🛰️ MANUFACTURING AND OPERATIONS

🇨🇦🇩🇪Jena-Optronik GmbH has announced that MDA Space Ltd has selected it, as part of the company’s supply chain for MDA AURORA, a product line driving the transition from analog to digital satellite technology.
Jena-Optronik will consequently supply over 500 ASTRO CL Star sensors, which it will manufacture on a specific High Volume Production line in its facilities in Germany. The ASTRO CL provides full radiation-hardness, real-time lost-in-space acquisition and operation at high rotational rates as well as short-term availability.
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💰️ FINANCE, FUNDING AND M&A

🇬🇧 🇺🇸 Mandala Space Ventures, a Californian venture studio and incubator, announced July 8 the nine United Kingdom-based startups participating in its UK Space Agency-funded accelerator program this fall.
#Agtelligence Agriculture-focused Earth observation analysis provider.
#Angoka Machine-to-machine communications software specialist.
#Lodestar A developer of robotic actuators for in-orbit inspection and capture missions.
#Lumi Software platform provider for orbit tracking and atmospheric turbulence monitoring.
#Second Star Satellite propulsion system manufacturer.
#Space Solar Space-based solar power technology developer.
#Saif Systems Software-based guardrail developer for autonomous artificial intelligence solutions in space.
#Universal Atmosphere Processing (UAP) A provider of gas capture technology that could support sustainable human habitats in space.  
#Frontier Space Tech A miniaturized, autonomous laboratory developer for drug discovery in microgravity.
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🛰️ CORE SERVICES

🇺🇸 Washington-based startup Gravitics has signed a $125 million contract to expand Axiom Space’s planned space station, the latest deal in the burgeoning private market for orbiting habitats.
Axiom is one of several companies building private space stations as NASA plans for the International Space Station to end its time in orbit. Already, Axiom has modules of its space station being built by Italian aerospace contractor Thales Alenia. The Gravitics order adds another “pressurized spacecraft” that would attach to Axiom’s station after its planned launch in two years.
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🛰️ PRODUCT, PARTNERSHIPS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

🇺🇸 Redwire Space announced today it has signed a strategic cooperation agreement (SCA) with in-space propulsion leader Phase Four to build and deliver advanced thruster technology designed for reliable, high-volume production to meet the surge in demand across national security space programs. The SCA provides a framework which allows for joint development of this advanced thruster.
Redwire and Phase Four will design and develop a reliable and efficient Hall Effect Thruster (HET), called the Valkyrie Thruster, based on an existing design. The highly flexible and streamlined design will yield a shorter production schedule enabling reliable, high-volume production.
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🇺🇸 Maxar Intelligence’s new global basemap offers 15-centimeter imagery for metropolitan areas.
The Vivid Advanced 15-centimeter HD Basemap, unveiled July 9, will be particularly important for mapping and navigation applications
Customers for the upgraded imagery include national map makers. In addition, the maps will serve customers focused on visualization and simulation.
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🚀 LAUNCH CONTRACTS AND MISSIONS

🇵🇱 🇳🇴 Lukasiewicz – Institute of Aviation and Andøya Space Sub-Orbital successfully launched a new, all-European research rocket.
The rocket, named ILR-33 AMBER 2K, took off from the launch pad on July 3rd at 13:09.
The task of the two small booster rockets was to provide the thrust in the first six seconds of the launch, says Blix. – After they were out of fuel, they were jettisoned and landed, as planned, inside the declared hazard area. The rest of the rocket reached an apogee of 101 kilometers before falling back to Earth.
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🇺🇸 🇹🇷SpaceX launched Turkey’s first domestically built communications satellite July 8 toward geostationary orbit.
Turksat 6A, to be operated by state-owned satellite operator Turksat, lifted off on a Falcon 9 rocket at 7:30 p.m. Eastern from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Turksat 6A is fitted with Ku- and X-band transponders to provide satellite TV and communications services over parts of Europe, the Middle East and Asia, including four countries not currently covered by Turksat: India, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
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🌎️ CUSTOMERS OF THE SPACE INDUSTRY

🇫🇷 🇺🇸 Bouygues Telecom teams up with Starlink to offer high-speed satellite broadband, a first in France
According to the operator, companies will be able to use Starlink as “a back-up solution, in addition to existing technologies (4G/5G, optical fiber), or in areas where fiber has not yet been deployed or 5G coverage is insufficient.”
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🇬🇧 🇦🇷 ORBITH, Argentina's leading satellite Internet service provider, reported its entry into the LEO low orbit thanks to its strategic alliance with the global communications company Eutelsat OneWeb.
The alliance signed with Eutelsat OneWeb will allow Orbith to offer its corporate clients faster and broader data-driven communications that drive performance, improve levels of employee well-being, increase supply chain efficiency and help meet compliance. sustainability and compliance requirements.
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📜 REGULATORY & GOVERNMENT

🇺🇸The Space Force is planning a first-ever meeting with combatant commanders, other US agencies and allies to hammer out near-term requirements and priorities for space capabilities, according to the head of Space Operations Command (SpOC).

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🇸🇪AAC Clyde Space has won its first order for the Cyclops Earth observation satellite constellation by entering into a pre-commercial agreement valued at GBP 612,000 (approx. SEK 8.3 M) with the Scottish Government. The project will start in Q3 2024 and continue until Q3 2026.
The pre-commercial agreement now entered into will focus on the analysis, including automation and integration, of image data into Scottish Forestry's Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) and operations.
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🇯🇵Japan’s space agency, JAXA, is seeking industry proposals for technologies that could contribute to future commercial space stations as the government studies what role it would play in supporting efforts to replace the International Space Station.
The request for proposals is part of a new Space Strategic Fund established by the Japanese government and administered by the space agency JAXA, which will offer one trillion yen ($6.2 billion) over 10 years to Japanese companies to help expand the country’s space industry.
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🇸🇪 The Swedish government adopted its first ever defense and security strategy for space on July 4, outlining the country’s plan to increase its capabilities in space and ensure the safety and security of itself and its allies.
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