Ryan Duffy
India Says Starlink Is Unlicensed; Tells Public Not to Preorder Satellite Internet Service
India recently instructed citizens to refrain from signing up for SpaceX’s Starlink service. The catalyst: On Friday, India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) tweeted that it noticed Starlink presales are open to potential users in Indian territory. The hang-up: SpaceX needs a DoT license to operate the high-speed, satellite-based broadband internet service in India—and accept Starlink pre-orders. The backstory: India’s DoT has been scrutinizing Starlink…
Voyager Space to Acquire Space Micro
Denver-based Voyager Space has a new deal in the works. Yesterday, the holding company said it intends to buy a majority stake in Space Micro, a San Diego-based satellite subsystem maker. The wheeling and dealing is becoming routine—Space Micro is Voyager’s sixth acquisition since it spun up in Oct. 2019. How’s that for flight heritage? Space Micro, started in…
Astra Reaches Orbit
Astra (NASDAQ: ASTR) successfully reached orbit Saturday. The small launcher’s LV0007 vehicle lifted off from a Kodiak, AK, spaceport, with a dummy payload for the US Space Force. “The team’s worked so hard on this for so many years,” Astra cofounder CEO Chris Kemp said on NASASpaceflight’s launch livestream. “We’re just getting started, folks,” he tweeted. LV0008, LV0009,…
Planet Investor Day Recap
Planet Labs is nearly ready to take its talents to the public markets at a $2.8B valuation. Yesterday, Planet’s C-suite held court with investors to sell the vision. A decade of history in ~60 words: Planet set out to image and index all of Earth every day. The company developed a constellation of 200 satellites, created the…
Axiom Reveals Ax-1 Research Portfolio
Axiom Space will conduct around 25 research experiments on its forthcoming ISS mission, the Houston company said Tuesday. Ax-1’s research portfolio includes senescent cell studies, a two-way hologram demo, and experiments in disciplines that run the gamut from astrophysics to neurology. Ax-1, 101: Axiom Mission 1 launches in 94 days, give or take. Beyond the research bounties it will bring…
Exclusive: Turion Space (YC S21) Closes $4.7M Seed Round
Turion Space has closed a $4.7M seed round of funding. The Irvine, CA-based startup is focused on satellite servicing and space debris removal. Timely raise much? “If we lose the ability to operate in LEO because we let the debris problem get out of control, the crazy growth in space technologies may end up stagnating,”…
Russia Conducts ASAT Test Against Soviet Satellite
On Monday, Russia struck a Soviet-era spy satellite with a missile. The antisatellite (ASAT) test destroyed a dead, decades-old spacecraft and generated at least 1,500 trackable orbital debris in LEO, along with hundreds of thousands of smaller shards. Washington confirmed the ASAT test and condemned Moscow for reckless space behavior. The US State Department called Russia’s actions “dangerous,…
ISS Initiates Safe Haven Procedures
The ISS is returning to a normal configuration after two close passes with space debris, and crew initiated “safe haven” protocols. Under these procedures, astronauts treat vehicles as “lifeboats” and prepare for the possibility of an emergency departure. “In order to dodge the ‘space junk’, specialists…have calculated how to correct the orbit of the International Space Station,”…
A Q&A with Jared Isaacman
On Wednesday, when reporting Q3 earnings, payment processor Shift4 announced a five-year strategic partnership with SpaceX’s Starlink. The deal came as a surprise, and Shift4’s stock (NYSE:FOUR) surged. But Jared Isaacman, the company’s CEO, is no stranger to SpaceX. Isaacman was financier and commander of the all-civilian Inspiration4 mission, which took place in September. Payload…
A Q&A with Moriba Jah
Moriba Jah is an astrodynamicist, UT Austin professor, JPL alum, and chief scientific adviser of Privateer, a newly formed company that aims to be the “Waze for space.” Payload sat down with Jah recently to discuss recent events, debris, space environmentalism, Privateer, and more. NB: This interview was edited for clarity and length. On the…
ISS Performs Engine Burn to Avoid Space Debris
Just hours after the Crew-3 launch Wednesday, the International Space Station (ISS) was forced to fire up its rockets and perform an unplanned engine burn. Roscosmos and NASA officials collaborated on the impromptu ISS reorientation. Why the maneuver? To evade a piece of space debris that was projected to get too close for comfort. Which debris? A…
Artemis III Moon-Landing Target Slips by a Year
ICYMI: The Artemis program faces delays and cost overruns. Yesterday, NASA pushed back American astronauts’ moon return trip to 2025 and revised Orion cost projections upwards by $2.6B ($6.7B → $9.3B across 12 years). Administrator Bill Nelson pinned development hiccups on “nearly seven months of litigation” (read: Blue Origin’s lawsuit). Agency leaders also pointed to Covid, associated…
Spaceflight Debuts Sherpa Tug, which will Head to Orbit Soon with SpaceX
This morning, rideshare provider Spaceflight Inc. announced its newest mission: “SXRS-6.” In January, Spaceflight’s new Sherpa vehicle will launch on the SpaceX Transporter-3 rideshare mission. The Sherpa will carry 13 customer payloads. After deploying from a SpaceX Falcon 9, the Sherpa will drop off nine customer SmallSats in sun-synchronous orbit. A month later, the vehicle…
