Rachael Zisk
USAF and FAA Deny Varda Reentry and Recovery Permission
Varda’s first in-space manufacturing capsule can’t come back down to Earth. On Friday, TechCrunch reported that the US Air Force denied Varda Space Industries permission to use a Utah recovery range, and the FAA also denied a reentry license, leaving the company’s orbiting pharmaceutical factory waiting in orbit. “The request to use the Utah Test…
The DoD Releases a Plan for Protecting Space Assets
The Pentagon is ready and willing to target adversaries’ space assets if conflict spills over into the domain according to an unclassified policy report submitted yesterday to Congress. The report, entitled “Space Policy Review and Strategy on Protection of Satellites,” outlines the Pentagon’s preparations to defend its space assets from attack if war breaks out…
Exclusive: Spaceium and The Exploration Company Partner for In-Space Servicing
Spaceium, a startup building in-orbit pit stops for interplanetary missions, is teaming up with The Exploration Company on a demo mission to refuel a spacecraft in orbit. The two companies are betting on a future in-space servicing economy, and their missions and timelines mesh well. Spaceium is heads down designing and building a refueling, charging,…
Open Cosmos Raises $50M Series B
Open Cosmos, a UK company that builds and supports satellites working on climate change and humanitarian initiatives, has raised a $50M Series B to support the company’s push into an international market.
Relativity Breaks New Ground at Stennis
Relativity Space signed a seven-year lease on a test stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi to prepare for its 3D-printed Terran R rocket. The company will pay $2.76M for the initial lease on the Apollo-era A-2 stand, and has the option to take out another 10 years if needed. Relativity already has 10-year…
Exclusive: Turion Space Wins Six NASA and USAF Contracts
Turion is announcing a slew of wins in its efforts to design, build, and deploy its on-orbit mobility and debris removal infrastructure. The Irvine, CA-based space sustainability startup has notched six recent contracts from NASA, the Space Force, and the Air Force, each supporting a different area of its product stack. “We’re trying to grow…
Manastu Space Closes $3M Pre-Series A
India’s space industry got an energizing shock from its lunar landing two weeks ago, and so far, the flurry of investment activity isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. Manastu Space, an Indian collision avoidance and green propulsion startup, announced Tuesday that it closed a $3M pre-Series A led by Capital 2B, BIG Capital, and…
Exclusive: Wyvern and Loft Partner on Hyperspectral
Wyvern, a two-year-old hyperspectral startup, is signing on to secure observation time on a Loft Orbital mission slated for next year to expand the capacity of its Dragonette constellation. Seeing colors Compared to optical sensors, which can collect data across three or four spectral bands—roughly red, blue, and green—hyperspectral sensors divide light into much narrower…
Firefly and Millennium Ready to Launch VICTUS NOX
The DoD wants rockets on deck to launch at a moment’s notice. Firefly is rising to the challenge. The startup announced yesterday that it is officially on standby to launch the VICTUS NOX tactically responsive mission for US Space Systems Command (SSC). The Texas-based launcher and Millennium Space Systems, the payload provider for the mission,…
Starfish Breaks Otter Pup’s Death Spiral
Otter Pup is back, baby. The spacecraft from Starfish Space tumbled through space for about six weeks after an emergency deployment from Launcher’s Orbiter craft in June. Yesterday, the Seattle-based startup announced that the craft is finally stabilized. “Less than two months after being deployed with rotation rates 100 times greater than normal operating conditions,…
SpiderOak Demonstrates Cybersecurity on the ISS
SpiderOak demoed its OrbitSecure cybersecurity platform aboard the ISS last month, the company announced this morning, setting the stage for a future in which data can be securely shared in space by civil and defense customers. The demo used an AWS Snowcone edge computing platform supplied by Axiom Space, and involved transmitting data back and…
Viasat’s I6 F2 Satellite Malfunctions
A Viasat ($VSAT) communications satellite has malfunctioned, the company announced Thursday, marking the second such failure within the span of a month. This time, the issue is with a new member of the Inmarsat fleet, which Viasat acquired in May. The I6 F2 satellite launched in February as a backup, providing spare L-band and Ka-band…
South Africa Partners with China on Lunar Base
China and South Africa have agreed to partner on space initiatives for the first time. During a meeting of BRICS nation leaders—a group consisting of Brazil, India, China, and South Africa—Chinese President Xi Jinping signed two agreements with South Africa to collaborate on space-related projects. According to Chinese state media agency Xinhua News, one of…
