The global community of astronomers can’t get enough of JWST as the huge, powerful space telescope passes through a series of carefully planned and controlled deployments, consisting—as you’ve probably heard by now—of 344 single-point failures, over 75% of which are now retired. The telescope, to state the obvious, is rather large. The size is a […]
Despite the pandemic and an uncertain macroeconomic backdrop, 2021 was a banner year for government space spending. Total investment topped $92B, according to Euroconsult’s latest Government Space Programs report. That’s an 8% annual jump over 2020, though with today’s inflation, who knows what the real increase really was… Civil vs. military breakdown: Civilian space programs received a cumulative $53B in […]
The upper stage from a failed Russian space launch is expected to reenter the Earth’s atmosphere at some point today, Ars Technica reports. The stage, Persei, deployed from an Angara A5 rocket and successfully performed an initial burn, but failed to perform a second burn out of four that would have delivered a dummy payload into […]
Whether it’s being part of the Artemis Generation or harboring a greater appetite for adventure, Gen Z seems more enticed by the idea of traveling to the moon (even if today that remains a far-fetched proposition). 52% of Americans aged 18–34 say they’d be interested in visiting the moon if money were no object, per new polling from Axios […]
Where did the 133 successful orbital launches of 2021 start their journey? Visualize the busiest launchpads via Spaceports of the World, a data repository compiled by the Aerospace Security Project at CSIS, a DC-based think tank. The top three spaceports by orbital launch (H/T Thomas G. Roberts): Cape Canaveral / Kennedy Space Center, with 31 launches (+1 YoY) […]
China’s biggest space contractor, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC), led a record-breaking year of launches in 2021. And CASC isn’t slowing down—the contractor announced on social media Saturday that it has 40 launches planned for 2022, including six that will finish construction of the Tiangong space station. The last 365 days: CASC’s Long […]
What does the year ahead hold for space investors? Before trying to answer that question, let’s take stock of how last year drew to a close. The space economy, broadly speaking, is growing. “Space infrastructure” companies raised $10.3B YTD through the end of Q3, setting new records, per Space Capital. SpaceX cleared a $100B valuation after secondary share […]
Firefly Aerospace will temporarily stop preparations for an early 2022 Alpha launch, following a CFIUS recommendation that a foreign owner divest his equity stake, Bloomberg reports. That stake, about 50% of Firefly shares, is owned by US venture fund Noosphere Venture Partners, run by Ukrainian-born investor/entrepreneur Max Polyakov. CFIUS = The US Committee on Foreign Investment in the United […]
The new year has brought a new lease on life for the ISS. News dump much? NASA said Dec. 31—via blog post—that the White House formally supports the extension of ISS operations through the end of the decade. Until now, US policy was to keep the ISS kicking through at least 2024. Unofficially, the assumption was […]
Virgin Orbit said Tuesday SPAC shareholders have voted to approve its SPAC merger with Nextgen Acquisition Corp. II. Virgin expects the de-SPAC to take place this year (so, this week). After the transaction closes, the combined entity will become a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ with the $VORB ticker. SPAC deets: Virgin Orbit expects to pull […]
Best Christmas Gift Ever? If you’re an astronomer, the answer to that question is a resounding Yes. ICYMI: The James Webb Telescope (JWST) blasted off on Christmas aboard an Ariane 5. As successor to Hubble and the most powerful space telescope ever built, JWST should significantly advance our understanding of the observable universe. The $10B telescope is […]
Icarus’ wings got a makeover. NASA’s Parker solar probe, made out of carbon composite rather than wax, passed the Alfvén critical boundary marking the edge of the Sun’s corona in April, NASA announced this week. The probe is three years into a seven-year mission to collect data on the corona that we can’t understand from […]
