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…
DoD’s Indo-Pacific Command Adds Space Component
The US military command focused on deterring China will beef up its space footprint next month, the Space Force’s #2 officer, Gen. David “DT” Thompson, said Tuesday. The US Indo-Pacific Command will establish a Space Force component command on Nov. 22, said Thompson, who is the service’s vice chief of space operations, at a Mitchell…
Privateer and Celestron Announce Partnership for Citizen Science
If you’ve been wondering how you can contribute to space debris mitigation efforts, you may be in luck. Privateer, a space debris tracking startup founded by Alex Fielding, Steve Wozniak, and Moriba Jah, has taken space sustainability efforts unto itself through its collision risk assessment tool, Wayfinder. Yesterday, Privateer announced it has partnered with consumer…
Pathfinder #0022, featuring Andy Lapsa
Today’s episode takes us to the burbs of Seattle, where one startup aims to build an entirely new type of rocket. Our guest, Andy Lapsa, is the CEO and cofounder of Stoke Space. The startup, whose north star is building 100% reusable rockets, raised a $9.1M seed round in 2020, graduated from Y Combinator’s Winter…
A Closer Look at Credit Suisse’s Space Coverage Initiation
Last week, we took a look at Credit Suisse’s initiation of aerospace & defense (A&D) industry coverage. In complementary equity commentary published earlier this month and seen by Payload, analysts break down their generally bearish position on the aerospace sector. As a refresher… …here’s one quote from Credit Suisse we published on Friday: “The space…
Apex Space Emerges from Stealth with a16z-Led $7.5M Seed Round
Apex, an LA-based satellite developer, emerged from stealth today with $7.5M+ in funding. Andreessen Horowitz led the round, with participation from XYZ, J2, Lux Capital, and Village Global. The name of the game Apex aims to manufacture satellite buses in the 100-kilogram class that can support ~100 kgs of payload. It aims to sell Aries,…
CONFERS Highlights: Policy, Transparency, and Future Plans
Government officials and industry gathered just outside DC last week at the CONFERS Global Satellite Servicing Forum to brainstorm solutions for challenges facing the satellite servicing industry. CONFERS = the Consortium for Execution of Rendezvous and Servicing Operations, an industry group with 60+ members that started in 2017. Here’s a dispatch from the two-day conference…
