Stories on space business, including company updates, funding announcements, and contract awards.
Japanese startup Pale Blue announced that it successfully tested its water propulsion thrusters in space for the first time. The propulsion system, which is installed on Sony’s “EYE” satellite, operated for 2 minutes without hiccups. “Water propulsion has been well known to exist, but I think performance has been the big reason why people wrote […]
Virgin Galactic ($SPCE) released its Q4 and FY 2022 results Tuesday after the bell. The numbers show significant losses compared to 2021, but roughly in line with expectations. Virgin Galactic’s Q4, by the numbers: Virgin Galactic lost roughly half a billion dollars in 2022, up from 2021’s net loss of $353M. As of market close […]
For the second time in less than a year, SpaceX has adjusted pricing on rideshare launches and Starlink. Rideshare: The price tag of a Falcon 9 Transporter launch increased by 18%, from $5,500 per kg to $6,500 per kg. The hike comes after a 10% increase the previous year. Starlink: In an email to customers, […]
Astroscale, a Japanese startup designing orbital debris removal and on-orbit servicing technology, announced Sunday that it has closed a $76M Series G round to accelerate its growth and development. The round, especially notable given the current state of private markets, brings Astroscale’s total funding to date to $376M. The company raised the Series G entirely […]
The race to build commercial space stations is heating up. Yesterday, Vast, a startup that emerged from stealth last September with plans to build stations with artificial gravity, announced that it has acquired space tug company Launcher for an undisclosed amount. TechCrunch first reported the news. Vast’s vision: Jed McCaleb, who made his name and […]
SpaceRyde appears to be shutting its doors. The Canadian launch company building an inexpensive small-lift rocket with a balloon first stage filed for bankruptcy on Friday. The story so far: Over the last few years, SpaceRyde has been building a system that would use a stratospheric balloon to lift the vacuum-optimized Ryder rocket above 99% of […]
Seraphim, a leading space VC, has published its 2023 market map, detailing the state of innovation in the in-space economy with an eye on the year ahead. “As the in-space economy takes off, major players in the industry are positioning themselves to capture a slice of the burgeoning market,” Seraphim VP Maureen Laverty said in […]
The Exploration Company has closed a €40.5M Series A. The round follows a €5.3M seed round, closed in November 2021. The Franco-German startup is developing a reusable space capsule, Nyx, that will fly science missions, resupply space stations, and, with any luck, eventually, take crews to and from orbit. The vehicle is designed to carry […]
German launch startup Isar Aerospace has signed its first US customer, winning a multi-launch contract from Spaceflight, Inc. The deal will see Isar launch a single dedicated Spectrum flight from Norway’s Andøya Spaceport in 2026. There is also a provision for a second Spectrum flight in 2025. “We’ve seen an increased demand for flexible and […]
Space Capital has released its final quarterly report on the 2022 investing landscape. It was a tough year for fundraising, as the froth drained from the free-flowing capital markets of years past. Though the space industry saw receding levels of capital deployment, the report’s authors remain optimistic about the sector’s ability to bounce back. 2022 […]
Swiss-based startup ClearSpace has closed a €26.7M ($28.9M) Series A. The in-orbit servicing and active space debris removal startup will use the funding to accelerate its progress towards missions on the horizon. “The market is now developing, much faster than we had expected, and we look forward to accelerating our activities to meet the urgent […]
2022 was the second largest year of ADG deal-making on record, according to a comprehensive analysis published Wednesday by market intelligence firm HigherGov. BTW…ADG = aerospace, defense, and government, and M&A = mergers and acquisitions. With this one simple trick—using ADG and M&A rather than writing the phrases out in full—we’ve given you seconds of […]
