Europe
Germany’s launch startups race to grow their launch manifests
Rocket Factory Augsburg has added two more customers to its launch manifest a week after rival German startup Isar Aerospace secured its first.
Eutelsat buys a quarter of OneWeb to get a LEO broadband growth engine
French satellite operator Eutelsat is paying $550 million to buy part of OneWeb, the startup deploying a broadband network in low Earth orbit.
Celestia eyes larger stake in ground segment market
Dutch conglomerate Celestia Technologies Group hopes to provide more satellite gateway stations following its December acquisition of Antwerp Space’s ground systems division in Belgium.
Portugal mulls Atlantic-focused constellation
Portugal’s newly created space agency is considering a national constellation focused on maritime activity in the Atlantic Ocean.
European spaceport boom could benefit industry
Sweden, Germany, Italy, Scotland, Portugal and Norway all have spaceport ideas being discussed, OHB CEO Marco Fuchs said Nov. 19 at Space Tech Expo Europe here.
EU could agree on new regulation for space program by May
The regulation is to provide Brussels with an adequate budget to continue its space projects, such as EGNOS, Galileo and Copernicus, and establish the rules for the governance of its space program, among others.
PLD Space raises additional $10 million for reusable smallsat launchers
Spanish startup PLD Space raised 9 million euros ($10.6 million) last month from public and private investors to develop a pair of reusable launch vehicles.
Eutelsat pivots for competition with Viasat on European broadband
Eutelsat on May 14 said it is taking steps to secure a foothold in the European broadband market after last month’s decision to forgo jointly funding a satellite with Viasat turned the two companies into direct competitors.
Europe’s space workforce: Same age, less crisis
Similar to the U.S., Europe’s median age for members of its space workforce is between 45 and 55, but that doesn’t foretell an impending talent shortage.
Op-ed | In space, no one is powerful enough to boldly go alone
Space matters in Europe and it is a top political priority. But the European Union’s efforts to achieve autonomy in space don’t mean we act in isolation.
Wall Street analysts balk at Viasat-Eutelsat split on European broadband
Eutelsat’s decision to scrap an investment in Viasat’s ViaSat-3 system in favor of a fully-owned satellite means the two companies will now be competitors in the European broadband market — a stance analysts view as bad for both operators.
Europe making a 3D map of the stars using Gaia
The European Space Agency team operating the star-mapping Gaia space telescope is preparing for its most comprehensive data release to date while defending its overtaxed data-processing network against budget cuts.
Ukraine parlays SES telecom deal into closer ties with Luxembourg
Ukraine has become an important customer for Luxembourg-based SES.
U.K. space agency chief hopeful for ‘continued cooperation’ with Europe after Brexit
Turnock: “We simply see the strong benefit to the U.K. remaining involved in the European Space Agency."
Satellite operators working to attract military business
The defense market in general is still uncertain, and will stay that way until the Pentagon finds a way to mesh commercial providers into its communications infrastructure.
Luxembourg eyes Earth-observation satellite for military and government
The low-Earth-orbit sun-synchronous mission will carry a panchromatic and multispectral camera.
U.K. military seeks to ride wave of commercial space innovation
The military is looking for ways to tap into the space boom, said General Sir Chris Deverell, commander the U.K. Joint Forces Command.
Humble origins drives OHB support for Europe’s space startup scene
Today’s OHB might be Europe’s third-largest space sector corporation, harvesting prestigious government contracts, but the Bremen-headquartered firm still remembers its modest beginnings.
Smallsat market forecast to exceed $30 billion in coming decade
More than 6,200 smallsats are to be launched in the next 10 years, with the market value expected to reach up to $30.1 billion, compared with $8.9 billion in the previous decade, according to a report Euroconsult released last month.
Lithuanian nano-spacecraft industry player obtains 3.2M euros to commercialize propulsion system, performs successful in-orbit test
Lithuanian nano-spacecraft equipment maker NanoAvionics has announced the company secured some 3.2 million euros (US$3.7 million) in funding to commercialize its Enabling Propulsion System for Small Satellites (EPSS), and performed a successful in-orbit test of its chemical propulsion system onboard a CubeSat.
