Payload’s Mission
Payload strives to deliver space business and policy news to an audience of industry and government officials in an unbiased, accurate, and accessible format. We aim to build a community with readers, who can always reach us here with questions, tips, or space puns.
Transparency
We are committed to getting it right. But, when we don’t, we promise to maintain trust with readers by always being transparent. That means quickly correcting errors, and letting readers know what we changed, both in online stories and in the newsletter.
Employees who have prior financial interests in space companies are required to notify the company. We will share any information with readers here:
- Before founding Payload, CEO Mo Islam received small financial stakes in a few space companies while working in the financial services industry. He maintains an interest in Relativity Space, Phantom Space, Axiom Space, and Firefly Aerospace. He plans to divest these stakes as soon as practical.
Our editorial team operates independently. Our co-founders and investors do not influence, suggest, or ban any coverage.
Opinions and Sponsored Content
Op-eds and sponsored pieces will always be clearly labeled on our site and in our newsletter. These pieces do not represent the view of Payload.
Working with Us
For more on sending press releases or sharing tips, please see our pitching guide.
We generally agree to honor embargoes, so please feel free to reach out to us early with news.
Sourcing
We work with sources in a number of different ways, and promise to always both honor commitments about attribution made to sources (ie: keeping something off the record if reporter and source agree on it being off the record) and be as transparent as possible with readers about who we are talking to in our reporting.
- On the record is the default when talking with one of Payload’s editorial team members. That means that, unless all parties agree otherwise, the conversation is able to be used in reporting and is attributable to you by name.
- On background means that the information can be reported, but can’t be attributed to the source by name. To build trust with readers, we will always cite someone as specifically as we can and will share why we have granted them anonymity. (Example: A House staffer told Payload on background to openly share internal deliberations.)
- Off the record means the information can’t be used in reporting at all. These conversations are still helpful to give us context and ensure we’re hearing a wide range of views.