Luxembourg invests in NorthStar Earth & Space
By Carlos PIRES, the | |
the Luxembourg Future Fund (LFF) will invest in Canadian society NorthStar Earth and Space.
For nearly four decades, Luxembourg has been a pioneer in launching commercial initiatives and cooperation which have contributed to the creation of a dynamic space ecosystem, by attracting innovative companies in this sector.
NorthStar is the first commercial space surveillance service not from the ground, but from space itself, by means of a constellation of satellites equipped with optical sensors dedicated to this end. This service provides real-time data on space traffic, collision avoidance and navigation. Until now, the monitoring of space objects has mainly been done using terrestrial data. This method gives information about the distribution of space objects but has limitations when it comes to small objects, which can also cause serious damage due to their speed.
The LFF will co-invest 10 million euros in NorthStar, while the Luxembourg Government will, insofar as this applies, ensure funding through the national space program LuxIMPULSION managed by the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA) or by other research and development grants, in order to support the local activities of NorthStar.
In addition, NorthStar plans to establish its European headquarters in Luxembourg in order to set up a center of excellence for high precision space watch products, or Srhythm situational awareness (SSA), as well as for awareness of the analysis and management of space traffic, while planning to cooperate with local actors such as the one that operates the national high performance computer (HPC). NorthStar’s business is focused on providing efficient space object tracking services for the safe operation of satellites, in order to help maintain a sustainable space environment.