The newsletter for space professionals
Spaceleaks daily: Mar 4, 2021
Worldwide:
- ESA signed NESTS initiative contracts each worth €500000, with ArianeGroup, Avio and Rocket Factory Augsburg
- European Commission awards €3 million to Airbus to study spacecraft manufacturing in space through the Horizon 2020 Programme
- China successfully launches new Long March 7A on second attempt
- India, Japan space agencies review cooperation
- ISRO aims for 7 more launches from India in 2021
Business:
- Speedcast emerges from Chapter 11 Bankruptcy debt free
- Umbra hits regulatory “Jackpot” for its satellite constellation able to see a soda can from space
- Aerojet Rocketdyne shareholders approve deal with Lockheed Martin
- Telespazio acquires Vitrociset
- Comtech closes their acquisition of UHP Networks
- WISeKey makes a strategic investment in FOSSA Systems
- Inmarsat named ‘Satellite Network Provider of the Year’
- Industry groups advocate for Office of Space Commerce
- Satellogic partners with leading US and International Space Organizations
- The National Space Society elects a diverse slate of new leaders
Technology:
- AAK implements satellite monitoring globally to support zero deforestation
- SpaceX launches 60 new Starlink satellites to orbit, nails rocket landing at sea
AIAA released a statement on passage of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021: “This vital industry is a multi-trillion-dollar enterprise that supports 2.19 million jobs nationally and many more globally. […] AIAA applauds lawmakers’ steps to support the aviation manufacturing industry, workforce, and supply chain, which has been severely weakened by the COVID-19 pandemic and will take several years to recover.”
Umbra was granted a license from the Federal Communications Commission to operate its Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite with 1,200 MHz of bandwidth, allowing them to generate images with as low as 15-centimeter (6 inch) ground sampling distance. At this resolution, Umbra’s satellites will be able to detect items as small as a soda can from space. The company becomes the first commercial satellite provider in U.S. history to receive a license enabling this level of capability from Space.
Axiom Space purchased a seat on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, and it then traded this seat with NASA in exchange for a seat in 2023 on a Commercial Crew Program spacecraft developed by SpaceX or Boeing. So, technically, NASA did not buy a seat on Soyuz’s launch next month.
