and integration services for CubeSats, and the transportation of payloads from SAB-LS European launch integration facilities, in Brno (Czech Republic), to Europe’s Spaceport, in Kourou (French Guiana). This agreement enables Arianespace to expand its services and capabilities for integrating small payloads on rideshare and piggyback missions.

PARIS, September 19, 2022 (Thales Alenia Space PR) – SpeQtral, a leading provider of satellite quantum communication technology, and Thales Alenia Space, a joint Venture between Thales (67 %) and Leonardo (33 %), today announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) to research, develop and demonstrate quantum communications from space to Earth.

Quantum information networks are currently being heavily researched and developed. The industry has seen rapid development of quantum computing and quantum sensing technologies, with the promise of bringing a step change in performance improvements. In order to realise the full potential of such technologies, there will be a need to transfer quantum information across distances of varying ranges. Using satellites to transfer quantum information is actively being pursued as one of the best methods to realise long-distance quantum communications.

SEATTLE / PARIS, September 19, 2022 (Spaceflight Inc./RFA PR) – At the International Astronautical Congress 2022, (IAC), Spaceflight Inc., the leading global launch services provider, today announced it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for upcoming launches with Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA). The agreement formalizes the plan for Spaceflight to fly its Sherpa® orbital transfer vehicles (OTVs) and other rideshare payloads on upcoming RFA missions from a variety of European launch sites, including from facilities in the United Kingdom, French Guiana and others. The companies are targeting mid-2024 for their first launch.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

ABL Space has completed a wet dress rehearsal for the maiden flight of its RS-1 rocket and is working with the Federal Aviation Administration to finalize a window for the launch of the booster from the Pacific Spaceport Complex — Alaska (PSC-A), the company tweeted last week.

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — Earlier this summer, Voyager and Nanoracks announced our first Outpost demonstration mission, called Outpost Mars Demo-1 (OMD-1), which launched aboard SpaceX’s Transporter 5 rideshare flight. We are thrilled to share that the experiment was successful, while also offering insights into challenges and required improvements as we move towards metal-cutting in space.

The mission marked the first-ever demonstration of metal cutting in space using a technique called friction milling to cut corrosion-resistant steel commonly found in space debris. This experiment is a historic first in the development of space as a viable place for recycling, manufacturing, and construction operations.

The OMD-1 mission operated as a hosted payload aboard an upper stage of the SpaceX rocket. OMD-1 was supported by our partner Maxar Technologies, who developed a new robotic arm that leveraged a commercially available friction milling end-effector, which uses a cutting tool operating at high rotations per minute to soften the metal in such a way that a cut is made while reducing on-orbit debris. The experiment’s arm and metal samples were contained inside an enclosure that was hosted on a Nanoracks power and data bus, ensuring that no debris would escape the demonstration Outpost spacecraft. The spacecraft burned up as it reentered Earth’s atmosphere after one orbit.

PARIS, Sept. 18, 2022 (Voyager Space PR) — Voyager Space, a global leader in space exploration, and its operating company Nanoracks, today announced while at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) that the company has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with the Colombian Space Agency, El Salvador Aerospace Institute, the Mexican Space Agency, the Guatemalan Association of Space Sciences and Engineering, and the Costa Rican startup Orbital Space Technologies. Nanoracks and Voyager signed an individual MoU with each agency, with the intent of opening up access to space and furthering commercial space opportunities within the respective countries.

“This is a momentous occasion, not only for our teams at Voyager and Nanoracks but also for the growing space economies of each and every one of these countries,” said Jeffrey Manber, President of International and Space Stations at Voyager. “We look forward to working closely with the space agencies in Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and potentially more countries in the region to support their current space initiatives and work together to make future commercial space platforms accessible.

Approval accelerates Lynk’s plans to provide universal mobile service later this year

FALLS CHURCH, Va., September 16, 2022 (Lynk Global PR) – Lynk Global, Inc. (Lynk), the world’s leading satellite-direct-to-standard-phone telecoms company, today expressed its appreciation to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for granting Lynk the world’s first-ever commercial license for a satellite-direct-to-standard-mobile-phone service. This FCC license enables Lynk to launch commercial services for its global constellation of satellites later this year, paving the way for universal mobile connectivity.

Margo Deckard, COO and co-founder of Lynk, said, “The FCC is the gold standard of telecommunication regulators. They have deep technical knowledge and conducted a rigorous review process, which validates that Lynk’s first-of-its-kind satellite-direct-to-standard-mobile-phone service is ready to be deployed globally.” Deckard added, “We applaud the FCC and its staff for using their smallsat rules to accelerate innovation in space. We are honored to receive the very first commercial license for the world’s first true satellite-direct-to-standard-mobile-phone service from such a credible and respected regulator.”