Since I learned that EnviSat is the biggest single satellite debris risk I wanted to know more. For example: what happens if it would cause a damage and who would likely be held liable? When I tried to figure it out it wasn’t as easy as I had anticipated. Let’s have a look! Liability according…

While I was researching on the who is liable in case EnviSat would create a major space debris event I came across two very different faces of ESA space debris mitigation. On the one side ESA is claiming that A) the current space debris situation is not caused by them, B) EnviSat was designed in…

How do you think you will do the de-orbit of your spacecraft? If you say you use the satellites propulsion system to do it, think again. If the mighty ESA does not have it in their heart to de-orbit a functional satellite why do you think you will? Let’s have a look! About EnviSat If…

In Episode 02 of #Spacedonewrong we explored how free satellite data can kill commercial initiative. In this Bonus Article we are looking on a specific example: RapidEye. RapidEye was a German EO constellation that started as a initiative of Kayser Threde GmbH (now part of OHB group) in the mid 1990s. The company was founded…

EU and ESA with their Copernicus program is an actor dumping free images into the market using satellites that have been fully paid for by the tax payer. This is done with the well honed intention, to foster the down stream market but consequently it is destroying the (commercial) opportunities of the satellite industry one…

Have you ever heard a a bus driver talk about the many things that were spun off by their industries? Probably not. So why is the space industry so obsessed with it? Let’s spin it! On the origins of the space industry First, we need to get a few things straight: we got rockets because…

Innovation is not for the faint of heart. It is the art of making yourself obsolete. Considering that the space industry is very risk-averse, maybe that is the reason why we have so little of it. This article is a lot about psychology but also about our society. Let us have a closer look. Innovation…

Space fairing nations tend to spend a large amount of their government R&D resources on space. For example, in Germany, this figure is as high as 10% of the total, making space the largest science topic of all. (Source) While enjoying this privilege, should it not be the highest priority of the industry to use…

Today contract change notices – or CCN – are an integral part of space programs. At first glance it makes perfect sense: use them to adapt to changing needs. However, that is a slippery slope. When it is so easy to change contract why bother to make sure you have a good definition in the…

Has your main customer ever rejected your product pricing—which at 50% of the offer from your less innovative competitors is surely the real deal—on the notion that even at this lower price, according to their general contract conditions, you were making too much profit? If not: welcome to #spacedonewrong. Today the world of 8% innovation…