A recent Space Capital report states that the massive defense primes of Boeing and Airbus could divest themselves of space entirely. Given the new administration’s wish to potentially sack SLS, could companies like Boeing be out of space entirely?
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The European Space Agency has embarked on a collective initiative by signing contracts with Airbus Defence and Space, OHB, and Thales Alenia Space to develop large low Earth orbit satellite platforms that adhere to “Zero Debris” standards. This move aligns with ESA’s ambitious commitment to “significantly limit” the production of space debris by 2030 in hopes of making a significant step forward in space sustainability.
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The man-made Suez Canal that connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea has been blocked by a massive 1,300 feet long cargo ship. This happened earlier this week and has brought the entire shipping lane to a halt. Now with the power of Earth-observing satellite constellations, you can see the stuck ship from space.
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The Space Development Agency announced in October that SpaceX and L3Harris would each build four missile tracking satellites. These satellites would build out the Tranche 0 part of the tracking layer for the National Defense Space Architecture, but both Raytheon and Airbus have filed several protests that have brought finishing the contracts to a halt.
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The new variant of Arianespace’s Vega rocket called the Vega C that has an updated first and second stage just received another payload contract. Vega C is planning on its launch debut in mid-2021, but Arianespace is unsure if we’ll see this pushed back after another failed launch attempt last month.
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