Space debris removal startup Astroscale raises $25 million

Astroscale, a Singapore-based startup focused on space debris mitigation, has raised $25 million from investors in Japan, including aviation company ANA Holdings and industrial machinery provider OSG Corp.

At London SSA conference, calls for paradigm shift in space situational awareness

Maintaining safety of space operations in the increasingly congested and contested space environment will require a paradigm shift in space situational awareness, including increased collaboration and active space traffic management.

Launchspace pitches debris sweeper that doubles as satellite tracker

Launchspace Technologies Corp. proposes sending platforms as large as football fields into low Earth orbit to sweep up space debris. The platforms also would be equipped with sensors to help U.S. government agencies detect and track orbiting satellites and debris.

Space-tracking ideas proliferating as fast as orbital debris

Commercial firms are developing models, simulations, algorithms and proposing new sensors to help the government improve its ability to tackle the problems of adversaries and orbital debris threatening U.S. satellites.

Space Data Assn., AGI working to improve commercial space traffic center

The organizations announced March 6 they reached an agreement to launch an updated Space Data Center Space Traffic Management service that will provide satellite tracking, radio frequency spectrum management, and conjunction warning services to companies.

Time for Defense Department to relinquish reigns on SSA, Pentagon expert says

The ever growing number of satellites means a new organization is needed to catalog and track objects in orbit for the commercial space sector, experts said March 7.

Satellite-tracking firm LeoLabs opens for business with $4 million banked

With $4 million in the bank and two radars tracking satellites and debris in low Earth orbit, Silicon Valley startup LeoLabs is now open for business.

U.S. STRATCOM, Belgium sign space situational awareness agreement

U.S. Strategic Command agreed to share space situational awareness data with Belgium under an agreement concluded Feb. 7.

Air Force picks ADS to demo an all-commercial alternative to Space-Track catalog

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory recently selected Applied Defense Solutions to spend a year cataloging human-made objects in geostationary orbit using data solely derived from commercial space-surveillance sources.

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U.S. Air Force awards commercial space-surveillance contract

The Air Force awarded a contract Oct. 19 to Applied Defense Solutions, Inc., to provide space situational awareness services (SSA), part of the Pentagon’s growing interest in private capabilities that could augment the military’s own SSA.

EU’s new space policy to invest in startups, boost private investment

The European Union’s executive commission on Oct. 26 unveiled a new space strategy that promises public investment to stimulate the creation of space start-up companies.

FAA estimates space traffic management costs at under $100 million

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration estimates it can take over the job of providing collision warnings for most satellites from the Air Force for “well under” $100 million if it receives authority to do so.

Are cubesats a nuisance to space situational awareness efforts?

Small satellites and cubesats should not be viewed as a major contributor to congestion or in creating space debris in low earth orbit, at least based on recent history, a panel of experts here said Sept. 23.

More satellite collision warnings to come with Space Fence data

A senior Pentagon official said the U.S. Air Force will need to rethink how it issues satellite collision warnings when a new space object tracking system goes online or risk overwhelming satellite operators and hardware systems with overly cautious alerts.

LeoLabs to build space-tracking radar at Texas spaceport

LeoLabs Inc., a Silicon Valley startup preparing to build a worldwide network of phased-array radars to detect and track objects in low Earth orbit, plans to install a radar at Texas’ Midland International Air and Space Port, according to a Sept. 13 announcement.

Time for the U.S. military to let go of the civil space situational awareness mission

The time has come for the U.S. military to let go of the spaceflight safety mission, and allow a civil entity — likely with help from the private sector, academia, and international partners — to create its own public, high-accuracy catalog of space objects, and provide safety of spaceflight services to satellite operators.