Last week, BlackSky reported Q2 financial results. The satellite operator beat expectations on top- and bottom-line earnings, riding on the back of key contract wins and a big new integration. “We have strong momentum across all aspects of our business,” BlackSky CEO Brian O’Toole told Payload in an interview. Q2 results at a glance Revenue […]
Redwire ($RDW) reported Q2 2022 results before the market opened on Wednesday. The Jacksonville, FL-based space infrastructure company reported quarterly revenues of $36.7M (+14.2% YoY). Quick refresher: Commercial space powerbroker AE Industrial Partners hatched Redwire in late 2020 by merging Adcole Space and Deep Space Systems. Shortly thereafter, Redwire acquired Made in Space. The company […]
San Francisco-based Capella Space has announced Acadia, its next generation of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites. Capella’s SAR satellites can see through clouds and provide all-weather, 24/7 imaging. The startup primarily serves defense and intelligence customers. Backstory: Capella launched Denali, a backpack-sized SAR satellite, in late 2018. Next came the 100-kg. Sequoia in Aug. 2020. […]
Viasat ($VSAT) kicked off another busy week of space earnings after the bell Monday. The satellite operator reported Q1 FY23 revenues of $678M (+2% YoY), with a GAAP net loss of $22M (vs. $17M of net income last year). Viasat reported total consolidated awards of $783M (+32%YoY) for the quarter, good for a book-to-bill ratio […]
Today, we’re tackling the topic of space junk on Pathfinder with Dr. Moriba Jah. Moriba is an astrodynamicist, space environmentalist, and associate professor of aerospace engineering and engineering mechanics at UT Austin (obligatory 🤘 from Ryan). He’s also the chief scientist and cofounder of Privateer, with Alex Fielding and Steve “Woz” Wozniak. Pathfinder is brought […]
Benchmark has agreed to acquire plasma thruster technology from AASC, the two announced this morning. Benchmark is short for Benchmark Space Systems, a chemical propulsion provider based in Burlington, VT. Benchmark’s Starling and Halcyon satellite propulsion systems are its bread and butter. AASC is short for Alameda Applied Sciences Corporation. The Oakland-based entity keeps a […]
Consolidation is the order of the day in the legacy satellite world. The latest: Luxembourg-based SES and American satellite operator Intelsat are in talks to tie the knot, the FT reports. The GEO operators are long-standing competitors, and in recent memory, duked it out in bankruptcy court. Is it time to let bygones be bygones? […]
On this week’s episode of Pathfinder, we sit down with Jordan Noone, the cofounder and founding CTO of Relativity Space. Noone now holds the same titles at Embedded Ventures, a self-described deeptech VC “skunkworks” that he runs with cofounder Jenna Bryant. Embedded Ventures has partnered with the US Space Force on R&D, and backed early-stage […]
On Monday morning, El Segundo, CA-based Aerojet Rocketdyne ($AJRD) reported Q2 net income of $16.4M. Aerojet develops liquid- and solid-fueled propulsion products for major space players and missile makers. The propulsion provider missed on top- and bottom-line expectations, with quarterly earnings coming in at $0.20 per share (vs. $0.47 est. and -66% YoY). The company […]
Ahead of its second orbital launch attempt, Firefly Aerospace tells Payload it’s made a slew of new executive leadership hires. Though the Cedar Park, TX launch unicorn has been through the ringer in recent months, its Alpha rocket is vertical at Vandenberg and liftoff is seemingly weeks away. Moreover, Firefly is sounding a confident note […]
It’s been a five-coffee-a-day week for analysts tracking the “primes” and publicly traded contractors that make up the US defense and aerospace (A&D) industrial base and sell fighter jets, weapons systems, and advanced spacecraft to the Pentagon. Of the US’ prime contractors, Lockheed posted Q2 earnings last week, with Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, General Dynamics, and […]
There are three certainties in life: death, taxes, and fights over spectrum rights. Certainty No. 3 continued to deliver earlier this week, with a SpaceX regulatory filing to launch a new mobile service. Specifically, SpaceX petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for approval to provide mobile satellite service (MSS) in the 2 GHz band. MSS […]
