ISAM
Stories about missions to service and assemble spacecraft in orbit, in addition to in-space manufacturing capabilities.
Slingshot Tracks Centaur Break-Up in HEO
The second stage of a ULA rocket that sent a NOAA weather satellite to orbit in 2018 broke apart dramatically in orbit last week, generating a debris cloud first tracked by Slingshot Aerospace.
Outpost’s Carryall is Big Enough for Multiple Contracts
Outpost won a $36M in recent contracts from the US military to develop its technology for hypersonic testing, reentry missions, and on orbit cargo storage.
Star Catcher Closes $12.25M Seed Round
The startup intends to build a constellation of satellites in LEO that can harness solar power and efficiently send it to other sats in greater concentrations.
Outpost’s Plan To Put Shipping Containers In Space
The future of manufacturing in space depends on Earth return companies finding a way to return much larger volumes from space—like say, shipping containers.
D-Orbit USA Rolls Out Satellite Bus Plans
Italian space logistics startup D-Orbit launched a US branch on Wednesday that will transform the startup’s flight-proven orbital transfer vehicle into a satellite bus to better court American government customers.
Orbit Fab’s Refueling Tech Passes the Test
The company is ready to take on missions in space after successfully wrapping up testing on its automated GRIP refueling mechanism.
Spaceium is Building Service Stations in Space
Space travel has a fuel problem, there are no gas stations outside of Earth, and Spaceium is trying to change that.
Redwire Returns First Bioprinted Cardiac Tissue from ISS
Redwire also returned 36 experiments from another module which grows pharmaceutical crystals.
Space Force Backs Multi-Vehicle Commercial RPO Demos
Rocket Lab and True Anomaly will square off in orbit next year.
The State of OSAM
Private companies are already launching missions that capture the key technology needs for OSAM.
Katalyst Joins DARPA to Demo the Upgrade Economy in Orbit
The mission aims to give a spacecraft the vision necessary to serve as a training platform for Space Force Guardians.
Orbit Fab Starts Shipping RAFTI Ports
Orbit Fab’s RAFTI satellite fueling ports have officially been qualified, and the hardware is beginning to ship to customers, two senior leaders at the startup told Payload.
NASA Cans OSAM-1 After Maxar Delays
An October 2023 report from NASA’s inspector general blamed Maxar, which built the spacecraft bus and a robotic arm for the mission.
