Satellite News

The European Union announced EUR200 million (US$222 million) of funding for the Ariane 6 rocket launcher and for small and medium-sized space technology companies.

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. announced the execution of a Launch Services Agreement with Innovative Space Logistics BV (ISILAUNCH), a launch services subsidiary of Netherlands based ISIS – Innovative Solutions in Space B.V. (ISISPACE).

Russia’s Energia Space Rocket Corporation will make an Angosat-2 telecommunications satellite for Angola by the end of 2021 to replace its predecessor Angosat-1 that is out of operation, Deputy Head of the State Space Corporation Roskosmos for Relations with State Authorities Sergei Dubik was quoted as saying.

Capella Space, an information services company providing Earth observation data on demand, unveiled its evolved satellite design to enable on-demand observations of anywhere on Earth.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has provided consultation for Qualcomm towards enabling NavIC capability in their Snapdragon mobile chipset platforms.

Skylo announced that the company has emerged from stealth mode with US$116 million in total funding. The company previously raised US$13 million in a Series A round that was co-led by DCM and Innovation Endeavors, and joined by Moore Strategic Ventures. The new Series B round raised US$103 million, led by SoftBank Group and joined by all existing investors.

China’s Chang Zheng-5B rocket has passed testing and examination before leaving the factory and is expected to make its maiden flight in the first half of 2020, according to the China Manned Space Agency.

Rocket Lab has announced that it will launch a dedicated mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The launch window is scheduled to open on 31 January NZDT (UTC +9:30 hours) and the mission, called ‘Birds of a Feather,’ will lift off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1.