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Earlier this month, ESA and the Spanish Space Agency (Agencia Espacial Española or AEE) confirmed their intent to collaborate on the proposed CApTure Payload Bay (CAT) on-orbit demo—this mission will test a standardized docking interface that will simplify satellite removal operations.

Space debris mitigation guidelines outline that a satellite should be able to maneuver itself out of valuable orbits, either to reenter the atmosphere and burn up, or else to park itself in a so-called graveyard orbit. Yet even the most reliable of satellites may fail on-orbit and become uncontrollable, becoming a collision risk to other satellites.

Active debris removal techniques, where a second satellite captures and removes an incapacitated satellite or other debris, are complex. Approaching and docking to another satellite is always a risk, as any collision can lead to more damage and debris generation. It becomes even more complicated if the spacecraft is unprepared, meaning not designed to rendezvous and be ‘towed’. A rendezvous in space requires compatible interfaces A rendezvous in space requires compatible interfaces Using standardized interfaces

ESA has started to prepare its satellites with standard interfaces for capture and removal to simplify active debris removal missions. As anyone who has experienced the hassle of different charging cables before they were standardized to USB-C knows: for efficient interoperability of hardware, you need matching interfaces.

In September of 2024, Spanish company AVS successfully launched their LUR-1 mission that, among other new technologies, carries the joint technology demonstration with ESA of the Mechanical Interface for Capture at End-of-life (MICE) as well as other navigation aids that will help precise distance and orientation determination needed during the close-proximity navigation.

The MICE interface is a point of attachment put onto the satellite so CAT can easily grab it, similar to how cars have tow hooks. Six navigation aids have also been installed on LUR-1 to support the rendezvous and capture process by helping determine the distance, orientation and any tumbling of the spacecraft.

MICE and the navigation aids are also being installed on four of the future Copernicus Expansion missions to facilitate their removal from orbit in case of a failure that would prevent any of them from leaving orbit under their own steam. With MICE in space, ESA must send a CAT robotic assembly.

The next step is to demonstrate the removal operations on-orbit by sending the CAT side of the standardized interfaces into space, as well. The CAT payload is currently being developed under the leadership of GMV in Spain. It is compatible with ESA’s design for the removal interface and combines innovative robotics with relative navigation equipment for tight close-proximity operations.

CAT will then undergo end-to-end validation during the ESA CAT in-orbit mission. The demonstration will make active removal a reliable and more affordable option for future ESA satellites, in case of failures in a congested orbit.

The mission is proposed for implementation within the Space Safety Programme Proposal in view of the ESA Council meeting at Ministerial level in November of 2025.

ESA and the Spanish Space Agency (AEE) affirmed their intent on May 16, 2025, to collaborate by considering the Spanish LUR-1 satellite as a candidate target for the ESA CAT mission. As LUR-1 already has MICE onboard, ESA’s CAT mission can aim to safely remove the LUR-1 satellite from its low-Earth orbit in a timely manner after it reaches its end-of-mission.

Spain and ESA coming together to collaborate on the CAT on-orbit demonstration would form a key stepping stone to make the ESA Zero Debris goal possible and constitute significant progress in enhancing safety and sustainability in space.

SES Space & Defense joins the Defense Innovation Unit’s (DIU) Hybrid Space Architecture Network initiative.

SES’s Hybrid Space Architecture II project will showcase an automatically orchestrated secure integrated multi-orbit network that interconnects commercial and government networks to deliver assured and affordable, low-latency, multi-path communications across a scalable and resilient multi-domain network.

SES Space & Defense will deliver an engineered multi-orbit network leveraging Secure Integrated Multi-Orbit Networking (SIMON). This will enable always-on connectivity as an affordable, resilient alternative to traditional Primary, Alternate, Contingency, and Emergency (PACE) and auto-PACE operations currently used by warfighters across the Department of Defense (DoD) worldwide.

By blending LEO, MEO, and GEO capabilities in a purposeful manner, SIMON ensures that the warfighters’ data can affordably traverse multiple orbital regimes simultaneously, adapting and adjusting in real time to changing mission requirements.

With SIMON, warfighters will have the ability to ‘set and forget’ their user terminals and affordably realize assured connectivity across multiple orbits,” said David Fields, President and CEO of SES Space & Defense. “This transformational approach solves a decades-long dichotomy of affordability versus resilience, providing SATCOM agility, flexibility, and reliability for the forward deployed personnel.”

AAC Clyde Space has won an order from Ghalam LLP in Kazakhstan for Starbuck Mini power systems—the order is valued at 814,000 euros, with delivery scheduled for March of 2026. The units will be used onboard EO satellites developed under the KazEOSat-MR program.

The order reinforces AAC Clyde Space’s advanced and reliable satellite systems and highlights the company’s ability to win business in new and expanding markets. Starbuck Mini is a proven solution for demanding missions and continues to play a key role in positioning AAC Clyde Space as a preferred supplier for critical satellite subsystems.

KazEOSat-MR is a national EO program that will provide data for environmental monitoring, land use, and security in Kazakhstan. The customer, Ghalam LLP, is based in Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan.

Rocket Lab USA, Inc (Nasdaq: RKLB) has completed a record turnaround of two Earth return missions in two months with its latest successful mission and Pioneer spacecraft for Varda Space Industries (Varda).

Rocket Lab successfully supported the return to Earth of Varda’s W-3 capsule at 02:07 a.m. UTC on May 14th, the third overall successful operation in the W-series of Varda missions.

For the second time this year, Rocket Lab’s highly configurable, medium delta-V spacecraft platform, Pioneer, delivered Varda’s hypersonic re-entry capsule back to Earth. To date, Rocket Lab has successfully built, tested, integrated, and managed on-orbit and de-orbit operations for three of the four contracted missions for Varda.

Each Pioneer spacecraft for Varda’s W-series missions delivered critical mission functions for Varda’s 120kg capsule including power, communications, propulsion, and attitude control. The Pioneer spacecraft was designed, built, and tested at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California. Rocket Lab’s Pioneer spacecraft platform uses the Company’s vertically integrated components and systems, including star trackers, propulsion systems, reaction wheels, solar panels, flight software, radios, composite structures, tanks, separation systems, and more.

The fourth spacecraft in Varda’s W-series is currently undergoing integration and testing at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.

The good news for Canada-based satellite operator Telesat is that its backlog for its Lightspeed mega-constellation is likely to be worth more than C$1.1 billion (0.7 billion euros) by the end of this year. The bad news is that the first Lightspeed LEO satellite will not be orbited until the end of 2026 and service will not commence until 2027.

Further bad news is in its core DTH transmission business for Canadian (and U.S.) viewers and where revenues are down 25 percent when compared to the same period last year. The company’s Operating Income is down 53 per cent y-o-y.

The Lightspeed backlog is likely to see further growth helped by a contract with Viasat. Telesat CEO Dan Goldberg told analysts during its Q1 2025 call on May 6th that he’s optimistic Telesat will secure additional commitments over the course of this year, which would bring Lightspeed’s backlog to more than the backlog for services from GEO.

We continue to believe that our year-end 2025 LEO segment backlog will exceed our year-end 2024 GEO segment backlog. The Viasat contract is a very meaningful contract. I think there will be other commercial players that will sign significant deals. Maybe they won’t quite be at the Viasat level, but they could be still in that nine-figure [value], when I think about conversations we’re having and what the pipeline looks like.” Goldberg said. “We have had multiple conversations with various governments around the world as governments think about leveraging LEO to meet their growing space requirements.”

But meanwhile, Goldberg admitted that Telesat’s revenue expectations would remain under pressure. The company is anticipating a 27 percent decline in revenues at the mid-year point.

For the quarter ended March 31st 2025, Telesat reported consolidated revenue of C$117 million, a decrease of 23 per cent (C$35 million) compared to the same period in 2024. When adjusted for changes in foreign exchange rates, revenue declined 26 percent (C$40 million) compared to 2024. The decrease was primarily due to a lower rate on the renewal of a long-term agreement with a North American DTH television customer and to reductions in services for certain customers, particularly on an agreement to provide services to an Indonesian rural broadband program, combined with lower equipment sales to Canadian government customers.

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) has announced the launch window for the firm’s next mission for multi-launch customer, Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space, Inc. (iQPS).

The mission, named ‘The Sea God Sees’, will launch from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand during a launch window that opens on May 17, 2025. The mission will launch a single, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging satellite called QPS-SAR-10 (nicknamed “WADATSUMI-I” for the Japanese god of the sea) to a 575 km circular Earth orbit, from where the satellite will join the iQPS constellation in providing high resolution images and Earth monitoring services globally.

The mission will be the third overall Electron launch for iQPS and the second in a line-up of eight dedicated missions across 2025 and 2026 to deploy iQPS’s constellation. The first mission of the multi-launch contract, ‘The Lightning God Reigns’, was successfully deployed to space by Electron just weeks ago on March 15, 2025.

“The Sea God Sees” will be Rocket Lab’s sixth mission of 2025, its 64th Electron launch overall, and will bring the total number of satellites delivered to space by Rocket Lab to 225.

As Eutelsat moves into the next phase after the integration with OneWeb and fully aligned with an IRIS2 future, the company has appointed Jean-François Fallacher as the firm’s new CEO.

The appointment was decided at a Board Meeting held on May 4th, 2025, upon the recommendation of the Nomination and Governance Committee, and will be effective on June 1st, 2025. This appointment comes as a natural change that fully aligns Eutelsat to the telecom ecosystem.

A seasoned telecoms professional, Jean-François Fallacher joins Eutelsat following a lengthy career at Orange where he was latterly Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Orange France. Prior to that, he led Orange’s operations in various countries including Spain, Romania and Poland.

Before his career at Orange, Jean-François Fallacher held several roles in R&D, sales and operations, including Chief Operating Officer of Wanadoo in the Netherlands and Chief Executive Officer of Sofrecom, a consulting company specializing in the telecoms sector. A French national, Jean-François Fallacher is a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications in Paris.

Jean-François Fallacher succeeds Eva Berneke, who has steered the company since January 2022, presiding over some of its most significant strategic and operational achievements. These include the merger with and integration of OneWeb in 2023 to create the world’s only LEO / GEO satellite operator, its appointment as one of the core players in the planned EU IRIS2 multi-orbit constellation, and the pioneering disposal of its passive ground segment, the first operation of its type among satellite operators.

Dominique D’Hinnin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Eutelsat, said, “On behalf of myself, Vice-Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal, and the other members of the Board, I warmly thank Eva Berneke for her dynamic and committed leadership through these significant milestones in Eutelsat’s development and for delivering on our telecoms pivot strategy, in a period that has seen significantly increased competitive and geopolitical pressure. I am delighted to welcome Jean-François Fallacher as he picks up the baton from Eva. With his proven track record of success and wealth of experience and expertise, I am convinced he is the right leader to take Eutelsat forward and successfully steward the company through the opportunities and challenges which will undoubtedly present themselves in the coming years.”

Jean-François Fallacher said, “I am excited to be joining Eutelsat at such a pivotal moment in its history. Technology is evolving faster than ever, and in today’s increasingly complex geopolitical context, satellite networks have become a key element in the Connectivity landscape. I am convinced Eutelsat has the fundamentals to be a winner in this environment, and I look forward to building on Eva’s foundations, and working with its talented teams to ensure we achieve our goals.”

AAC Clyde Space has won an order valued at 570,000 euros for PCDU-systems (Power Conditioning and Distribution Unit)—delivery is scheduled for March of 2026. The costumer is a European satellite manufacturer.

We are proud to see our Starbuck MINI technology continuing to earn the trust of leading players in the space sector. Its proven reliability and performance make it a preferred choice for advanced satellite missions,” said AAC Clyde Space CEO Luis Gomes.

About Starbuck MINI
Starbuck MINI is an advanced PCDU developed by AAC Clyde Space. Often described as the electrical heart of a satellite, it manages and distributes power to all onboard systems, ensuring stable and efficient operation throughout the mission.

Originally designed for small satellites, Starbuck MINI has become a trusted standard in the industry thanks to its reliability, robust design and strong performance. It is used in a wide range of leading-edge space missions, including ESA’s Arctic Weather Satellite, Astroscale’s orbital debris removal service, and the lunar lander Nova-C developed by Intuitive Machines.

Spire Global, Inc. (NYSE: SPIR) now has an expanded space services agreement with Myriota to design, build and operate 16 satellites with enhanced, second-generation payloads for the IoT provider.

These new launches will see Myriota’s IoT connectivity become operational across 40+ satellites. Since initially partnering in 2021, Myriota has scaled its IoT connectivity platform rapidly and cost effectively by deploying its network software on Spire satellites that are optimized to host and run Myriota’s advanced network in space. With this agreement, Myriota is expanding into satellite hardware in space through Spire Space Services.

Satellites on-orbit enable IoT services and products to meet their users’ needs anytime, anywhere, unlocking economic potential where traditional cellular connectivity struggles

The expansion of Myriota’s global space infrastructure will allow for more scalable and reliable IoT connectivity for smart devices worldwide. Myriota customers will have enhanced security, faster data access, reduced latency, and improved device control and firmware updating capabilities.

In a world where IoT connectivity is increasingly crucial, satellites and space technology are more than just tools; they are foundational to the future of global communication networks,” said Theresa Condor, CEO of Spire Global. “As Myriota’s constellation grows, so does our collaboration with them, expanding from software to hardware with payloads that address the critical gaps in IoT communication. With Spire Space Services we are thrilled to continue our long-term work with Myriota in reimagining how the world connects.

Across sectors from agriculture and water to logistics, satellite-connected IoT sensors offer unparalleled insights into operations and are driving dramatic improvements in operational efficiency,” said Ben Cade, CEO of Myriota. “At Myriota we are working with customers around the globe delivering ultra-low power networks, with sensor battery lives measured in years. We are delighted to be working with Spire to further extend our network to help more industries, in more countries gain critical intelligence from the field, and apply this to deliver better outcomes for industry, society and the planet.”

SFL Missions Inc. is continuing the development of barrier-breaking, budget-aggressive, small satellite missions for commercial, government and academic customers worldwide by building upon the extraordinary legacy of Space Flight Laboratory (SFL). This evolution of customer-oriented service expands upon SFL’s 26-year highly successful experience of small satellite innovation and mission delivery.

Building on the SFL heritage that produced 86 operationally successful missions and 370+ cumulative years in orbit, SFL Missions Inc. is developing nano-, micro-, and small satellites and constellations using space-proven bus designs for Earth observation, communications, environmental monitoring, maritime situational awareness, space astronomy, scientific research and more.

SFL Missions will continue the tradition of devising and implementing innovative technologies for low-mass spacecraft, including precision attitude control, accurate sensor pointing, autonomous formation flying, scalable power & propulsion, and deployable antennas. In addition, SFL Missions is offering a Flex Production program that will give customers the option of having satellites developed in their own location, at a third-party site, or at the SFL Missions facility.

Additionally, SFL Missions will soon announce the launch of a new Apprenticeship Program to train the next generation of small satellite aerospace engineers.

The market for small satellite missions has evolved rapidly in recent years, especially in the NewSpace era,” said SFL Missions Founder, Dr. Robert E. Zee. “We have created SFL Missions with the right combination of business responsiveness, expertise, and capabilities needed to meet smallsat mission challenges now and far into the future. We are expanding our spacecraft development capacity in Toronto and are signing new mission contracts now—our order book is filling fast.””

About SFL Missions Inc.
SFL Missions Inc. generates bigger returns from smaller, lower cost satellites. Small satellites built by SFL Missions consistently push the performance envelope and disrupt the traditional cost paradigm. We build quality small satellites at low cost that work the first time and enable NewSpace companies to mass produce through our Flex Production program. Satellites are built with advanced power systems, stringent attitude control and high-volume data capacity that are striking relative to the budget. We arrange launches globally and maintain a mission control center accessing ground stations worldwide. The pioneering and barrier-breaking work of SFL Missions is a key enabler to tomorrow’s cost-aggressive satellites and constellations.