Stories about the companies building a ride to space.
Launcher has relocated most of its Ukrainian-based staff to Sofia, Bulgaria, the Hawthorne, CA-based company just announced. “I’m distraught by the unprovoked Russian aggression in Ukraine,” Launcher CEO Max Haot wrote in a note. “We are providing all of the necessary support we can think of to our team, partners, and their families and communities […]
On Wednesday, the Department of Defense released a report on the state of competition in the defense industrial base (DIB). So, how is the state of competition? Not great, per the report. Synopsis: Since the 1990s, consolidation has hit the aerospace and defense sectors harder than most. There were 51 prime contractors in the ’90s. Now, there […]
Rook can’t get enough of space. At least, that’s the vibe we’re getting from Jared “Rook” Isaacman, the billionaire CEO of Shift4 Payments and commander/financier of Inspiration4. Yesterday, Isaacman announced that he’d purchase three additional crewed spaceflight missions from SpaceX. The trio of missions, dubbed the Polaris Program, is slated for launch in late 2022 and […]
ICYMI…and you probably didn’t…Elon Musk provided a public update on Starship. Since Starship is poised to become the largest, most powerful rocket ever, it’s safe to say we were watching with notepads in hand. Musk gave the presentation in front of Starship and Super Heavy fully stacked, which is a tough backdrop to beat. No virtual Zoom […]
After a couple scrubs, Astra (NASDAQ:ASTR) launched Thursday for the first time from the Space Coast. LV0008 flew smoothly and nominally for roughly three minutes, but ended up failing mid-flight. What happened? Something went awry upon stage separation. The rocket’s upper stage began spinning shortly after engine ignition (based on the live feed). The payloads: Four NASA-sponsored […]
Launcher has reserved three more missions for Orbiter, its orbital transfer tug, to Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) on future SpaceX Transporter rideshares. The Hawthorne, CA-based space transportation startup’s first Orbiter mission is scheduled to fly on Transporter-6 in October. Last-mile services: The Orbiter vehicle is designed to link up with satellites that have reached generic orbits through rideshare missions […]
BryceTech’s latest quarterly launch briefing is out. We read these reports, then reread them, and then drill each slide like it’s a flashcard, so that all the data is etched into our memories. Without further ado, BryceTech’s Q4 orbital launch data: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) led Q4 ’21 with 15 launches. SpaceX had eight […]
Antitrust cops have stepped in to block Lockheed Martin’s (NYSE:LMT) proposed $4.4B takeover of Aerojet Rocketdyne (NYSE:AJRD), the US’s last-standing large independent missile- and rocket-motor maker. The FTC sued Tuesday to block the deal, which was announced in December 2020. Aerojet shares dropped nearly 19%, while Lockheed finished the day up 3.7%. Strategically speaking, the acquisition would give […]
Yesterday, newly public Virgin Orbit (NASDAQ:VORB) held a pre-flight press briefing for its upcoming Above the Clouds mission. Virgin’s LauncherOne rocket and Cosmic Girl will take off from Mojave Air and Space Port in California, and follow a flight path approximated in the graphic above. Manifest: Four Pentagon R&D satellites, a NASA-sponsored university payload, two nanosatellites for Polish […]
On Thursday, the French rocket firm recapped a robust year of launch. At a glance: Revenues grew 30% annually to €1.25B (~$1.4B), powered by 15 successful launches (+5 YoY). Arianespace’s three different vehicles—Ariane, Soyuz, and Vega—transported 305 satellites to orbit from three different launchpads. And what better way to close out 2021 than by launching Webb? Thanks to the […]
Firefly Aerospace will temporarily stop preparations for an early 2022 Alpha launch, following a CFIUS recommendation that a foreign owner divest his equity stake, Bloomberg reports. That stake, about 50% of Firefly shares, is owned by US venture fund Noosphere Venture Partners, run by Ukrainian-born investor/entrepreneur Max Polyakov. CFIUS = The US Committee on Foreign Investment in the United […]
Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB) successfully completed its 22nd launch, “Love At First Insight,” with Electron last week. The rocket transported two BlackSky Earth observation satellites to orbit, bringing Rocket Lab’s satellite launch total to 107. With a twist: Love at First Insight involved a controlled splashdown of the rocket’s first stage. Rocket Lab stationed a helicopter […]
