Commercial
SES and Eutelsat point to improving broadcast trends
European satellite giants SES and Eutelsat see improving trajectories in their broadcast businesses, although the wider picture remains mixed as the pandemic hangs over financials.
French court denies European Aviation Network challenge
France’s highest court has rejected a legal challenge from Eutelsat against Inmarsat’s hybrid satellite and cellular European Aviation Network.
Startups map out strategies to augment or backup GPS
Companies investing billions of dollars in autonomous cars, delivery drones and urban air taxis are counting on precise and reliable location data being available when they need it.
Japanese lunar lander company ispace raises $46 million
Japanese lunar lander developer ispace raised $46 million in a new funding round Aug. 4 to support future missions to the moon.
SpaceLink to improve International Space Station comms with relay satellites
Significantly faster communications could be coming to the International Space Station in 2024, after SpaceLink won funding to test its incoming relay satellites.
Modern civilization would be lost without GPS
Aircraft, cars, trucks, trains and ships rely on GPS for location data, while GPS timing signals underpin cellular communications and financial transactions.
Mystery surrounds Chinese private rocket launch attempt
Chinese private firm iSpace conducted a launch of a Hyperbola-1 solid rocket early Tuesday but status of the mission is currently unknown.
AWS agrees deal to expand Greece’s space industry with the cloud
Amazon Web Services is partnering with Greece’s government on economic and technology initiatives that aim to turn the country into a regional space hub.
Former NASA official joins Nanoracks to lead commercial space station work
Commercial space services company Nanoracks has hired a former NASA official most recently involved with planning for the Artemis program to lead its efforts to develop commercial space stations.
Chinese space firm launches and lands small test rocket
Chinese private launch company Deep Blue Aerospace carried out a first low-altitude vertical takeoff, vertical land test late July.
GAO denies Blue Origin and Dynetics protests of NASA lunar lander contract
The U.S. Government Accountability Office denied protests July 30 that Blue Origin and Dynetics filed of NASA’s award of a single lunar lander contract to SpaceX.
Inmarsat unveils multi-orbit Orchestra constellation
British operator Inmarsat plans to add at least 150 low-Earth-orbit satellites to its global fleet, stepping up competition against OneWeb and others developing megaconstellations for mobility markets.
Op-ed | The costs of extreme weather and climate are soaring. Commercial space data should be a bigger part of the solution
There is no one magic bullet to improving forecasts and reining in the costs of extreme weather and climate. To truly tap into the powerful innovation of the private sector, we must think beyond a few targeted, yet piecemeal commercial data buys.
GeoOptics to launch next-generation Earth science constellation
GeoOptics is planning to deploy of constellation of dozens of smallsats over the next five years to collect weather and other Earth science data for government and commercial customers.
R3-IoT gets funding for satellite-enabled sensor connectivity solutions
Scottish startup R3-IoT is expanding to North America after raising early funds for connecting sensors and devices with satellite-enabled solutions.
Isar Aerospace raises $75 million
Isar Aerospace, a German small launch vehicle company, has raised an additional $75 million that will allow the company to expand its manufacturing and launch capabilities.
