Also: UK Space Agency funds 18 projects, stc Group and Omnispace Sign MOU
Boeing and NASA say they are on track to launch the first crewed CST-100 Starliner to the International Space Station (ISS) in mid to late April.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will fly the eight-day mission. Starliner will launch aboard an United Launch Alliance Atlas V from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
It will be the third flight of Starliner, which Boeing developed under the space agency’s Commercial Crew Program. An automated Starliner launched in December 2019 failed to reach the station due to software and communications problems. It flew an abbreviated two-day mission before landing at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
Starliner successfully docked with the station during a six-day mission in May 2022. The flight paved the way for the crewed test scheduled for April.
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft was also developed under the Commercial Crew Program. The company is set to launch the Crew-6 mission on Sunday.
Peraton Wins $399 Million Contract
NOAA has awarded a five-year contract worth $399.3 million to Peraton for sustainment of the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) Common Ground Services while integrating enhancements and additions to NOAA’s existing satellite constellations and partner missions.
JPSS acquires and distributes global environmental data from multiple polar-orbiting satellites. This includes the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) mission, NOAA-20, NOAA-21 and the JPSS-3/4 missions.
Fortuna Makes Investment in Starfighters Space
Fortuna Investments of Canada has expanded into the U.S. with an office in Miami Beach, and announced its first investment in an American company.
Fortuna invested in Starfighters Space, a Cape Canaveral-based company that is seeking to launch small satellites using a fleet of seven modified F-104 fighter jets. Starfighters is led by Rick Svetkoff.
“With its growing culture of innovation and pro-business environment, South Florida is the perfect place for Fortuna to make our U.S. debut,” said Fortuna CEO and Founder Justus Parmar. “The space industry really is the next frontier—and both the time and environment are right to provide capital and partner with the entrepreneurs and companies leading the way. We’re excited that Rick and Starfighters Space mark our first investment here, as the small satellite market is expected to grow to over $54 billion by 2030.”
UK Space Agency Awards $7.8 Million for Projects
The UK Space Agency has awarded £6.5 million (US $7.8 million) to eighteen space projects across the kingdom. The funding includes:
- £1.5 million (US $1.8 million) for a consortium of business support providers led by Entrepreneurial Spark,
- £500,000 (US $601,233) for the Midland Aerospace Alliance’s R&D program to support small engineering companies to enter the space market,
- £495,000 (US $595,220) for ADS Northern Island to oversee a pilot program enabling space supply chain small and medium sized companies to engage with larger companies,
- £485,000 (US $583,196) for STFC RAL Space’s Chilbolton Advanced Satellite Tracking Radar, which monitors objects in space up to an altitude of 1,000 km (621 miles), and
- £483,000 (US $580,791) for Space Hub Yorkshire to establish a network of organizations to embed the use of Earth observation and geospatial data in the UK’s Green Finance initiative.
stc Group, Omnispace Sign MOU
stc Group and Omnispace have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop space-based 5G mobile communications voice and data services. The partners will work to create a combined satellite and cellular communications network.
stc will leverage the Omnispace 3GPP-compliant non-terrestrial network (NTN), offering customers cost-effective global connectivity beyond its existing cellular land-based network. stc’s coverage areas will be expanded to include underserved regions across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Omnispace is headquartered in Tysons, Va. stc is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
