Senate Unveils Flat NASA Budget, Takes Aim at Mars Sample Return
The Senate has unveiled its initial ~$25B FY24 NASA budget, roughly maintaining YoY funding levels, but coming in significantly below the White House’s $27.2B ask. The budget plateau results from an eleventh-hour debt limit deal struck at the end of May that keeps non-defense spending flat YoY. The most notable casualty is Mars Sample Return…
ULA Pushes Vulcan Launch to Q4 Due to Centaur Issue
The space world will have to wait a little bit longer to see Vulcan fly. The ULA rocket’s maiden launch has been delayed to Q4 while engineers fix a structural issue with its Centaur V second-stage rocket that caused May’s monstrous explosion on the test stand, ULA chief Tory Bruno announced yesterday. Right of boom:…
Exclusive: Talde Private Equity Leaps Into Space With AVS Investment
A small engineering firm from the Basque region of Spain nabbed an investment from Talde as it quietly lays the groundwork for a global space business empire. Added Value Solutions (AVS) develops complex equipment for industries such as fusion, particle accelerators, and space. On the heels of a significant investment in the firm, CEO Miguel…
ViaSat-3 Experiences Major Issue During Reflector Deployment
The recently-launched ViaSat-3 Americas satellite has hit a major snag. Viasat ($VSAT) announced yesterday that an “unexpected event” occurred during the deployment of the satellite’s massive reflector that may degrade the performance of the communications satellite, which was supposed to grow the company’s broadband business in the Americas. “We’re disappointed by the recent developments,” said…
The Artemis Astrovan Arrives
NASA astronauts are going to be riding in *ahem* style. A brand new fleet of vans destined to carry Artemis crews to the launch pad ahead of their journeys to the Moon arrived at KSC on Tuesday. The vans, built by CA-based Canoo Technologies Inc., are fully electric, zero-emission vehicles designed to fit four fully…
Astra Looks to Raise $65M and Avoid Nasdaq Delisting through Stock Split
After nearly a year of struggling to bump its stock price above the Nasdaq minimum and avoid delisting, Astra ($ASTR) has officially decided to perform a reverse stock split. The company plans to perform a 1-to-15 ratio split and aims to raise up to $65M in an “at-the-market” offering, meaning common stock shares will sell…
Q&A with ispace US CEO Ronald Garan
The countdown has started on ispace’s NASA-backed date with the Moon in June 2025, and the US team has locked itself in a room this week to game out the details. The company began a four-day exercise on Monday akin to a military-style wargame that will help the company zero in on when the spacecraft…
Chamber of Commerce Teaches How Space Affects All
It’s a common refrain at space events of all shapes and sizes: satellites enabled the GPS that helped your Uber find its way here. But what’s accepted among space insiders is not such common knowledge in the broader public, and the Chamber of Commerce is ramping up its space efforts to spread the word so…
A Look at SpaceX’s Starship Upgrades as it Prepares for Second Flight
Since Starship’s first orbital flight test nearly three months ago, SpaceX has been working around the clock modifying the rocket, rebuilding the launch pad, and defending itself against an environmental lawsuit as the launch giant prepares for its second orbital attempt. Upgrades to Starship SpaceX will be using Booster 9 and Starship 25 for its…
Voyager Teams up with India’s NSIL to Collaborate on Space Tech
Voyager Space, a space tech rollup, announced Friday it had signed an MoU with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), ISRO’s commercial launch division, to explore small sat deployment opportunities and component tech sharing. “This partnership is a unique opportunity as we join forces to drive innovation and advancement in the small satellite launch industry,” said Voyager…
Iran Deploys EO Imagery in Court
An Iranian EO satellite launched last year is switching its focus to land mapping. A spokesperson for the Iranian Space Agency (ISA) said Saturday that the Information Technology Organization of Iran (ITO) has teamed up to explore using the satellite’s images as evidence in court cases on land misuse. Iran’s eye in space: When Iran…
India is Set to Launch Chandrayaan-3 Lunar Lander and Rover on July 14
India rolled its LVM3 rocket to the pad Thursday and announced its Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander mission will take flight July 14. The launch sets the stage for lunar redemption. It will be the country’s second landing attempt after its Chandrayaan-2 vehicle crash-landed on the Moon’s surface nearly four years ago. The mission: Chandrayaan-3 consists of…
