AnalysisTechnologyVC/PE

The Year in Commercial Space Hits and Misses

The best and worst of space technology in 2024.

PolicyTechnology

China’s Materials Bans Could Transform Space Solar 

Power demand in orbit is already closing in on 20M watts a year.

InternationalLaunchTechnology

Ukrainian Small Launcher Finds Refuge in the US

Promin’s plan is to hire as many as a dozen US engineers in the coming year who will build Promin 1 with guidance from the engineers who remain in Ukraine.

LEOTechnology

Slingshot Wins $13.3M Contract to Develop TraCSS UI

The Office of Space Commerce tapped Slingshot Aerospace to design the front door of its space situational awareness system, which will be a hub to help industry avoid collisions in orbit.

BusinessMilitaryTechnology

Anduril wins $99.7M Contract to Modernize SPACECOM 

Lattice uses machine learning and AI models to help operators track objects in space, giving SPACECOM a more resilient space surveillance tool.

StartupsTechnologyVC/PE

Inversion Raises $44M Series A To Build Its Arc

Inversion plans to use these funds to scale up its operations to deliver a full-scale reentry vehicle on orbit by 2026.

ScienceTechnology

Texas A&M Breaks Ground on New Space Institute 

The Space Institute will include lab and office space, classrooms, an auditorium, as well as two football-field sized landscapes that simulate the lunar and Martian surfaces.

ScienceStartupsTechnology

General Galactic Raises $8M Seed For Clean Fuel Tech

General Galactic wants to change the way the world thinks about the green transition, by using pollutants themselves as a renewable fuel source.

BusinessTechnology

Space AI is Having a Moment

After years of AI changing the way people work on Earth, the tech is finally having its moment in the space industry’s spotlight.

DebrisStartupsTechnology

Kall Morris Inc. Begins ISS Residency

The system will prove out technology that could eventually grab objects on orbit, allowing KMI to move debris out of congested orbital lanes or relocate satellites that don’t have enough juice to move themselves. 

LaunchTechnology

Skyrora Completes Test of Telemetry Relay System

The solution—a telemetry relay system called InRange—uses Viasat’s geostationary satellites as the middleman to receive telemetry data from the rocket and beam it back to Earth.

StartupsTechnology

Aptos Orbital Unveils AI-Powered Satellite Platform

The Aptos terminal integrates on-orbit processing, communication capabilities, and cloud services to enable satellites to run AI systems in orbit.

EOLunarMoonQ&ATechnology

What Makes Space AI So Tricky?

“There’s just really no certification standard yet for this type of flight software.”