Doug and Bob. Image: Netflix Netflix is now streaming Return to Space. Directed by Oscar-winning duo Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin. The feature-length film chronicles the SpaceX and NASA Demo-2 mission, which restored the US’s capability to domestically send its own astronauts to orbit. Since you’re a space-savvy bunch and Return to Space is nonfiction, […]
Images: Ursa Major. Left: Hadley hotfire @ Ursa Major HQ in Berthoud, CO. Right: Hadley being prepped for shipment. Ursa Major officially signed its 200th employee this week, CEO Joe Laurienti tells Payload. The Colorado startup, which bills itself as “America’s only independent pure-play rocket propulsion company,” had just north of 125 employees in early […]
Image: Amazon, Arianespace, & Beyond Gravity. Compiled by Andrew Parsonson. Amazon sent shockwaves throughout the space world yesterday. The largest-ever commercial launch deal gave a kick of nitrous to the European space machine. Beyond the headlines: Arianespace won big, snagging its largest single contract ever. But that wasn’t Europe’s only winner: Amazon’s dealmaking included the largest […]
Good morning from Colorado Spring, where we’re writing this at 5:30 am local time. Amazon front-ran Day 2 of Space Symposium with what it claims is “the largest commercial procurement of space launch services in history.” Driving the news Project Kuiper, Amazon’s LEO broadband initiative, has contracted three heavy-lift vehicles for up to 83 launches. […]
Image credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/Optique vidéo du CSG – JM Guillon The European Space Agency announced last week that it intends to develop an upgraded solid rocket booster for the Ariane 6 and Vega vehicles. So, what’s new? Well, the proposed P120C+ booster will be ~1 meter taller than the current P120, which would allow for an […]
The Space Frontier Foundation, an advocacy group with a 35-year history in the aerospace industry, has released its first survey on the state of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in space. Why? The aerospace industry needs innovation to survive. “Innovation thrives when you bring diverse perspectives into a room together,” Ann Kapusta, Space Frontier Foundation’s […]
On Friday, April 1, SpaceX launched Transporter-4, its fourth dedicated smallsat rideshare mission, from SLC-40 in Cape Canaveral. Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage returned home and landed on the Just Read the Instructions droneship in the Atlantic. Launch details Transporter-4 was launch and landing #7 for this Falcon 9 booster. Previous missions include […]
On Thursday, Planet released Q4 and full-year (for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2022) financial results. Planet booked $131.2M in revenue last year, the company said yesterday in Q4 & FY 21 financial results. The planet-scanning company is growing at a healthy clip: 2021’s results represent a 16% jump over 2020. Q4 was Planet’s […]
Midland-based AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ:ASTS) isn’t in the business of pumping petroleum. Rather, the $1.8B Texas company wants to build a space-based, satellite-to-phone cell phone network. Financial results Headed into 2022, AST had $325M in cash/equivalents and $5M of debt. FY and Q4 ‘21 OpEx were $91.6M (+235% YoY) and $31.3M (+35% YoY), respectively. AST SpaceMobile […]
Redwire Space (NYSE:RDW), a space infrastructure conglomerate, released its FY2021 and Q4 financial results after the bell on Thursday. The sixth in the rush of space companies that de-SPAC’d in 2021, Redwire began trading on the NYSE in September. The company dabbled on a few key business updates, including its Nov. acquisition of 3D bioprinting […]
Image via Astra. Note: This slide was pulled from Astra’s Dec. ’21 investor deck, not IR materials presented Thursday. Astra (Nasdaq:ASTR) recorded a net loss of $257.8M in 2021, the company said Thursday. That’s a 278% annual increase, but to be fair, Astra was making and launching more rockets last year than it was in […]
Space activity was up and to the right in the first three months of the calendar year. From now on, we’re going to be pulling together a quarterly roundup of the biggest news from the commercial, civil, and military space. January NASA started the year off with a bang by delivering JWST, the most powerful […]
