News
Daily coverage of the global space industry with an emphasis on business and political news.
Orbital Sidekick raises $10 million from customers and existing investors
Hyperspectral imaging startup Orbital Sidekick raised $10 million in an investment round led by Energy Innovation Capital.
China’s CAS Space outlines rocket series, inaugurates manufacturing facility
A Chinese space launch company has outlined its plans for a series of solid and reusable rockets for launch services and space tourism and opened a new industrial base.
Xplore announces first launch of remote-sensing smallsat
Xplore, a startup based in Redmond, Washington, announced Jan. 31 it was granted a remote-sensing license for the company's first mission to low Earth orbit.
Capella Space establishes new subsidiary focused on U.S. defense market
Capella Space announced Jan. 31 it is forming a new business unit, Capella Federal, that will offer “increased Earth observation access to select U.S. defense customers.”
NASA hits limits of space station utilization
NASA has effectively reached full utilization of the International Space Station given limitations on crew time and the ability to get cargo to and from the station, an agency official said Jan. 30.
House passes commercial remote sensing bill
The House Science Committee scored a bipartisan victory Jan. 30 with the passage of a minor commercial remote sensing bill even before the committee’s first meeting of the new Congress.
Lockheed Martin to launch first demo of new mid-size bus
Lockheed Martin plans to launch the first demonstration mission of its new LM 400 mid-sized satellite bus in 2023.
LeoLabs scans skies with West Australian Space Radar
LeoLabs announced the commissioning Jan. 30 of its West Australian Space Radar to improve tracking of satellites and debris in low-Earth orbit.
Inmarsat-6 F2 satellite completes three-day trip to SpaceX launch site
Inmarsat’s latest geostationary telecoms satellite has arrived at its Florida launch site after a three-day journey from Airbus’ testing facilities in France.
Asteroid mining startup AstroForge to launch first missions this year
A startup with plans to mine asteroids for metals says it will launch its first two missions this year, including one that will fly by a near Earth asteroid.
NASA meeting works to define exploration architecture
NASA officials met last week to review its overall exploration architecture, although it was unclear exactly what they agreed to and when they will make it public.
Europe seeks greater autonomy in space traffic management
European officials say they’re making progress to achieve “strategic autonomy” in space traffic management by building up both capabilities and policy.
Commerce Department outlines plans for basic space traffic management service
The Commerce Department has outlined the services it proposes to offer free of charge to satellite operators from the space traffic management system it is developing.
Lynk Global finalizing ground station for direct-to-smartphone services
Lynk Global is close to completing a ground station in Hawaii as part of plans to connect its growing constellation of small satellites to standard smartphones this spring.
SpaceX preparing for Super Heavy static-fire test
SpaceX could attempt a long-awaited static-fire test of all 33 Raptor engines in its Super Heavy booster as soon as next week, one of the final technical milestones before an orbital launch attempt, a company executive said Jan. 27.
Satellite billed as the ‘future GPS’ begins key tests
L3Harris announced Jan. 26 it delivered the Navigation Technology Satellite-3 to the U.S. Air Force
