The Exploration Company Completes Nyx Drop Test
The test, which was completed on May 19, used a dedicated drop-test vehicle to help engineers evaluate how well parachutes and vehicle dynamics brought the capsule to a controlled stop on Earth.
Austria’s First Commercial Sat is Ready for Launch
Vienna-based startup Tumbleweed announced this week that it shipped its first satellite—called Oasis Alpha—to launch integrator Exolaunch ahead of a scheduled flight in July.
Muon Space Unveils New, Larger Satellite Bus
Condor-Ultra is three times larger than its Condor-XL satellite bus, and geared toward the nascent orbital-data-center market.
NASA Reverts to Original CLD Procurement Plan
“The industry position will now shape the path forward as NASA proceeds with the original commercial strategy.”
Blue Origin Commits to Return to Flight This Year
After assessing the damage to the launch pad and the surrounding infrastructure, Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp posted on X that Blue Origin “will fly again before the end of this year.”
NDAA Would Cut SDA, RCO Offices
The House’s annual defense authorization bill would eliminate the two offices within the Pentagon designed to speed up space acquisition.
Northrop Grumman Taps Apex for Golden Dome SBI Collab
Northrop Grumman is on track to deliver on-orbit missile defense capabilities with Apex in 2027.
Voyager Will Acquire Astrobotic
“With Astrobotic, Voyager is now a lunar platform that will have capability at every infrastructure layer needed to put Americans on the lunar surface and keep them there.”
Impulse Space Closes $500M Series D
“Often in a fundraise like this, there’s some narrative of, ‘Okay, well, now we move into this new line of business, or now we go build the factory in Ohio,’” President and COO Eric Romo told Payload. “There’s none of that here. This is really about, ‘We need more of the same. We need to continue on the same trajectory we’re on.’”
Bellatrix Aerospace Tapped to Build Korean VLEO Demo Sat
Bellatrix Aerospace is teaming up with Korean optical payload manufacturer TelePIX on a new VLEO demo satellite, launching NET 2028.
Opinion: Commercial Space Is Generating Signals Decision-Makers Cannot Hear
Launch cadences, debris accumulation rates, reusing hardware, conjunction events—the commercial sector is generating more operational signals than any previous era of space activity. However, the mechanism that decides whether a signal reaches a decision-maker or disappears into the background noise is broken.
Nuggets in the SpaceX S-1 and Our Thoughts on the Business
SpaceX’s IPO prospectus is here.
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