Rachael Zisk
JWST Sustains Micrometeoroid Impact
Earlier this year, we held our breaths for weeks as the super-powerful and highly delicate JWST made a galactic journey a million miles away to its final orbit and unfolded all its individual components. The observatory had 344 single points of failure in its deployment phase. In January, NASA announced that the telescope had fully…
France Signs Artemis Accords
France has signed the Artemis Accords, joining 19 other signatories in an agreement to maintain safe and cooperative operations in space. About the accords: In 2020, NASA kickstarted an initiative to foster international cooperation and set some ground rules for spacefaring before humans returned to the moon. Nations who sign the Artemis Accords agree to…
Sony Opens Laser Communications Business
Japanese communications and entertainment giant Sony has opened the doors to a new business: Sony Space Communications. The new San Mateo, CA-based business plans to begin developing laser optical communications tech for small satellites in LEO. This isn’t Sony’s first venture into space tech. Since 2016, the company has worked with JAXA on optical communications…
Satellite Imagery Illuminates 100 Days of War in Ukraine
Tomorrow marks 100 days since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. Over the course of the last few months, satellite imagery has served as the world’s window into the destruction and tolls of war, providing vital intelligence that the Ukrainian and allied governments and humanitarian groups have used to defend the country and ease human…
NASA Awards Commercial Spacesuit Contracts
NASA has named the long-awaited designers who will build the next generation of spacesuits. Axiom Space and a team led by Collins Aerospace have won the agency’s Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services (xEVAS) contract, and will dress the next astronauts to return to the lunar surface. The background: NASA’s astronauts need new clothes for a new…
Regulating Orbital Debris, Part Two
This is the second installment of our deep dive on orbital debris. Read Part One here. – Plenty of ink is spilled on the notion that the space industry is at an inflection point, driven by lowering launch costs and barriers to entry. In the coming decade, tens of thousands of satellites are poised to…
Musk Gives Starlink Update
Yesterday, The Everyday Astronaut (aka Tim Dodd) published his latest Starbase tour and video Q+A with Elon Musk. The two journey to the top of the giant, 143-meter robotic chopsticks tower built to catch Starship, taking in the impressive views of Starbase and talking about the super-heavy launch vehicle and the other goings-on at SpaceX. …
AstroForge Raises $13M Seed Round
AstroForge, an asteroid-mining startup and Y Combinator alum, has raised a $13M seed round led by Initialized Capital, with participation from Seven Seven Six, EarthRise, Aera VC, Liquid 2, and Soma. AstroForge 101: Cofounders Matt Gialich and Jose Acain hail from Virgin Orbit and SpaceX, where they embraced a high-risk, fail-fast Silicon Valley mindset. The…
Quad Leaders Reach Maritime Monitoring Agreement
On Tuesday, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue—better known as the Quad—met in Tokyo to discuss how to best deter China. Among other things, Pres. Biden and the leaders of Japan, India, and Australia agreed to launch a satellite tracking initiative to fight back against illegal fishing and trading in the Indo-Pacific region. The Quad: The security…
Lockheed and Filecoin Foundation Partner to Deploy IPFS
Lockheed Martin has partnered with the Filecoin Foundation, a decentralized database developer, to deploy the Interplanetary File System (IPFS) for future use in lunar communications. IPFS: The two companies are working to enable faster internet connection from the Moon. Usually when you try to access a piece of information on the internet, your computer has…
Starliner Plans its Return to Earth
Beset by software glitches and leaky valves, Boeing’s commercial crew capsule has had a rocky road to orbit. But on Friday, the OFT-2 mission finally delivered Starliner safely to the ISS. ICYMI: The Starliner capsule is meant to provide NASA with a second way to get astronauts to the ISS (along with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon…
ESA Maneuvers Around Debris From ASAT Test
We haven’t seen the last of the debris cloud created by a Russian ASAT test last November. At the time, the debris field forced astronauts aboard the ISS to shelter in place while the station navigated around. Now, ESA says that its Sentinel 1A spacecraft had to make a last-minute maneuver to avoid a head-on…
Seraphim Announces Space Camp Mission 9
London-based Seraphim, which bills itself as first and largest space-focused investment fund, has announced the ninth cohort to participate in its Space Camp program. The 11-week accelerator pushes founders to hone their investment pitch, and connect with mentors, culminating in an investor day. The seven startups selected for Mission 9: Ntention, a Norwegian company building…
