Entrepreneurship

For some, space activities are conceived only as bold exploratory missions and plans for a future on the Moon and around Mars. While these pursuits are inspiring, they do not on their own reveal the powerful potential that space affords. The truth is activities in space are vast, complex, and local, and the value of their impact might not be immediately obvious to all stakeholders.

Inmarsat announced on the 24th of May that a new range of service plans for its Jet ConneX inflight broadband solution will be supported by SatCom Direct. SatCom Direct will act as a distribution partner for the airtime and developer of the advanced tail-mount terminal.

ThrustMe has announced the achievement of over 100 orders for its cold gas I2T5 and gridded ion NPT30-I2 thrusters. This marks a significant turning point for ThrustMe. The Company initiated batch production for clients in 2022 to accommodate an increasing order from satellite constellations clients. Furthermore, the Company set an ambitious target to manufacture over 365 propulsion systems per year, with production capacity gradually increasing throughout 2023 to serve the market needs.

Astrobotic, part of the Blue Origin National Team developing space robotics technology for lunar and planetary missions, announced on Friday a contract win for NASA’s Artemis program. The contract is to develop and provide human and large cargo lunar landing services to support America’s return to crewed exploration of the Moon.

Fleet Space Technologies has announced the successful completion of its heavily oversubscribed Series C fundraising round, raising a total of A$50 million. Australasian venture capital firm and existing investor Blackbird led the funding round, which more than doubled the company's valuation, now surpassing A$350 million. Grok Ventures, Alumni Ventures and Hostplus have also participated in the round.

The Spaceport Company has successfully tested its mobile floating spaceport prototype yesterday by conducting the first-ever commercial rocket launches from U.S. territorial waters. This is because the Company launched multiple rockets in one day from a modified ship located in the Gulf of Mexico. As a result, it proved the potential for offshore spaceports to ease congestion at existing launch ranges and expedite the delivery of satellites to orbit.

The European Investment Fund (EIF) announced today that it is committing €60 million in equity to Alpine Space Ventures (ASV), a German-based venture capital fund focusing on the NewSpace sector. With this investment, ASV’s committed capital passes the €100 million mark, bringing it closer to the target of €160 million, expected to be achieved later this year. 

Inmarsat Government and Sofant Technologies have announced a collaboration on a state-of-the-art phased array antenna that will enhance connectivity, reliability, and performance in airborne operations. The collaboration aims to revolutionize the communication capabilities of airborne platforms. As a result, the collaboration will combine their respective expertise to develop an innovative solution that addresses the Government airborne users’ growing demand for efficient, low-profile communication systems.

Raytheon Technologies' Collins Aerospace business has announced its plan to bring unlimited data to the customers of Vista, a private aviation group. Using Collins' LuxStream, which runs exclusively on the SES's high-throughput satellite (HTS) network, Vista customers can now enjoy fast, reliable, unlimited internet access for the duration of their flights.

L3Harris Technologies has received an Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) contract to provide technology, including modeling and simulation studies, that will help characterize and predict human mobility. As a result, L3Harris will support the Hidden Activity Signal and Trajectory Anomaly Characterization (HAYSTAC) program by laying the groundwork for generating and analyzing human activities that produce data captured by GPS, Bluetooth, and other systems. The goal of modeling and simulation research is to help transform future autonomous systems.