Airbus Defence and Space and Thales Alenia Space won EU contracts to build the first set of next-generation Galileo satellites. The European Commission announced Wednesday that each company will build six satellites under contracts to be signed later this month with a combined value of 1.47 billion euros ($1.78 billion). The satellites, to be delivered for launch starting in 2024, feature several upgrades to the spacecraft bus and its navigation payload. OHB, which is the prime contractor for the current generation of Galileo satellites, also bid on the next-generation satellites but was not selected. [SpaceNews]
SpaceX set several milestones in the successful launch of the latest batch of Starlink satellites Wednesday. The Falcon 9, launching from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 8:02 a.m. Eastern, deployed the 60 satellites 65 minutes after liftoff. SpaceX has now launched more than 1,000 Starlink satellites, with about 950 currently in orbit. The launch also marked the first time a Falcon 9 booster was flown for the eighth time, and the shortest turnaround time between flights of the same booster. SpaceX will launch another Falcon 9 on a dedicated smallsat rideshare mission as soon as Friday. [SpaceNews]
The Biden administration has selected policy experts for space and missile defense at the Pentagon. David Zikusoka, aerospace research fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, will serve as special assistant at the office of the assistant secretary of defense for space policy. That position, which provides civilian oversight of the space enterprise at the Defense Department, will require Senate confirmation. Leonor Tomero, a senior staff member of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, will be deputy assistant director for nuclear and missile defense programs, a post that does not require Senate conformation. [SpaceNews]
Earth imaging company Satellogic has signed a multi-launch contract with SpaceX. The agreement cover four launches of Satellite satellites as part of dedicated rideshare missions, starting in June, with the option of flying additional satellites as rideshares on Starlink launches. SpaceX will be Satellogic's preferred launch provider after Satellogic previously used Chinese, European and Russian vehicles. Satellogic has 13 operational satellites today and plans to have a constellation of about 60 in service by the end of next year providing high-resolution imagery. [SpaceNews]
ESA will fly two payloads on an Airbus commercial platform on the International Space Station. The payloads will be installed on the Bartolomeo platform, mounted on the exterior of the Columbus module, in 2022 and 2024. One payload will study the effects of the space environment on organic materials and organisms, while the other will examine how the space environment degrades materials. The contract, valued at 6.5 million euros, is based on an agreement previously signed by ESA and Airbus to allow the agency to use Bartolomeo. [Airbus]
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