Technology
Stories about the tech that’s driving the new space age.
UKSA Funds Rolls-Royce’s Lunar Nuclear Reactor
The UK Space Agency has awarded Rolls-Royce £2.9M ($3.5M) to continue development of a lunar nuclear reactor. Under the contract, UKSA and Rolls-Royce are aiming to get a demo model on the Moon’s surface by 2029. The agency previously funded a £249,000 (~$305,000) study last year. The micro-reactor program A bet on nuclear energy is…
CesiumAstro Announces IFC Plans
CesiumAstro announced this morning that it is officially getting into the in-flight connectivity (IFC) market. The company is planning to test a flat active phased array payload that can connect with satellites in orbit more easily and effectively than current systems, and has several demonstrations aboard Airbus craft set for the coming year. Active phased…
Vast Acquires Launcher to Speed Space Station Development
The race to build commercial space stations is heating up. Yesterday, Vast, a startup that emerged from stealth last September with plans to build stations with artificial gravity, announced that it has acquired space tug company Launcher for an undisclosed amount. TechCrunch first reported the news. Vast’s vision: Jed McCaleb, who made his name and…
BardAI Incorrectly Answers JWST Question
The brave new world of large language models (LLMs) has finally dealt us a space angle. This week, accompanying a Paris event to preview its new Bard chatbot, Google released an ad about the ChatGPT competitor. The issue? Bard confidently shared an incorrect answer about JWST. The incorrect answer, first shared Monday but widely circulated…
Busek Increases Thruster Production for OneWeb
Busek has its sights set on ramping up production. The propulsion company announced yesterday that it has fully commissioned its thrusters on 80 OneWeb satellites that launched in December and January. “The space community often talks about rapid response and the need for speed, and this is a great example of preparedness, and fast, high-quality…
AstroForge Announces Asteroid Mining Test Missions
Could this be the year of asteroid mining? AstroForge, a YC W22 alum based in Huntington Beach, CA, is trying to make it happen. The company announced that it has booked two missions this year to get its asteroid mining tech to orbit and tested as quickly as possible. Mining asteroids: About a decade ago,…
Exclusive: Quub Emerges from Stealth Mode, Announces Two Air Force Contracts
Today, satellite startup Quub emerged from stealth mode with two Air Force contracts in tow. Pronounced like “cube,” the Lancaster, PA-based startup bills itself as a “data company,” placing an emphasis on the value of its eventual downstream analytics products. But don’t get it twisted—Quub is taking a verticalized approach to Earth observation (EO) and…
Blue Origin- and Dynetics-led Teams Vie to Build Second NASA Lander
In the latest round of lunar Human Landing Systems (HLS), we have a National Team 2.0—along with another group of bidders—vying to build a second vehicle that would take American astronauts to the Moon. The big change? Blue and Northrop Grumman have parted ways in their bid. How we got here: a brief timeline Bidding…
ESA Gets Nearly 17% Funding Boost
‘Twas a busy time in Paris last week. The European Space Agency announced a new cohort of astronauts and announced a budget of €16.9B for the next three years. The sum falls short of the €18.5B requested by the agency, but still represents a 17% increase over the prior period. Lots of 17s last week: …
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…
Rosotics Raises $750,000 for 3D Printers
3D metal printing is getting a makeover. Rosotics, a Mesa, AZ-based startup designing a more efficient, large-scale 3D printer optimized for the needs of the aerospace industry, announced this morning the closing of a $750,000 pre-seed round. The round was led by Draper Associates with participation from Correlation Ventures, Vibe Capital, and Sequoia Capital. That’s…
Lockheed Martin and Nvidia Partner on Weather Digital Twin for NOAA
Lockheed Martin and Nvidia are joining forces to develop a global weather digital twin for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the two companies announced Thursday. The AI-driven earth observation system will help NOAA monitor and increase global weather conditions, including extreme events increasing in frequency. Digital twin, you say? Digital twins are virtual…
Hermeus Completes Hypersonic Engine Test
Hermeus, a startup building a hypersonic aircraft capable of traveling five times the speed of sound, has completed a major milestone in engine testing. The company successfully demonstrated that its engine can transition from turbojet—like what’s used in passenger aircraft—to ramjet, a much more powerful engine technology. Hermeus 101: The Atlanta-based startup is moving fast…
