Cislunar
Stories about the growing number of activities around the Moon.
Space Agency Leaders Recap 2022
The world was busy in space this year. All together, there have been 174 successful orbital launches so far in 2022, and the world’s space agencies have pulled together over the course of the year to make major strides in science, technology, and exploration. Read on for our recap of the top events from space…
Q4 2022 News Roundup
Can you believe 2022 is nearly over? It’s been a jam-packed year for the space industry, full of groundbreaking moments in science, turbulence in the markets and world order; substantive policy developments; and historic mission firsts. We’re kicking off our year-end coverage by looking at objects closest in the rear-view mirror. Payload combed through the…
Quantum Space Raises $15M
Quantum Space, a startup focused on building an information “superhighway” in cislunar space, announced yesterday that it has raised $15M from Prime Movers Lab, and that it intends to close a Series A by year’s end. QS 101: The Rockville, MD-based startup has set its sights on building a network of satellites to form the…
Artemis I Splashes Down
Artemis I is complete. At 12:40pm ET yesterday, the Orion capsule splashed down in the Pacific, marking the end of its 26-day, 1.4-million-mile journey around the Moon and back again. By all accounts, the first mission in NASA’s grand return to the Moon went smoothly. SLS, the agency’s long-awaited (and over-budget) Moon rocket launched on…
Lessons from Artemis: A Q&A with Former NASA Astronaut Jim Reilly
NASA’s triumphant return to the Moon has begun. Right now, Artemis I is coming to an end, as the Orion capsule hurtles back from lunar orbit for a planned splashdown this weekend. Over the next few years, NASA is planning to lay the groundwork to prepare for long-haul trips to Mars. There’s a lot of…
ispace Prepares to Launch Lunar Lander
There’s about to be a new Moon mission in play. SpaceX is set to launch the HAKUTO-R mission from Cape Canaveral, beginning a small Japanese company’s long journey to softly place a lander on the lunar surface. The Falcon 9 launch for ispace scrubbed early this morning to take extra precautions before liftoff, and has…
ICON Wins NASA Contract for Lunar 3D Printing
Within a decade, a startup known for building cheap 3D-printed houses on Earth is hoping to bring the materials cost for building structures on the lunar surface down to zero. Austin-based ICON said this morning that it won a $57.2M Phase III SBIR award from NASA that will bring its 3D printing technology all the…
Artemis I Cubesats Fail to Power Up
Since launching on November 16, the Artemis I core mission has gone off practically without a hitch (unless you count damage to the elevator doors near the pad as a vital loss). SLS successfully carried the Orion capsule out of the Earth’s atmosphere and sent it on its trajectory to the Moon, where it made…
White House Releases First National Cislunar Science & Technology Strategy
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released its first National Cislunar Science & Technology Strategy on Thursday. The document lays out a whole-of-government R&D plan for American science and technology leadership, in service of “responsible, peaceful, and sustainable exploration and utilization of cislunar space, including the Moon.” Cislunar, what? OSTP defines…
Lockheed Martin Holds “Destination: Space 2050” Event in DC
Advanced tech can only do as much as the policies that regulate it allow, Lockheed Martin’s space chief said Thursday at an event to sell Washington officials on the moon habitats, in-space manufacturing, and smart cities that the company predicts will be commonplace by 2050. “The goal really is to start a dialogue and think…
Intuitive Machines Announces Plans to Go Public
Space SPACs…are still alive! Houston-headquartered Intuitive Machines said today that it intends to go public, by merging early next year with Inflection Point Acquisition Corp ($IPAX). Assuming the two can take the transaction to the finish line, upon de-SPAC, the lunar lander startup will be listed on the Nasdaq. Key #s The transaction will generate…
