Australia Bans Direct-Ascent ASAT Testing
In an effort to make the orbital environment a little bit safer, Australia has joined the US-led pledge not to conduct any destructive, direct-ascent anti-satellite (ASAT) tests. The story so far: Last November, Russia fired an ASAT missile at a defunct Soviet satellite, exploding it into a cloud of 1,500+ pieces of debris that forced…
Firefly Prepares for Production Ramp; Names Permanent COO
Firefly made history when it became one of only a handful of privately funded players to reach orbit a month ago. Now, the self-described “end-to-end space transportation company” is staffing up to scale production and ensure that October’s successful Alpha launch isn’t a one off. “What we have to do now…is take Alpha to full-rate…
Pathfinder #0023, featuring Awais Ahmed
Today’s episode takes us to the bleeding edge of Earth observation, where one startup aims to bring what it claims is a step change in multispectral data to the commercial markets. Our guest, Awais Ahmed, is the CEO and cofounder of Pixxel. The Indian-American startup, which is building a health monitor for Earth, has raised…
Exclusive: Wyvern Raises $7M in New Funding
Wyvern has raised $7M in a seed plus round led by Uncork Capital, bringing the hyperspectral startup’s total financing to ~$15M to date. Previous investors MaC Venture Capital and Y Combinator also participated in this round. MaC led Wyvern’s seed round in October 2021; Wyvern also recently graduated from YC’s W22 batch. The Edmonton, Canada…
The Space Insurance Landscape
Launching satellites to space is a risky business. The field of orbitally proven vehicles remains small, sensor and payload technology is new and constantly changing, and certain orbital regimes are getting more crowded by the month. Insurers, of course, are no strangers to risk. The space insurance industry dates back nearly 60 years. But the…
SatixFy Completes SPAC Merger
SatixFy completed its SPAC merger with Endurance Acquisition Corp ($EDNC) last week, after shareholders voted to approve the deal Wednesday. The Israeli satcom company had its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, Oct. 28, represented by the ticker $SATX. SatixFy 101 The company is a fabless chipmaker and developer…
Pentagon Emphasizes the Need for Norms
The Pentagon’s long-awaited National Defense Strategy warns that conflict in space could quickly spiral out of control without a clear set of norms and expectations. Released Thursday, the strategy breaks out space concerns primarily into three buckets: Dangers of escalation The risk of accidentally escalating a conflict in space is “particularly high due to unclear…
Seismic Waves Detected on the Surface of Mars
For the first time ever, researchers have detected seismic waves on the surface of another celestial body. On December 24, 2021, scientists working on the Marsquake Service at ETH Zurich recorded the unexpected quake using the seismometer on NASA’s InSight lander. Unlike the deep-seated rumblings kilometers below the surface they’d observed over the past three…
Scientists Uncover Long-Lost Star Catalog
For millennia, humanity has been gazing up toward the stars, trying to make sense of the glittering madness. Hipparchus, a Greek astronomer who lived about 2,100 years ago, is credited not only with creating trigonometry, but also with assigning the first numerical coordinates to stars. The fabled star catalog itself was lost to the ages.…
Boeing Reports Q3 Results
Boeing ($BA) reported a $3.3B loss in the third quarter on Wednesday, which included significant hits to its space and defense business segment. The losses to fixed-price programs, including the Starliner capsule built for NASA’s Commercial Crew program, were partially offset by more commercial airplane sales. By the numbers: 3Q revenue = $16B, up 4%…
Array Labs Raises $5M Seed
Array Labs, a YC alum with ambitions to map the world in 3D, has raised a $5M seed round to kickstart the development of its radar constellation. The investment was led by Seraphim Space and Agya Ventures, with participation from Republic Capital, Liquid 2 Ventures, Rebel Fund, Y Combinator cofounder Trevor Blackwell, and Keyhole cofounder…
A Q+A with Relativity Boss Tim Ellis on First Launch, Terran R, and More
Relativity is in the final innings of prep work for “Good Luck, Have Fun,” its first orbital flight attempt. The Relativity team is integrating Terran 1 in its Space Coast hangar right now, and plans to roll the rocket out to the launchpad in the coming weeks. While all eyes may soon be on Terran…
