The Year in Commercial Space Hits and Misses
The best and worst of space technology in 2024.
Analysis
Payload’s take on what you need to know about the news of the day.
Tracking Cash Flow Through the 2024 Space Stocks Rally
Hockeystick SPAC charts. Wallstreetbets Reddit page buzz. Short squeezes. Everything to the Moon euphoria.
Three VC Investors Weigh in on the State of Investing in Space
Space is a nascent market with vast, unbounded potential, where an early-stage startup can become a dominant business integral to the very infrastructure of the space economy for decades to come.
SpaceX Leadership Map Out the Future of the Starship Program
Over the past few weeks—with growing confidence in the Starship program—SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and Starbase General Manager Kathy Lueders have been publicly mapping out what to expect from SpaceX and Starship in the coming years.
The Starliner Investment Case and Potential Buyers: Payload Research
First, a ULA sale process, now Starliner.
Charts Defining the Space Industry in Q3: Analysis
Astranis, a startup building small GEO broadband satellites for targeted service, led the way this quarter with its $200M monster Series D round, by far the largest US space raise so far in 2024.
The Airline Industry is Moving to Free Wi-Fi and Starlink
200 Mbps Wi-Fi offered for free sounds pretty good to me. What’s in it for the airlines? Is Starlink going for the sweep? What happens to the GEOs?
NASA Identifies Cost-Effective Methods for Managing Space Debris in New Study
NASA found that quickly disposing of spacecraft at the end of their life is one of the most cost-effective ways to prevent trash in orbit, according to an orbital debris management cost-benefit analysis that compared the effectiveness of 24 different tools to mitigate space debris
The Space Force Needs to Grow Up, Says CNAS
America’s newest military branch still has some maturing to do to earn the respect and support of the public and the nation’s adversaries, according to analysts.
2024 Q1 Orbital Launches by Country
There were 63 orbital launch attempts worldwide in the first quarter of 2024—10 more than the same time last year—and more than half of the record-breaking quarter can be attributed to SpaceX.
Slingshot Highlights Massive Growth in Space Activity—And Insurance Losses
Guess who’s responsible for the boom? One big hint: it’s not civil or military actors.
US Space Agencies Call for Public-Private Partnerships
The US civil and military space orgs got together to suss out the state of the space industrial base, and their conclusions are clear: resilience and speed are top priorities, and commercial partnerships are what will make that possible.