Moonlighter Sat Will Let Hackers Practice in Orbit
Cyber experts will get the opportunity to practice defending assets from cyber attacks in orbit on a new “hacking sandbox” satellite expected to launch later this year. Moonlighter is a joint project from the Aerospace Corporation, Space Systems Command, and the Air Force Research Laboratory that will let good guy hackers look for vulnerabilities in…
North Korea Says it’s Set to Launch its First Military Spy Satellite
North Korea’s military is getting ready to expand to orbit with the launch of its first spy satellite, leader Kim Jong Un announced Wednesday, according to an AP report. North Korea in space: The Hermit Kingdom has previously launched three non-military satellites to orbit: one experimental comms satellite in 2009 and two EO satellites in…
L3Harris Building Comms System for Lunar Missions
L3Harris Technologies announced Tuesday that it will provide the communications system Artemis astronauts use to communicate with each other and with Earth from the lunar surface. While much attention has been paid to the rocket, spacecraft, and people that will part of the first crewed Moon mission in more than 50 years, communications are critical…
VC Investment in the Space Industry Sees Lowest Numbers Since 2021
VCs invested $310.7M in the US space industry during the first quarter of 2023, according to new Pitchbook data. It’s the lowest amount since Q3 of 2021, but the 24 deals closed in the quarter is comparable to last quarter. The biggest deals ranged across different segments of the industry from launch to manufacturing. These…
Leidos, NASCAR Head to the Moon
Leidos ($LDOS) announced Tuesday that it is partnering with NASCAR on its lunar rover, which it dramatically unveiled by removing a giant purple sheet at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs. Rover 101: Even though NASCAR is collaborating on the rover, astronauts won’t be whipping around the Moon at breakneck speed under checkered flags. The…
Orbit Fab Closes $28.5M Series A
Orbit Fab announced yesterday that it closed a $28.5M Series A to accelerate bringing its on-orbit refueling depot tech, i.e., gas stations in space, to market. 8090 Industries led the company’s Series A, with participation from Stride Capital, Industrious Ventures, Lockheed Martin Ventures, Tribe Capital, Good Growth Capital, and Massive Capital Partners. At the same…
McKinsey Expects a Shortfall in Launch Capacity
The space industry is preparing to send tens of thousands of satellites to orbit in the coming decade, building out large constellations across the spectrum of possible capabilities. They may run into a bottleneck, however, when it comes to booking tickets to space. This morning, McKinsey released its analysis of the demand for launch services…
SpaceX Launches Transporter-7
Happy belated Transporter launch day to all who celebrate. At 2:48am Saturday, SpaceX launched the Transporter-7 mission on a Falcon 9, carrying 51 customer payloads to new homes in orbit. These rideshare missions are big days for small satellite companies that rely on the comparatively low cost to send their birds to orbit. On this…
JUICE Lifts Off Aboard Ariane 5 and Heads to Jupiter
The JUICE is Jupiter-bound. ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft launched aboard an Ariane-5 rocket this morning from the European Spaceport in French Guiana. The probe will perform four gravitational assist fly-bys of Venus and Earth before heading to Jupiter, where it’s scheduled to arrive in July 2031. The squeeze: JUICE will spend three…
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Prepares for its First Fully Expendable Mission
What goes up won’t come down. SpaceX is preparing its Falcon Heavy rocket to launch a ViaSat-3 satellite on April 18—the first mission for the rocket in which all three boosters will be expended. The mission: The Falcon Heavy, which consists of three Falcon 9 boosters, will deploy the ViaSat broadband communication satellite to GEO.…
Secure World Foundation Releases 2023 Update to Counterspace Report
Russia has used space assets in its assault on Ukraine, including using electronic warfare capabilities against targets in orbit and interfering with European Sentinel-1 SAR satellites over the country, according to a new report evaluating the counterspace capabilities of 11 countries. The Secure World Foundation on Friday released the 2023 version of its annual Counterspace…
ispace’s Shares Surge in Market Debut, Lunar Landing Date Set
Shares of Japanese startup ispace closed at 1201 yen a pop on Thursday, up 373% on the day. The surge comes just one day after ispace made its Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market debut. Ispace IPO: Shares were listed at 254 yen each during the IPO, originally valuing the company at 20B yen ($150M), according…
