Rachael Zisk
Ax-2 Takes Off
The second-ever commercial astronaut mission to the ISS has embarked on its journey. Mission recap: Right on schedule at 5:37pm ET yesterday, the Axiom Mission 2 (aka Ax-2) crew of four successfully lifted off from KSC in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9. The crew included: AlQarni and Barnawi will be the…
Exclusive: Albedo Forms a Strategic Advisory Board
Albedo, a startup developing a VLEO constellation to collect high-resolution optical imagery from space, has formed a strategic advisory board of former senior intelligence and defense officials to aid the company in its bid to boost government business. The formation of this board “allows us to…strategize well and efficiently around engaging on the national security…
Astra Reports Q1 2023 Results
Astra ($ASTR) reported earnings for Q1, revealing significant cutbacks in spending as the company pushes ahead on Rocket 4 development. By the numbers $ASTR stock was trading at $0.39 at EOD Monday. Closing contracts: Astra is continuing its Launch System 2 development and progressing toward a Rocket 4 launch as it chases down deals. The…
Stratolaunch Completes Preliminary Hypersonic Vehicle Test
Stratolaunch successfully completed a key step on the way to flying its hypersonic vehicle on Saturday with the separation and landing of its Talon-A test vehicle from the Roc carrier aircraft. Stratolaunch 101 The Mojave, CA-based company was founded in 2011 by late Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen with ambitions to build hypersonic test vehicles. Its…
Heliospace and Fictiv Announce Manufacturing Partnership
Manufacturing intricate, specially-designed components for aerospace is a tricky process, requiring high accuracy and precision to build reliable, hardy products. Generally, that leads to long lead times—i.e. a whole lot of waiting around for a delivery from a supplier. Heliospace, a company that provides NASA with flight hardware and systems engineering, announced yesterday a partnership…
Israeli Startup WeSpace Technologies Plans a Lunar Hopper
Israeli startup WeSpace Technologies is angling to provide Israel’s official contribution to the Artemis program with its lunar hopper. The company plans to launch its first craft in less than three years to begin providing “flying services on the Moon,” CEO Yifat Feffer told Payload. Lunar hopping WeSpace’s offering to the growing lunar economy is…
NUVIEW Emerges from Stealth with 3D Mapping Ambitions
NUVIEW is looking to see the world in a whole new dimension. The Orlando, FL-based startup emerged from stealth this morning with an ambition to map the globe in 3D each year and $1.2B in prospective customer contracts under its belt. The world in 3D: While there’s no shortage of companies supplying optical, hyperspectral, or…
House Introduces NASA and DOE Collaboration Bill
Bipartisan leaders of the subcommittees that oversee NASA and the Energy Department introduced a bill last week that would remove barriers for collaboration between the two agencies. Reps. Eric Sorensen (D-IL), ranking member of the House space and aeronautics subcommittee, and Brandon Williams (R-NY), chairman of the House energy subcommittee, said the bill will allow…
Redwire, Microsoft, and Marvel Team Up on STEM Initiative
An eclectic group is teaming up to save the galaxy bring real-life space technology to students across the country. Ahead of the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 movie release Friday, Redwire ($RDW) announced yesterday that it’s partnering with Microsoft ($MSFT) and Marvel to 3D print a Microsoft Zune music player, like the one Star-Lord…
ispace HAKUTO-R Lander Likely Hard-Lands on the Moon
The Moon will have to wait a little longer for its first non-governmental visitor.
Orbit Fab Closes $28.5M Series A
Orbit Fab announced yesterday that it closed a $28.5M Series A to accelerate bringing its on-orbit refueling depot tech, i.e., gas stations in space, to market. 8090 Industries led the company’s Series A, with participation from Stride Capital, Industrious Ventures, Lockheed Martin Ventures, Tribe Capital, Good Growth Capital, and Massive Capital Partners. At the same…
McKinsey Expects a Shortfall in Launch Capacity
The space industry is preparing to send tens of thousands of satellites to orbit in the coming decade, building out large constellations across the spectrum of possible capabilities. They may run into a bottleneck, however, when it comes to booking tickets to space. This morning, McKinsey released its analysis of the demand for launch services…
SpaceX Launches Transporter-7
Happy belated Transporter launch day to all who celebrate. At 2:48am Saturday, SpaceX launched the Transporter-7 mission on a Falcon 9, carrying 51 customer payloads to new homes in orbit. These rideshare missions are big days for small satellite companies that rely on the comparatively low cost to send their birds to orbit. On this…
