The UK Space Agency is launching a £20 million fund to support international partnerships that will harness the UK’s national strengths, support new space capabilities and catalyse investment.

On Friday, April 14, 2023 at 09:14 am local time, an Ariane 5 launcher, operated by Arianespace, successfully lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, carrying the European Space Agency (ESA) JUICE space probe.

Boeing [NYSE: BA] unveiled its Protected Wideband Satellite (PWS) design featuring Boeing’s Protected Tactical SATCOM Prototype (PTS-P) payload hosted aboard the U.S. Space Force’s Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS)-11 spacecraft.

Maxar Technologies (NYSE:MAXR) (TSX:MAXR), provider of comprehensive space solutions and secure, precise, geospatial intelligence, today announced that Aurora Insight Inc., a company acquired by Maxar in December 2022, has received a Stage II contract extension from the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) for commercial radio frequency (RF) remote sensing.

L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) received a contract to provide next-generation geostationary imaging and sounding instruments for the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) that will monitor and predict severe weather events more accurately. The award continues L3Harris' legacy of producing critical space-based weather instruments for Japan.

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global communications company, confirmed the scheduled launch date for the ViaSat-3 Americas satellite is April 18, 2023 during an approximately one-hour long launch window opening at 7:29pm EDT.

Intelsat, operator of one of the world’s largest integrated satellite and terrestrial networks and leading provider of inflight connectivity (IFC), ordered a Mission Extension Pod (MEP) from Northrop Grumman Corporation’s SpaceLogistics, which will add life to an Intelsat satellite and provide uninterrupted services to many customers.

ispace, inc., (ispace) a global lunar exploration company, announced that the earliest scheduled landing date for the HAKUTO-R Mission 1 Lunar Lander is set for Tuesday, April 25, 2023, at 16:40 (UTC).

SES announced today that it has signed multi-year capacity agreements totalling more than €75 million in backlog with multiple German private and public broadcasters. The majority of renewals span several years and will enable millions of satellite TV households across Germany to continue watching SD and HD content, reinforcing SES’s position as the leading global content connectivity provider.

Kepler Communications, a company building the Internet for space, today announced it has raised $92 Million USD in Series C funding led by IA Ventures. Since 2016, the company has raised more than $200 million in equity, with support from Costanoa Ventures, Canaan Partners, Tribe Capital, BDC Capital’s Industrial Innovation Venture Fund, and other leading investors.

MediaTek and Inmarsat have expanded their collaboration to bring ultra-reliable, two-way satellite services to smartphones, IoT devices, automotive and other industries.

Comtech (NASDAQ: CMTL) today announced the appointment of technology and aerospace industry veteran Donald Walther as the company’s new Chief Legal Officer (CLO).

Thales Alenia Space, the joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), and its partners are pleased to announce that the VERTIGO project has concluded with the successful demonstration of a high-power optical data transmission system at the Thales laboratory in Palaiseau, France. This is a key success for the development of future geostationary communication satellites using optical feeder links to increase significantly the capacity currently available.

Sidus Space, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIDU), a Space and Defense -as-a-Service company focused on commercial satellite design, manufacture, launch, and data collection, is teaming with L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX) for the Department of Defense Mentor-Protégé Program (MPP).

Slingshot Aerospace, the innovative technology company dedicated to improving spaceflight safety and optimizing orbital operations, today announced a significant expansion to the Slingshot Global Sensor Network's low-Earth orbit (LEO) tracking capabilities. The company is expanding its LEO tracking capabilities to make its network the largest commercial optical sensor network for LEO observation in the world – providing first-of-its-kind optical tracking of LEO objects at scale.

Boeing [NYSE: BA] delivered the third and fourth O3b mPOWER satellites to content connectivity service provider SES, with the duo embarking for Cape Canaveral, Florida. The pair will launch to medium Earth orbit (MEO) to provide fiber-like broadband connectivity to people around the world, joining the first two satellites on orbit.