Stories about operations in low-Earth orbit.
This is the third installment of our deep dive on orbital debris. Read Part One and Part Two. – Space is getting more crowded, especially in the regions where satellite operators vie for the best orbits. The density of operational satellites is increasing faster each year. And as for the debris already up there? It’s […]
The FCC is cracking down on spent satellites left in LEO. In a draft report and order released yesterday, the commission revealed plans to cut the post-mission disposal time from the currently recommended 25 years to five years. The growing debris problem: The DoD’s Space Surveillance Network currently tracks ~27,000 pieces of debris larger than […]
Albedo has announced a $48M Series A raise, in a round co-led by Bill Gates-founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Silicon Valley-based Shield Capital. The Austin- and Denver-HQ’d satellite startup has now raised $58M, less than two years since its founding. Complementing Albedo’s big ol’ round is a padded out cap table. The startup is a […]
In January, NASA released an updated ISS Transition Plan to extend the station’s life through 2030. After that, the agency plans to decommission it by burning it up in the atmosphere and dropping whatever’s left in an uninhabited region of the South Pacific. The ISS, originally planned to deorbit after 15 years, is old enough […]
If you thought that T-Mobile and SpaceX’s Thursday announcement would scare the H-E-🏒🏒 out of other players working on direct-to-phone connectivity from space, think again. AST SpaceMobile ($ASTS) execs welcomed the extra attention on their business brought by the T-Mobile/SpaceX technology partnership. So too did Lynk Global, a Virginia startup putting “cell towers in space” […]
ICYMI, and you probably didn’t, SpaceX and T-Mobile have teamed up to bring satellite-to-smartphone connectivity to mobile networks. SpaceX is working on connecting existing, unmodified phones to a new type of mobile network. Big, if true This technology could blanket the globe with a new layer of cellular connectivity. And the tie-up has the potential […]
Redwire ($RDW) reported Q2 2022 results before the market opened on Wednesday. The Jacksonville, FL-based space infrastructure company reported quarterly revenues of $36.7M (+14.2% YoY). Quick refresher: Commercial space powerbroker AE Industrial Partners hatched Redwire in late 2020 by merging Adcole Space and Deep Space Systems. Shortly thereafter, Redwire acquired Made in Space. The company […]
Benchmark has agreed to acquire plasma thruster technology from AASC, the two announced this morning. Benchmark is short for Benchmark Space Systems, a chemical propulsion provider based in Burlington, VT. Benchmark’s Starling and Halcyon satellite propulsion systems are its bread and butter. AASC is short for Alameda Applied Sciences Corporation. The Oakland-based entity keeps a […]
Boeing ($BA) Q2 results fell short of Wall Street expectations yesterday, due to weaker defense sales and program delays. Robust commercial plane orders softened the blow, and the company stuck by its forecast to return to positive free cash flow this year. The overall numbers: Operating cash flow = $100M Revenue = $16.7B, a 2% […]
There are three certainties in life: death, taxes, and fights over spectrum rights. Certainty No. 3 continued to deliver earlier this week, with a SpaceX regulatory filing to launch a new mobile service. Specifically, SpaceX petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for approval to provide mobile satellite service (MSS) in the 2 GHz band. MSS […]
Iridium ($IRDM) was doing 2020s-era space stuff before it was cool. The McLean, VA company deployed a constellation in low-Earth orbit and used those satellites to provide connectivity to devices in hard-to-reach areas around the world. It went bankrupt once upon a time, and in 2009 it went public via SPAC. Now, Iridium appears to […]
China’s space station is almost finished. Over the weekend, the China Manned Space Agency launched the Wentian laboratory module to its in-progress Tiangong station atop a Long March 5B. Wentian successfully docked with the station earlier this morning after a 13-hour journey. Wentian: The lab module is the largest spacecraft that China has ever sent […]
