Business
Stories on space business, including company updates, funding announcements, and contract awards.
Benchmark Clinches $33M, Launches Autopilot for Satellites
Benchmark Space Systems, the Burlington, VT-based propulsion systems provider, is keeping busy. This week, the company announced a $33M Series B funding round, unveiled new digs, and debuted a brand-new satellite autopilot product called SmartAIM. Benchmark’s Series B Benchmark announced this morning that it’s closed a $33M Series B to speed up the process of…
Starliner Aims to Fly in Q1 2024
It’s finally confirmed: Starliner will fly again. In a briefing with NASA yesterday, Boeing ($BA) gave the first revised launch date for its crew capsule since last-minute reviews in June revealed that it was not yet ready to carry astronauts to the ISS weeks before the first planned crewed launch. Now it’s aiming to be…
Exotrail Unveils US Subsidiaries
Exotrail, a French space mobility company, is stepping out in the US market with two new American subsidiaries, Exotrail US Inc. and Exotrail US Federal Inc., the company announced today. Exotrail 101 From mission design to launch and deployment to in-orbit operations, Exotrail aims to do it all when it comes to space mobility. The…
Umbra Releases a 16 cm Commercial Satellite Image
Commercial space imaging hit a new resolution high-water mark. Satellite operator Umbra released a 16 cm/pixel Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image today, making it the highest-res commercial satellite image ever dropped, according to the company. The image is comparable to the resolution that was previously restricted to government use. “This means that we are finally…
iRocket Partners with the AFRL on its Reusable Launch Vehicle
iRocket announced a partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory today, which will give the company exclusive access to a test facility at Edwards Air Force Base and the opportunity to collaborate on its reusable rocket. The AFRL Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) will help accelerate development of its methalox engines and fully reusable…
Voyager and Airbus Team Up To Replace The ISS
Two major space companies are joining forces to make a commercial successor to the ISS a reality. On Tuesday, Voyager Space and Airbus Defence and Space announced a joint venture to build and operate Starlab, a LEO space station designed by Nanoracks, a department of Voyager Space. “The International Space Station is widely regarded as…
Kleos Space Files for Bankruptcy
Kleos Space, a Luxembourg-based company monitoring RF signals from space for defense and intelligence, announced yesterday that it is filing for bankruptcy. The company has not been able to raise the cash needed to progress a converting note advised on June 6, which followed Australia Securities Exchange (ASX) pausing trading on the company on May…
The Space Economy Reaches $546B, The Space Foundation Says
It’s that time again—the Space Foundation has released its report on the state of the space economy through Q2 2023, and it’s reporting big numbers for the past year. According to the authors, the space economy reached $546B in 2022 despite turbulent global markets, and they’re only predicting more growth in the coming years. The…
Space DOTS Raises $1.5M Pre-Seed
Space DOTS, a UK-based advanced materials testing startup, wants to revolutionize the way the aerospace industry qualifies new materials for use in space. The company announced the closing of a $1.5M pre-seed round this morning to build out its mini on-orbit laboratory tech. Boost VC, Sie Ventures, 7Percent Ventures, Blue Wire Capital, and angel investors…
Exclusive: Leaf Space Closes €20M Series B
Leaf Space, an Italian ground-segment-as-a-service provider, has closed a €20M ($22.1M) Series B as well as an additional €15M ($16.6M) in venture debt through a European Investment Bank loan. Leaf Space 101 CEO Jonata Puglia and CSO Giovanni Pandolfi founded the company in 2014 to provide an end-to-end, easy-to-use solution for satellite operators to send…
Amazon Plans a $120M-Satellite Facility in Florida
Amazon will invest $120M to build out a Project Kuiper satellite processing facility at NASA’s KSC in Florida that will be used for final satellite prep before launch, the company announced Friday. Kuiper: Amazon is building a $10B, 3,236-bird LEO internet constellation. The tech giant has already booked 77 (!) heavy-lift launches, mostly with Blue…
Hyperspace Challenge Partners with USSF Rapid Capabilities Office
The Hyperspace Challenge accelerator announced a new partnership with the US Space Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO) just before applications open for this year’s class of startups. Hyperspace 101 The Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) launched the challenge in 2018 to recruit small businesses to solve DoD’s problems and make officials more aware of the…
NASA Touts Small Business Investment
NASA is a *star* student of the Biden administration’s efforts to send more federal dollars to small businesses, earning an “A” for the sixth year in a row in a Small Business Administration scorecard released Tuesday. The gradebook: SBA releases a small business procurement scorecard each year that measures how close federal agencies are able…
