CivilPolicy

The FAA Eyes Commercial Crew Regulations

The FAA is working on new rules aimed at ensuring the safety of commercial crew flights. In a notice of proposed rulemaking issued Friday, the FAA suggested a few new regulations to be officially incorporated into the US Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act (CSLCA), mainly focusing on definitions and safety training for government astronauts.  A […]

Uncategorized

BryceTech Releases Q2 2023 Briefing

SpaceX is dramatically outpacing the rest of the world in launch cadence and capacity. In its Q2 2023 launch trends briefing, BryceTech quantified just how much the launcher is breaking away from the competition. SpaceX vs. the world: On each of the launch metrics tracked by BryceTech—that is, number of launches, number of satellites launched, […]

BusinessVC/PE

Integrate Space Raises $3.4M Seed Round

Seattle-based Integrate Space has closed a $3.4M seed round that will help expand its team and grow its customer roster, the company announced yesterday. The round for the program management software company was led by Hyperplane and included participation from Riot Ventures, Ravelin Capital, and John Capodilupo. Integrate 101: Space industry veteran John Conafay, formerly […]

BusinessLEO

Telesat and MDA to Build Lightspeed

Telesat’s ($TSAT) LEO broadband plans are back on track. On Friday, the company announced a $2.1B CAD ($1.6B) contract with Canadian space tech company MDA ($MDA) to build 198 satellites. The deal puts an end to Telesat’s previous plan to build its constellation using slightly larger satellites from Thales Alenia Space, which has been beset […]

Business

York Opens a New Facility in Denver

York Space Systems is expanding. This morning, the Denver, CO-based satellite manufacturer announced that it will open the doors to a fourth production facility, dubbed Potomac, and start cranking out buses by Q4. “Our new Potomac facility represents a significant milestone in York’s growth trajectory, driven by steadily increasing demand from new and existing customers,” […]

BusinessMilitary

Quindar Wins $1.2M AFWERX Contract

Quindar, a startup building a software platform for satellite constellation mission analysis, testing, and operations, announced this morning that it has won a $1.2M Direct-to-Phase II contract from the US Air Force.  Under the contract, granted through AFWERX, USAF’s innovation arm, Quindar will focus on automating constellation operations across multiple missions. Quindar 101 The startup’s […]

CislunarCivil

NASA Tracks for 2024 Artemis II Launch

Artemis II crew, meet Orion. NASA is gearing up for the second installment of its campaign to get humans back to the Moon. On Artemis II, four astronauts will ride the Orion capsule around the Moon to test its systems and pave the way for a landing on the next trip. Yesterday, that crew—made up […]

BusinessDebrisEquitiesVC/PE

Benchmark Clinches $33M, Launches Autopilot for Satellites

Benchmark Space Systems, the Burlington, VT-based propulsion systems provider, is keeping busy. This week, the company announced a $33M Series B funding round, unveiled new digs, and debuted a brand-new satellite autopilot product called SmartAIM. Benchmark’s Series B Benchmark announced this morning that it’s closed a $33M Series B to speed up the process of […]

Business

Starliner Aims to Fly in Q1 2024

It’s finally confirmed: Starliner will fly again. In a briefing with NASA yesterday, Boeing ($BA) gave the first revised launch date for its crew capsule since last-minute reviews in June revealed that it was not yet ready to carry astronauts to the ISS weeks before the first planned crewed launch. Now it’s aiming to be […]

BusinessInternational

Exotrail Unveils US Subsidiaries

Exotrail, a French space mobility company, is stepping out in the US market with two new American  subsidiaries, Exotrail US Inc. and Exotrail US Federal Inc., the company announced today. Exotrail 101 From mission design to launch and deployment to in-orbit operations, Exotrail aims to do it all when it comes to space mobility. The […]

CivilDebris

IARPA Launches Space Debris Tracking Initiative

IARPA, aka the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity, is getting its feet wet in space awareness.  The advanced R&D arm under the Office of the Director of National Intelligence announced Tuesday that it is launching a new program called SINTRA (Space Debris Identification and Tracking) to find, track, and characterize the millions of tiny pieces […]

CivilLEO

ESA Performs an Assisted Reentry of Aeolus

ESA successfully tested a new tool to safely deorbit defunct satellites that were designed before the development of current guidelines on reducing debris.  On Friday, the agency performed an assisted reentry of its Aeolus wind-monitoring mission, which was not originally designed for a manual deorbit. “These manoeuvres were complex, and Aeolus was not designed to […]