🛰️ MANUFACTURING AND OPERATIONS

🇫🇷Ovzon’s proprietary satellite Ovzon 3 has reached its orbital position in the geostationary arc. After a few weeks of final in-orbit testing, the satellite is now ready for commercial service.
The first delivery of SATCOM-as-a-Service from Ovzon 3 will be to the French government organization GIGN (Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale) who will use the service with immediate effect to meet its advanced connectivity needs during the Summer Games 2024 in France.
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🇺🇸Dark team successfully completed its first cryogenic test campaign at German Aerospace Center (DLR), achieving first-class results in combustion efficiency. It validates our engine combustion chamber requirements, enabling the future INTERCEPTOR’s missions and challenging state-of-the-art testing methodologies.
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💰️ FINANCE, FUNDING AND M&A

🇸🇪 AAC Clyde Space has announced the acquisition of Spacemetric for a total consideration of SEK25m. Spacemetric provides geospatial data management systems, including software capable of transforming data into visionary images. In particular, Spacemetric will enhance the capabilities and deliverables from AAC’s Cyclops small satellite constellation which is currently being deployed.
The Transaction expands AAC Clyde Space’s range of services within Space Data as a Service (SDaaS) and Missions, bringing in-house key capabilities for EO image processing for analytics and AI and will be a part of the xSPANCION enabled Cyclops constellation at AAC Clyde Space.
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🛰️ CORE SERVICES

🇩🇪 Airbus Defense and Space won a $2.5 billion contract from the German military to deliver next-generation communications satellites, known as SATCOMBw 3, short for Bundeswehr’s satellite communications system.
The deal, announced July 4, includes the development and deployment of two geostationary satellites, along with ground segment upgrades, launch services, and operational support for 15 years. The spacecraft are slated for deployment before the end of the decade, replacing the aging SATCOMBw 2 system delivered by Airbus 15 years ago.
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🇩🇪 🇪🇺 Space Structures GmbH has secured the contract to design and manufacture
COLIBRIS – a state-of-the-art translation stage (moving trolley) for the Large Space Simulator (LSS) at European Space Agency - ESA. This innovative system will enhance the capabilities of videogrammetry (VG) and thermography (IR) measurement instrumentation during thermal-vacuum tests.
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🛰️ PRODUCT, PARTNERSHIPS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

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🚀 LAUNCH CONTRACTS AND MISSIONS

🇺🇸 Firefly Aerospace placed eight cubesats into orbit on a mission funded by NASA on the first flight of the company’s Alpha rocket since an upper stage malfunction more than half a year ago.
The mission, called Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa 43) by NASA, carried four satellites developed by universities: CatSat from the University of Arizona, KUbeSat-1 from the University of Kansas, MESAT-1 from the University of Maine and SOC-I from the University of Washington. NASA’s Johnson Space Center provided the R5-S4 and R5-S2-2.0 satellites while the Ames Research Center built the TechEdSat-11 cubesat. The eighth cubesat, Serenity, came from a nonprofit group, Teachers In Space.
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🇺🇸The U.S. Space Force has added Blue Origin and Stoke Space Technologies to its roster of launch providers eligible to compete for short-turnaround small-satellite missions under the Orbital Services Program-4 (OSP-4) contract. 
OSP-4, an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, was established by the Air Force in 2019 to leverage emerging commercial launch capabilities. IDIQ contracts allow for an indefinite quantity of supplies or services during a fixed period, with the government placing orders as needs arise.
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🌎️ SPACE INDUSTRY ←→ DOWNSTREAM

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📜 REGULATORY & GOVERNMENT

🇨🇳 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan has signed a memorandum on cooperation on the China-led ILRS and will also explore commercial use of each other’s spaceports.
The agreement was signed during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Kazakhstan July 3, which saw the signing of 30 documents between the two sides. The development further bolsters China’s lunar exploration plans.
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