Focus: In-Space Services

Kayhan Space, along with Astroscale U.S. and UT-Austin have been awarded a U.S. Space Force contract to develop a solution that will enable in-space service, assembly, and manufacturing. The contract is part of the SpaceWERX Orbital Prime program, which is focused on accelerating capabilities related on-orbit servicing, assembly, and manufacturing (OSAM). SpaceWERX is the innovation...

ClearSpace won a new contract from the UK Space Agency (UKSA) to lead a consortium to design a debris removal mission. The contract announced Monday follows the successful completion of a feasibility study of the Clearing of the LEO Environment with Active Removal (CLEAR) mission to remove two U.K.-registered derelict objects from Low-Earth Orbit (LEO). A consortium...

Redwire is joining a project between Bradford Space and Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) to develop a commercial orbital debris removal service. Redwire announced Wednesday it will bring its space robotics and guidance, navigation and control (GN&C) experience to the project that Bradford Space and SSC previously announced in 2021.  In the SSC and Bradford Space...

Spire Global has signed GHGSat as a new customer for its space services segment, and will launch three 16U satellites in 2023 that to GHGSat’s greenhouse gas-monitoring payload. GHGSat currently operates six satellites, and Spire said this deal will help the company meet growing demand for its  measurements of methane emissions from industrial sites worldwide....

Space startup Outpost, which is developing technology for returnable and reusable satellites, has raised a $7.1 million Series Seed round. Moonshots Capital led the oversubscribed funding round announced Tuesday.  The company, Outpost Technologies Corporation, was founded by former Made in Space co-founder Jason Dunn. The company said it has developed, and flight tested a re-entry...

Planet Labs will support operators SES and Telesat as a subcontractor on their space relay projects for NASA. Planet will work with the operators on the Communication Services Project (CSP) to develop high-rate and high-capacity two-way communications to replace the aging Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) constellation. Planet announced the Telesat Government Solutions subcontract...

Sierra Space and Blue Origin have completed the system definition review (SDR) with NASA for the Orbital Reef commercial space station. The SDR establishes the functional baseline of the project, demonstrating to NASA that the space station design is feasible and achievable. Now the project can proceed to the design phase.  NASA awarded Blue Origin...

Satellite manufacturer OHB‘s Luxembourg-based subsidiary LuxSpace announced Monday that it has signed a contract with in-space transportation and infrastructure services company Momentus to hitch a ride on its Vigoride orbital transfer vehicle next year. LuxSpace will send its Triton-X small satellite hosted payload platform into Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) on the Vigoride Orbital Transfer Vehicle during...

Benchmark Space Systems is rolling out a satellite collision avoidance kit — ColA — that the propulsion company says is an affordable, plug-and-play safety accessory for microsat and ESPA-class satellites.  The chemical propulsion solution is a smaller version of Benchmark’s heritage Halcyon thruster and is designed for electric propulsion and non-propulsive microsatellites to help them...

Benchmark Space Systems is rolling out a satellite collision avoidance kit — ColA — that the propulsion company says is an affordable, plug-and-play safety accessory for microsat and ESPA-class satellites. The chemical propulsion solution is a smaller version of Benchmark’s heritage Halcyon thruster and is designed for electric propulsion and non-propulsive microsatellites to help them quickly...