The space industry is full of acronyms, but TRL or ‘technology readiness level’ is one that we hear often for many new and emerging markets. As a measure of the availability and status of the technology required for an operation, it gives an indication of how close to ‘lift-off’ is the said technology. In-orbit services […]
With the UK having left Europe, the Government has updated its information on the EU space programmes in which the UK participates. The new advice relates to the European satellite navigation programmes (Galileo and European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service EGNOS), the Copernicus Earth observation space programme, and the EU Space Surveillance and Tracking (EUSST) programme. […]
The United Nations’ Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), through its consensus process, has accomplished much over the decades, most notably helping to produce the five space treaties and related guiding principles. But it has been unable to produce the international framework of laws to regulate private activity in outer space. As […]
Three significant trends are shaping the start-up space environment as we enter the 2020s. First, investors continue to pour large amounts of capital into start-up space ventures, shattering previous records as increasing numbers of investors fund more recipients. Second, years into start-up space investment, many ventures still have yet to demonstrate profitability and sustainability, creating […]
The mandatory ESA Space Science Programme (SSP) is designed first and foremost to undertake frontier scientific research concerning the Solar System, our Sun and the Universe beyond. At the same time, the programme is charged with stimulating competitive industrial capability. Through a combination of direct and competitive procurement, UK industry regularly secures major ESA contracts […]
The UK space sector, the jewel in our industrial crown, is at a crossroads. Brexit has presented hurdles, as well as potential opportunities for the sector. While the sector does well at selling overseas, the global market is becoming more competitive. As a result, there is mounting pressure on the UK space sector to maintain […]
The UK Space Agency published its spending data for the final quarter of 2019 in early March, highlighting funding of some £14.4m in R&D, current and capital grants to the private sector. This is some way behind the £32.6 from the same quarter in 2018, but it rounded out the year to more or less […]
The fourth quarter of 2019 saw an impressive 140 small satellites launched which is the third highest quarter since 2010, with 188 in Q4 2018 and 154 in Q2 2019. This brings up the total number of small satellites launched and deployed last year to 375 making it by far the largest year – 2018 […]
Satellites have long occupied a small niche within the telecommunications ecosystem, but this could change with the arrival of high-throughput satellites and mass constellation LEO. Disruptive New-Space operators pin their hopes on providing mass market broadband to the ‘unconnected’ world, but questions remain over the size of these markets, the cost of user technologies, and […]
2019 was a year of record VC investment in spacetech. The year the promise of megaconstellations started to be become a reality and space officially becoming a military arena. With Apple unofficially entering the fray for delivering ubiquitous connectivity, 2020 has a lot to live up to. Although it may well be that headlines will […]
Every week Space Industry Bulletin updates this page with the latest ESA invitations to tender, taken from the emits pages of the ESA website. For more information and to submit
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