NASA opened the doors to its Moon to Mars Program Office last week and tapped Amit Kshatriya to take the helm. The office will oversee and coordinate NASA’s crewed lunar and Mars missions. “The Moon to Mars Program Office will help prepare NASA to carry out our bold missions to the Moon and land the […]
Dawn Aerospace’s rocket-powered Mk-II Aurora suborbital vehicle is expected to make its maiden flight in April after getting regulatory approval from New Zealand to fly last week. Mk-II Aurora spaceplane: Dawn Aerospace has already completed 48 test flights using traditional jet engines. The upcoming launch marks the first time a remotely piloted, rocket-powered vehicle has […]
Lockheed Martin is establishing Crescent Space Services, a lunar infrastructure subsidiary focused on communication between the Earth and Moon, the contractor announced Tuesday. “We’ve seen the Artemis program and how it has been able to really get the attention of the world,” Crescent CEO Joe Landon told Payload. “We sat down and said how can […]
In a story that nearly writes itself, a Texas investor is swooping in to save a troubled rocket company just as it was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. Dallas-based VC Matthew Brown is set to invest $200M into Virgin Orbit ($VORB), a source told Payload. The news was first reported by Reuters on Wednesday. […]
Terran Orbital ($LLAP) saw sales triple in Q4 compared to the prior year, the company revealed Tuesday in fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 financial results. Terran Orbital’s Q4, by the numbers: Terran generated 2022 sales of $94.2M, driven by a record 19 satellite deliveries (10 were SDA/Lockheed birds). Rivada contract: Last month, Terran won the monster […]
Gravity may be a tough opponent, but it’s got nothing on the unrelenting forces of public markets. On Thursday, launch startup Astra ($ASTR) announced that it has requested additional time from Nasdaq to boost its share price and avoid a delisting. Astra’s road: Over the last couple of years, the Alameda, CA company has struggled […]
For the first time in decades, NASA astronauts will soon get a wardrobe revamp. On Wednesday, Axiom unveiled the new spacesuit designs that will be worn on the Artemis III mission to the Moon. For those concerned about the colorway, the dark blue is just a fabric cover, and the final spacesuits will be all […]
Amazon unveiled three Project Kuiper terminal designs yesterday at Satellite 2023 in DC. Customers will use the antenna devices to connect users to Kuiper, Amazon’s planned LEO satellite internet network, starting in late 2024. Terminal lineup The Kuiper terminals incorporate proprietary antenna and baseband chip technology, and the e-commerce giant says it has already driven […]
Japanese startup Pale Blue announced that it successfully tested its water propulsion thrusters in space for the first time. The propulsion system, which is installed on Sony’s “EYE” satellite, operated for 2 minutes without hiccups. “Water propulsion has been well known to exist, but I think performance has been the big reason why people wrote […]
The White House is requesting $27.2B for NASA next year, a 7% (or $1.8B) increase from the 2023 enacted level. Highlights from the budget include a significant boost to the Artemis program and funding for the eventual deorbit of the ISS. It’s worth noting the budget represents Biden’s wish list. With a divided Congress, the […]
Japanese lunar lander startup ispace has filed the paperwork and announced plans to go public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on April 12. IPO → lunar landing Eyes on the prize: ispace could be a central player in a cislunar economy that’s expected to generate $100B over the next decade, according to estimates from research […]
Momentus ($MNTS) is in a race against its cash burn. That’s the read from the space tug developer’s Q4 results, which portend a runway crunch in the coming year. At the same time, though, Momentus touted key new customer wins and a clean bill of health for its Vigoride-5 space tug. And it also has […]
