SpaceX Unveils Starlink Maritime
SpaceX has debuted Starlink Maritime for merchant vessels, oil rigs, and yachts. The service promises to connect large boats with high-speed, low-latency satellite internet, all “from the most remote waters across the world.” Starlink Maritime touts download speeds of up to 350Mbps at sea. Mileage may vary, though, as Starlink legal documents say users can…
SpaceX Launches First Group of Starlink’s Third Shell
SpaceX launched its 51st set of Starlink satellites this evening, with the workhorse Falcon 9 lifting out of a thick layer of fog enveloping Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Sunday evening marks the 50th dedicated Starlink launch. The mission’s first-stage booster previously launched Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, NASA’s DART planetary defense mission, and three Starlink…
Analysis: Navigating Recessions
Ed. Note: This is a vastly abridged version of Payload’s “Secret Monthly Newsletter” that you can unlock by referring just one new subscriber! This month’s newsletter included access to a larger macro presentation that includes this—and much more. In less than a week, the June CPI (Consumer Price Index, an index that tracks the price…
Geek Out: Astronaut Bones
Astronauts in microgravity are losing weight in all the wrong places. A recent study in Scientific Reports found that astronauts who spent months in space returned with major losses in bone density, which wasn’t always immediately or fully restored. Funded by the Canadian Space Agency, researchers followed 17 American, European, Canadian, and Japanese astronauts before,…
Stellar Ventures Closes $23M Space Technology Fund
There’s a new space technology specialist fund in town. Today, Stellar Ventures announced the close of $23M in committed capital for SV Andromeda Fund LP, its first fund. Stellar Ventures may ring a bell for seasoned space hands. It sounds like Stellar Solutions, an aerospace engineering company, and that’s no coincidence. Celeste Ford started both…
Virgin Galactic Orders Two Next-Gen Motherships
Virgin Galactic ($SPCE) has selected Aurora Flight Sciences to build its next generation of motherships. The Boeing ($BA) subsidiary will build two motherships for Virgin, the human spaceflight company said Wednesday. $SPCE rose over 5% in after-hours trading. Terminology first: The mothership carries and air-launches Virgin’s spaceship at a release altitude of ~50,000 feet. The…
CAPSTONE Isn’t Phoning Home
Following a successful launch on Rocket Lab’s Electron and deployment from its Lunar Photon, NASA’s moon-bound CAPSTONE satellite is not phoning home. Timeline: On July 4, the satellite broke Earth’s orbit. On Tuesday, the US space agency said the spacecraft has experienced “communications issues” while in contact with the Deep Space Network, a series of…
A Q&A with the Aurelia Institute’s Ariel Ekblaw
Humanity has dreamed about different visions of what a civilization in space might look like for longer than the Payload team has been alive. We’ve been planning ways to sustain human life in orbit and on other planets for decades. Now, it feels like we’re within reach of that goal—and we need to be ready…
Virgin Orbit Successfully Launches Straight Up Mission
This weekend, Virgin Orbit launched its fourth successful mission. Straight Up launched from Mojave under the cover of night for the first time. That name may sound familiar as the mission was named after a 1988 Paula Abdul song and included a prep visit from the pop legend herself. Cosmic Girl and Launcher One delivered…
Pathfinder #0006: Navigating Markets with Payload’s Mo Islam
On this week’s episode of the Pathfinder podcast, Ryan sits down with Mo Islam, who is his boss and the cofounder/CEO of Payload. A Payload on Payload interview? It’s like the Spiderman pointing at another Spiderman meme. Jokes aside, Ryan invited Mo Islam on to discuss a presentation he prepared for the Payload team at…
Kongsberg Acquires Majority Stake in NanoAvionics
This morning, Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace, a Norwegian technology company, announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire a majority stake in NanoAvionics. The deal values the Lithuanian smallsat manufacturer at €65M ($67M). The terms: Kongsberg is taking a 77% stake in the company. The company’s leadership will remain unchanged for now, with CEO…
Inmarsat Releases Survey on the Value of Space
Houston, we have an image problem. Yesterday, Inmarsat released a massive report on the public perception of the space industry. The survey of 20,000 people across 11 countries showed, by and large, a lack of faith in the space industry to solve problems down on Earth or to benefit humanity. The spectacle of it all:…
