Entrepreneurship

Virgin Orbit deployed seven cubesats for three customers on LauncherOne’s third successful operational flight that took off from air-launch platform Cosmic Girl, a Boeing 747 aircraft. The rocket carried the satellites into low Earth orbit, at an inclination of 45 degrees.

Aerospace engineering startup, Hypersonix Launch Systems, has signed a Master Research Collaboration Agreement with the University of Sydney to research and manufacture the components of a zero emissions, hypersonic spaceplane capable of deploying small satellites into low earth orbit, the University said.

During this week’s Space Café, SpaceWatch.Global Publisher Torsten Kriening sat down – virtually – with Professor Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla, Chair of the Executive Board of the German Aerospace Centre – otherwise known simply as the abbreviated “DLR”. A German materials scientist and mechanical engineer by trade,...

SpaceX successfully launched 105 spacecraft aboard a Falcon 9 launch vehicle yesterday during its third dedicated smallsat rideshare mission, Transporter-3. The rideshare program was announced in 2019, offering small satellite operators to launch for a combined price of US $1M. Transporter-3 carried CubeSats, microsats, PocketQubes,

SpaceX is to launch the Transporter-3 rideshare mission later today, with Brazilian newspace startup, Pion Labs’ PION-BR1 satellite on board, Pion announced. The launch will make history in the Brazilian space sector. PION-BR1 is a 1P pocketqube satellite measuring only 5x5x5 cm, the smallest Brazilian satellite developed to date.

Euroconsult, the space consulting and market intelligence firm, estimates the Earth Observation (EO) manufacturing market to grow to US $76.1B in revenue by 2030. The data were released in the company’s ''Earth Observation Satellite Systems Market'' report. Between 2011-2020, 65% of EO satellite launches were commercial but only captured a negligible 4% of the market value.

Rotoiti interviewed several finance experts in the space industry. This brief, based on those conversations, summarizes the risks and benefits that venture capital poses to space firms. Many firms assume that they must attract venture capital (VC) in order to succeed, but it is important to first define success and then assess if VC is necessary to achieve that success.

Airbus Crisa, an affiliate company of Airbus, has signed a contract with Northrop Grumman to develop the Power Management and Distribution (PMAD) system for the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO), Airbus announced. The contract worth over US $50M marks Airbus’ first contribution to the Lunar Gateway, part of NASA’s Artemis program.

Space infrastructure company, Masten, announced they were already preparing for their second Moon mission, although Mission 1 has not left Earth yet. The company claims that they are capable of launching Mission 2 as early as six months after Mission 1.  Masten’s first mission to the Moon, landing near the Haworth Crater, is scheduled for the end of 2023.

Rocket engineers at Gilmour Space Technologies have successfully test fired the most powerful rocket engine ever developed in Australia, Gilmour Space reported.The company achieved the full thrust of 110 kN (kilonewtons) during the 75-second test. Generating enough force to lift four SUVs off the ground, the test is a significant milestone for Gilmour Space.