SpaceX Notches New Turnaround Record
On Friday, SpaceX flew its 17th mission of the year. Launching from Cape Canaveral, the Starlink 4-16 mission delivered 53 new broadband satellites to space. The mission’s booster (tail name B1062) was previously flown just three weeks prior on the Ax-1 mission. B1062 has also previously launched two GPS spacecraft, Inspiration4, and another Starlink mission. …
Isotropic Is on Hiring Binge
Isotropic Systems has doubled in size over the last year, just recently signing its 130th hire, and expects to 2X again in the coming year, the British startup told Payload. The Reading, UK-based company has created—and successfully field-tested—a potentially revolutionary technology: multi-beam, multi-link, and all-orbit satellite terminals. Origin story In 2013, Isotropic CEO and founder…
NASA and DLR Terminate SOFIA
It’s official: NASA and German space agency DLR have agreed to end operations on the expensive airplane-mounted infrared observatory this year. NASA has been trying to cut the line item from its budget for a few years now, but for the past two years, Congress has restored the observatory’s funding in the agency’s federal budget.…
Ingenuity Returns to the Landing Site
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech During its 26th fight, the Mars Ingenuity helicopter snapped incredible images of the parachute and backshell that helped the chopper and the Perseverance rover to land on the Red Planet’s surface a little over a year ago. This was no coincidence: NASA and JPL intentionally directed the helicopter over to the landing site,…
Boeing, General Dynamics, and Northrop Grumman Report Q1 Results
Image: Boeing Space Yesterday, Boeing (NYSE:BA) and General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) reported Q1 earnings, while Northrop Grumman’s (NYSE:NOC) results crossed the wire this morning. Space highlights below. $BA Total revenue was $13.9B, down 8.1% YoY. Boeing Defense, Space, & Security (DSS) revenue was $5.4B (-23.7% YoY) DSS recorded a net loss of $929M vs. $405M last…
HawkEye 360 and NSSA Create Ukraine Aid Initiative
HawkEye 360 and the National Security Space Association (NSSA) have launched a joint initiative to send humanitarian aid from space industry donors to Ukraine. The campaign, called Space Industry for Ukraine, is raising money from space companies to donate to organizations supporting Ukrainian refugees and victims of war on the ground. Payload caught up with…
RFA Wins €11M in DLR Microlauncher Competition
Graphic: Andrew Parsonson German launch startup Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA) has won the second and final round of the German Aerospace Center’s (DLR) microlauncher competition. The award comes with a €11M ($11.7M) check and a requirement to carry 150 kgs of institutional payloads free of charge aboard the RFA One’s first two flights. “We are…
Capella Raises $97M Round, Led by NightDragon
Capella Space has raised a $97M Series C, led by NightDragon and joined by existing investors DCVC and Cota Capital. Founded in 2016, the SF-based synthetic aperture radar (SAR) startup has raised $190M total to date and currently operates a constellation of seven small satellites. Those satellites are fitted with Capella’s SAR sensors, which can…
SpaceRyde Tests Gimbaling Rocket Engine
Canadian launch startup SpaceRyde has conducted a test fire of what it says is the world’s first gimbaling hybrid rocket engine. The Toronto company is building what it hopes will be Canada’s first orbital rocket. How the system works: A balloon will bring the small-lift rocket above 99% of the atmosphere, where the latter will…
Launcher Test Fires E-2 Engine
Launcher has completed testing of its E-2 liquid rocket engine at NASA Stennis Space Center, the Hawthorne rocket startup announced this morning. The 3-D printed engine reached full thrust capacity during a Thursday test fire. E-2: Launcher is building a closed-cycle, staged-combustion E-2 engine to loft a small-lift rocket currently in development. The engine runs…
ARKX Q1 Recap
ARK Space Exploration & Innovation (ARKX) is an ETF managed by the eponymous, iconoclastic, and currently down-bad NYC fund manager ARK Invest. The space ETF launched at the end of last March, so it just recently celebrated its first bday. Time for a check in… At the end of Q1, ARKX’s assets under management stood…
JSX, Hawaiian Airlines Announce Starlink Deals
JSX, a short-haul “hop-on jet service,” announced Thursday that it’s inked a deal with SpaceX to become the first air carrier to adopt Starlink for in-flight connectivity services. JSX flies between Austin, Burbank, Concord/Napa, Dallas-Love Field, Houston-Hobby, Las Vegas, LA, Monterey/Carmel, Oakland/SF, Orange County, Phoenix, Reno/Tahoe, and San Diego. Its fleet spans 77 Embraer 135s…
