EquitiesTechnology

AST SpaceMobile Reports Q1 Results

Midland, TX-based AST SpaceMobile ($ASTS) is looking ahead to the expected summer launch of BlueWalker 3 (BW3) with SpaceX.  BW3, a 1.5-ton, 693-square-foot phased array beast, will be a testbed for the company’s space-based cellular broadband network technology. Bet the farm moment? In May, the FCC granted AST SpaceMobile an experimental license to test space-to-ground […]

StartupsTechnology

Launcher Names Customers for First Orbiter Mission

Orbiter’s inaugural SN1 mission is nearly ready to fly. The satellite transfer vehicle and payload-hosting platform will launch on a Transporter-6 rideshare this October. Hawthorne, CA-based Launcher announced customers this morning: Orbiter will deploy craft for Skyline Celestial, Innova Space, NPC Spacemind, Bronco Space/Cal Poly Pomona, a Stanford student-run organization, and an undisclosed customer… …and host payloads for CesiumAstro, […]

Q&A

Astronaut Vans, a Motley Crew, and No. 2: A Q+A with the Runner-up Bidder for NASA’s Artemis Astronaut Vans

Render for an Artemis-era crew transport vehicle. Image: Oxcart Assembly. NASA recently awarded electric vehicle developer Canoo ($GOEV) a $147,855 contract to produce the crew transport vehicles (CTVs) that will ferry Artemis crews nine miles from their astronaut quarters to the pad in Cape Canaveral. The CTVs, as specced by NASA, must be zero-emission vehicles, […]

EOEquitiesLaunch

Momentus, Virgin Orbit, BlackSky, and Spire Report Q1 Earnings

Image: Niall David/Momentus Even if most of us may not want to think about financial markets right now, earnings season is in full swing. Let’s run through four results from this week, bucketed into two categories. Space transportation Momentus ($MNTS) reported $0 in Q1 revenue on Monday and a $26M net loss. There’s a lot […]

Q&A

A Q+A with Carlos Moura, President of Brazil’s Space Agency 

Carlos Moura is president of the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB). In April, we sat down with Moura to discuss the country’s space priorities. Last week, Brazil announced an agreement with Innospace, a South Korean rocket startup. Innospace aims to launch the first suborbital test flight of its HANBIT TLV rocket from Brazil’s Alcântara Spaceport in […]

LaunchStartups

Phantom Sees “No Blockage” Reaching Orbit in 2023

Phantom Space has placed an order for 200+ rocket engines from Ursa Major, the two startups announced this week. Reading the fine print:  Ursa will supply Phantom with 5,000-lb thrust Hadley engines that are already coming off of the production line, and Ripleys, which will have an order of magnitude more thrust.  Phantom will use […]

EOEquitiesLaunchQ&A

Q+A with Satellogic’s Emiliano Kargieman

Satellogic (NASDAQ:SATL) has signed a multiple launch agreement (MLA) with SpaceX covering the deployment of 68 new Earth observation (EO) satellites.  The freshly inked MLA succeeds Satellogic’s current one covering 2022 SpaceX launches. On April 1, SpaceX launched five Satellogic satellites to a sun-synchronous orbit on the Transporter-4 rideshare mission.  Satellogic says the launch deals […]

Launch

Rocket Lab Catches, then Releases, Returning Electron

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) yesterday launched its 26th Electron mission and deployed customers’ 34 satellites to a sun-synchronous orbit. Most notably, the “There and Back Again” mission had a secondary goal of plucking the returning Electron booster from the skies with a helicopter.  The company’s Sikorsky S-92 did end up catching Electron, but offloaded the booster […]

LaunchRockets

SpaceX Notches New Turnaround Record

On Friday, SpaceX flew its 17th mission of the year.  Launching from Cape Canaveral, the Starlink 4-16 mission delivered 53 new broadband satellites to space. The mission’s booster (tail name B1062) was previously flown just three weeks prior on the Ax-1 mission. B1062 has also previously launched two GPS spacecraft, Inspiration4, and another Starlink mission.  […]

LEOStartupsTechnology

Isotropic Is on Hiring Binge

Isotropic Systems has doubled in size over the last year, just recently signing its 130th hire, and expects to 2X again in the coming year, the British startup told Payload. The Reading, UK-based company has created—and successfully field-tested—a potentially revolutionary technology: multi-beam, multi-link, and all-orbit satellite terminals.  Origin story In 2013, Isotropic CEO and founder […]

EquitiesMilitary

Boeing, General Dynamics, and Northrop Grumman Report Q1 Results

Image: Boeing Space Yesterday, Boeing (NYSE:BA) and General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) reported Q1 earnings, while Northrop Grumman’s (NYSE:NOC) results crossed the wire this morning. Space highlights below.  $BA Total revenue was $13.9B, down 8.1% YoY.  Boeing Defense, Space, & Security (DSS) revenue was $5.4B (-23.7% YoY) DSS recorded a net loss of $929M vs. $405M last […]