Xona Space Systems, a San Mateo, CA-based startup building a GPS alternative in LEO, has raised an funding round. First Spark Ventures led the round, with participation from a range of new and existing investors, including Lockheed Martin Ventures. Xona now raised $25M+ to date, putting this round somewhere around $15M based on previous fundraising […]
Reading-based Isotropic Systems has gotten a rebrand. The UK antenna manufacturer, now known as All.Space, also has new product details to share. All.Space has unveiled its 5th-gen “smart terminal,” which is moving into initial production and slated for release before the year is out. Once it does, capacity will be booked out for at least […]
Slingshot Aerospace has its sights set on being the industry leader in space situational awareness (SSA). This morning, the company announced that it has acquired Numerica’s Space Domain Awareness (SDA) division and UK-based Seradata. “These acquisitions bring a single, unified space intelligence platform to the market that the market needs, and hasn’t seen,” said Melanie […]
Yesterday, NASA released an updated list of requirements for private astronaut missions to the ISS, and it seems that future tours will need extra supervision. Future private missions to the ISS will need to be accompanied by a former NASA astronaut. ICYMI: In April, Axiom launched Ax-1, the first-ever private astronaut mission to the ISS. […]
On this week’s episode of Pathfinder, we sit down with Jordan Noone, the cofounder and founding CTO of Relativity Space. Noone now holds the same titles at Embedded Ventures, a self-described deeptech VC “skunkworks” that he runs with cofounder Jenna Bryant. Embedded Ventures has partnered with the US Space Force on R&D, and backed early-stage […]
On Monday morning, El Segundo, CA-based Aerojet Rocketdyne ($AJRD) reported Q2 net income of $16.4M. Aerojet develops liquid- and solid-fueled propulsion products for major space players and missile makers. The propulsion provider missed on top- and bottom-line expectations, with quarterly earnings coming in at $0.20 per share (vs. $0.47 est. and -66% YoY). The company […]
Congress has spent the last few weeks hammering out next year’s authorizations and funding decisions. On the policy side, CHIPS and Science passed in both the House and Senate last week. On the funding side, policymakers have been reviewing and amending next year’s NDAA, which will provide funding for military space programs. CHIPS and Science […]
Ahead of its second orbital launch attempt, Firefly Aerospace tells Payload it’s made a slew of new executive leadership hires. Though the Cedar Park, TX launch unicorn has been through the ringer in recent months, its Alpha rocket is vertical at Vandenberg and liftoff is seemingly weeks away. Moreover, Firefly is sounding a confident note […]
The White House has decided it’s time to do something about space junk. On Friday, the National Science and Technology Council released a 44-point national orbital debris implementation plan that aims to nip the littering problem in the bud before it threatens the safe operation of satellites in orbit. Multiple US agencies are currently involved […]
There’s been a changing of the robotic guard responsible for bringing samples of Mars rocks back to Earth. Perseverance and a pair of Ingenuity-esque helicopters will now play a greater role in ferrying the samples back home. Mars sample return: NASA and ESA have together hatched a plan to bring samples of Mars rock back […]
It’s been a five-coffee-a-day week for analysts tracking the “primes” and publicly traded contractors that make up the US defense and aerospace (A&D) industrial base and sell fighter jets, weapons systems, and advanced spacecraft to the Pentagon. Of the US’ prime contractors, Lockheed posted Q2 earnings last week, with Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, General Dynamics, and […]
Boeing ($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% […]
