The European Investment Bank, the long-term lending institution of the European Union, announced Dec. 3 that it could invest up to €20 million ($24.3 million) in Spire Global, a Luxembourg-registered nanosatellite operator for cloud-enabled data analytics, marking the European institution’s first direct new-space venture.

Axiom Space, selected by NASA to berth the first element of an eventual commercial low Earth orbit-crewed free flyer at the International Space Station (ISS) in 2024, has significantly upgraded the architecture of its planned Axiom Station, providing an initial four-person crew capability.

Made In Space’s Turbine Ceramic Manufacturing Module has manufactured a ceramic component in space.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed an €86 million ($100 million) contract with an industrial team led by Swiss start-up company ClearSpace for the provision of a debris removal service.

After years of discussions, Canada’s Telesat and Loral Space & Communications will combine to form a new publicly traded Canadian company called Telesat Corp., the companies announced.

Virgin Orbit will make a second attempt to reach orbit with the air-dropped LauncherOne small satellite rocket on Dec. 19, with backup launch windows available later in the month in the event of a delay.

The space launch ambitions of the Shetland Islands have been given an additional boost with investment from a Scottish conservation fund, but the cash injection appears to have prompted a war of words between competing space ports.

SpaceX has marked its 100th Falcon 9 launch with a record seventh reflight of a first-stage booster, a mission that increased the company’s burgeoning Starlink broadband network to more than 950 satellites.