Jessica Lis
A Closer Look at Credit Suisse’s Space Coverage Initiation
Last week, we took a look at Credit Suisse’s initiation of aerospace & defense (A&D) industry coverage. In complementary equity commentary published earlier this month and seen by Payload, analysts break down their generally bearish position on the aerospace sector. As a refresher… …here’s one quote from Credit Suisse we published on Friday: “The space…
A Q+A with Sateliot, AWS’s Latest Space Partner
There are going to be a lot of cell towers in space. Last week, Sateliot said it was working with Amazon to build a cloud-native narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) 5G connectivity service using its planned LEO constellation on AWS. Now, we’ll run that last sentence through Payload’s jargon translator: The San Diego/Barcelona-based startup hopes to be…
SpaceX and NASA Launch Crew-5 Mission
SpaceX launched four astronauts to the ISS aboard its Crew-5 mission with NASA yesterday. The Dragon Endurance spacecraft is expected to dock with the space station today around 5pm ET. This mission had many, many milestones. First up, geopolitics. All signs point to collaboration in space, for now. The crew includes Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina,…
US GAO Releases Report Tackling Large Constellation Risks
It seems like every agency in Washington is taking a closer look at satellite constellations these days. That extra attention may lead to new hoops for satellite operators to jump through. Last week, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on megaconstellations. GAO noted that new, growing fleets of satellites drive direct value…
FCC Approves 5 Year Satellite Deorbiting Rule
And just like that, we finally have concrete new orbital debris rules. By a 4-0 vote, the FCC approved a long-awaited orbital debris draft ruling yesterday. The rule shortens the time required for satellite operators to deorbit LEO satellites to no more than 5 years after completing their mission, from 25 years. The agency hopes…
A Q+A with Quindar (YC S22)
Quindar aims to become the complete web application for satellite constellation mission analysis, testing, and operations. The Denver-based startup recently graduated from Y Combinator. Quindar’s six technical co-founders—yes, six, and all technical—believe satellite operations should look more like elegant, modern software stacks. The platform, if successful, could cut traditional dependencies on engineers, IT teams, and…
Skyroot Aerospace Raises $51M Series B
Skyroot Aerospace has raised $51M in a Series B round led by GIC, a global investment firm based in Singapore. This is the largest funding round in the Indian private space sector to date. The company raised an $11M Series A in 2021. The launch startup is developing India’s first private launch vehicle and was…
The ISS Retirement Roundup
In January, NASA released an updated ISS Transition Plan to extend the station’s life through 2030. After that, the agency plans to decommission it by burning it up in the atmosphere and dropping whatever’s left in an uninhabited region of the South Pacific. The ISS, originally planned to deorbit after 15 years, is old enough…
ICEYE Signs Contract to Provide Ukrainian Government Access to SAR Satellites
ICEYE signed a contract with the Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation yesterday to provide the Ukrainian government with access to its SAR constellation’s imaging capabilities. The background: ICEYE has launched 21 satellites to date and owns the world’s largest SAR satellite constellation. SAR satellites can gather information day and night, in all weather conditions—a major asset…
Redwire to Develop First Commercial Greenhouse in Space
Redwire announced yesterday it will develop the first commercially owned and operated space greenhouse. The project, funded by an award from the ISS National Lab, will generate insights to support both crop science on Earth and future exploration missions. Redwire Greenhouse will take flight no earlier than spring 2023 and, if all goes to plan,…
Rocket Lab Reports Q2 2022 Earnings
Rocket Lab ($RKLB) reported earnings at market close on Thursday. The New Zealand-based launch company recorded a quarterly record revenue of $55.5M, up 392% YoY. Key Rocket Lab Q2 2022 #s Adj. EBITDA = -$8.5M Cash & cash equivalents = $542.5M Backlog = $531.4M Net loss = $37.4M Revenue By Segment Space Systems = $36.4M…
Terran Orbital Releases Q2 2022 Earnings
Terran Orbital’s ticker is $LLAP, which stands for “live long and prosper.” And that rules. Anyways, the satellite manufacturer reported $21.4M in Q2 revenue, a 127% jump YoY, and ended the quarter with $62.3M cash on hand. The company also announced a record backlog of $224.1M, up 200% since the end of last year but…
