Top Stories: November 2016

25 November 2016

Each month we round up some of the top stories in space, entrepreneurship, innovation, finance and technology.

Here’s our round-up for November:

Deep Space Industries Congratulates Luxembourg on their Bold Legislative Action to Facilitate the Space Resources Industry

Deep Space Industries (DSI) commends the government of Luxembourg and Étienne Schneider, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy, for a new set of policies that create a framework to encourage commercial space activities. Luxembourg continues to remain at the forefront of the emerging commercial space sector through initiatives such as SpaceResources.lu and continued investment in local businesses.

“We applaud Luxembourg for taking this bold and visionary step to create the needed framework for private citizens and companies to operate in space,” said Rick Tumlinson, Chairman of the Board at DSI.

Read more at PR web.

Prospector-X, the inaugural mission of the Luxembourg and Deep Space Industries partnership, Prospector-X, is a 3U spacecraft that will operate in low Earth orbit. Credit: Deep Space Industries
Prospector-X, the inaugural mission of the Luxembourg and Deep Space Industries partnership, Prospector-X, is a 3U spacecraft that will operate in low Earth orbit. Credit: Deep Space Industries

“Bremen has everything a space travel location needs”. Interview with Dr. Peter Vits, Bremen Regional Coordinator for Space

In December 2016, the responsible ministers of the ESA member states meet in Lucerne to determine the priorities of the European space program for the coming years. The three federal states of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bavaria and Bremen jointly prepared recommendations in advance, with Bremen’s interests being represented by the regional coordinator Dr. Peter Vits. In an interview, he explains the strengths and opportunities he sees for Bremen.

Read more at Bremen Invest (original article in German, English translation via Google Translate)

Dr. Peter Vits is a member of the international space station ISS until 2024. This also would benefit Bremen. Credit: WFB / Frank Pusc
Dr. Peter Vits is a member of the international space station ISS until 2024. This also would benefit Bremen. Credit: WFB / Frank Pusc

Ariane 5, in 75th straight success, conducts its first launch of Europe’s Galileo satellites

A European Ariane 5 rocket, operating in a rarely used configuration and debuting a new satellite-dispenser system, on Nov. 17 successfully placed four European Galileo positioning, navigation and timing satellites into medium-Earth orbit.

Read more at SpaceNews.

Cover image: Europe’s Ariane 5 placed four Galileo navigation satellites into medium Earth orbit on Nov. 17. It was the first time Ariane 5 had conducted a Galileo launch, and the first use of a new payload-dispenser system. Credit: ESA

An international outpost near the Moon gets closer to reality

International Space Station (ISS) project partners are inching ever closer toward an agreement to begin the development of a new human outpost in the vicinity of the Moon. If successful, the cis-lunar space station (a space station in the vicinity of the Moon) will be the largest international space project to date, influencing the direction of human space flight for decades to come.

Read more at the Planetary Society.

Depiction of the EM 7 mission to the Lunar L2 Lagrangian point where astronauts explore a recently captured asteroid sampe
Depiction of the EM 7 mission to the Lunar L2 Lagrangian point where astronauts explore a recently captured asteroid sample.

No Space, No App

What has space ever done for you, what can it actually do? Ever considered how much we rely on space, or how much it’s already embedded in our daily lives… Being pedantic, the very fact that you’re able to build an app is not just down to your enthusiasm, but also the result of space.

Read more by Phil Raitt, Marketing & Communication, ESA Business Incubation Centres on LinkedIn.

ESA Business Incubation Centres. Credit: ESA
ESA Business Incubation Centres. Credit: ESA