SpaceWatch Global
• Joshua Faleti
Project-S has emerged from stealth with plans to develop a European space safety layer. The initiative adds a new entrant to efforts focused on improving safety in the increasingly complex space environment, with its ambitions spanning technical and potentially political dimensions of Europe’s space sector.
Space Debris & Traffic Management
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Impact testing found that 3D-printed aluminum arrays built with an eggshell-like structure and filled with water provided greater resistance than conventional designs. The approach could offer spacecraft developers a new path to improving protection against impacts while managing structural mass and manufacturing complexity.
High activity
Project-S has emerged from stealth with plans to develop a European space safety layer. The initiative adds a new entrant to efforts focused on improving safety in the increasingly complex space environment, with its ambitions spanning technical and potentially political dimensions of Europe’s space sector.
Chinese reconnaissance satellite Yaogan-50 (02), launched into an unusual retrograde orbit earlier this year, has apparently fragmented, creating a field of orbital debris. The event adds a new object and debris-generation incident to an increasingly complex space environment, although the cause and full extent of the breakup remain unclear.
Munich-based startup Project-S has emerged from stealth after announcing a multi-million-euro funding round. The company is developing capabilities in space situational awareness, a growing area focused on monitoring and understanding activity in orbit.
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Astroscale Japan has signed Isar Aerospace to launch ADRAS-J2 aboard a Spectrum rocket, targeting the capture and removal of a spent upper stage from orbit. Separately, NorthStar is leading FALCON, a new ESA-backed project focused on improving predictions of uncontrolled re-entries after recent debris incidents in Europe.
High activity
OHB has won a contract worth more than $1 billion to build the MEO satellite layer of Europe’s IRIS² constellation. Separate agreements cover Italy’s PRISMA Second Generation, constellr’s HiVE thermal-imaging platforms and ESA’s FALCON consortium for tracking uncontrolled atmospheric reentries.
Japan’s Astroscale is maintaining an investment strategy focused on securing an early lead in satellite debris removal, rendezvous and proximity operations, and other in-orbit services. The approach may come at the expense of profitability over the next one to two years as the company builds positions in emerging markets.
Japan’s Astroscale is maintaining an investment-heavy strategy in satellite debris removal, rendezvous and proximity operations, accepting that it may forgo profitability over the next one to two years. The company is pursuing first-mover advantage as commercial demand for in-orbit servicing and space sustainability develops.
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