NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) has teamed up with Starburst Aerospace, Mission Innovation X at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT MIx), and MassChallenge for its next program, which will send alliance resources to innovators in a several fields, including hypersonics, energy and propulsion, and space. Why the partners? Starburst, MIT MIx, […]
Virgin Galactic took to the skies yesterday, launching the final VSS Unity test flight before beginning commercial service. The Unity 25 mission tested the ship’s technical function as well as the astronauts’ experience. This was the company’s first spaceflight in nearly two years after a pause for an FAA investigation and fifth in total. The […]
Ursa Major received a contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) on Tuesday to test a prototype of its new Draper engine for hypersonics and to continue developing its Arroway engines. AFRL awarded these funds aiming to decrease US dependence on foreign propulsion systems for space launch, a key goal of its rocket propulsion […]
Years of government investment in the UK’s commercial space sector are paying off. The UK received 17% of global space private capital since 2015, according to a report released Tuesday from the UK Space Agency and PwC. That makes it the second most attractive place for private sector space investment behind the US, and the […]
Rocket Lab’s ($RKLB) first quarter revenue exceeded expectations, the company reported on Tuesday’s earnings call. By the numbers: Launch made up 36% of revenue, and space systems comprised 64% this quarter. Investments in Neutron and Photon drove faster cash burn. Looking forward: Rocket Lab projects revenue to jump to $60M-$63M next quarter, with the split […]
Starlink users in metro and nonmetro areas are relatively happy with the service, despite a slowdown over the past year, according to data released Monday by Ookla, which analyzes internet performance metrics. Starlink’s net promoter score (NPS), which measures customers’ loyalty to a brand by asking how likely they are to recommend the service, beat […]
SES, a satellite telecommunications network provider from Luxembourg, reported Q1 financial results above market expectations on Thursday. Overall financials: SES’s next system: The company expects to begin commercial service in Q3 of its O3b mPOWER system, a communication satellite network that will serve customers such as Microsoft and Orange. SES launched two O3b mPOWER satellites […]
Airbus reported €11.8B ($13B) in 1Q revenue yesterday, but the company’s defense and space division saw a 21.5% drop in net order intake. The overall numbers: • Free cash flow = €-900M (-$1B) • Revenue = €11.8B ($13B), a slight decrease from last year’s €12B • EBIT Adjusted = €800M ($885M) Breaking out defense & […]
A slew of prime space companies announced Q1 earnings this week and overall performance was in the green. With increased defense spending and no end in sight for the conflict in Ukraine, companies saw an uptick in space and defense revenue. Northrop Grumman: Northrop’s space systems division saw the biggest year on year revenue increase […]
Boeing reported a first quarter loss of $1.27 per share on Wednesday, marking the company’s seventh straight quarter in the red, though this quarter was better than last. Boeing attributed this to 737 MAX production issues, but still announced a plan to increase production from 31 to 38 planes per month. The company did see […]
Astroscale, a Japanese startup designing orbital debris removal and on-orbit servicing technology, announced two debt raises totaling about $44M this week to ensure it has cash on hand in today’s challenging economic conditions. On Tuesday, the company announced that it entered into a loan agreement for ¥3B (~$22M) with Mizuho Bank. Yesterday, Astroscale announced a […]
VCs invested $310.7M in the US space industry during the first quarter of 2023, according to new Pitchbook data. It’s the lowest amount since Q3 of 2021, but the 24 deals closed in the quarter is comparable to last quarter. The biggest deals ranged across different segments of the industry from launch to manufacturing. These […]
