Bryce Tech, in its annual review of investment in commercial space ventures, says that last year was a record in terms of investment in space start-ups. Start-up space companies attracted more than $15 billion in total financing during 2021, shattering the $7.7 billion record set in 2020. The number of recipients and deals both increased […]
Aerojet Rocketdyne has won an order from the United Launch Alliance (ULA) for the delivery of 116 RL10C-X rocket engines that will be used in the giant Vulcan Centaur rocket. Aerojet Rocketdyne says the order is a direct result of the deal between ULA and Amazon “as part of the largest commercial launch contract in […]
The small African state of Rwanda has filings for more than 300,000 small satellites in its E-Space business. Satellite entrepreneur Greg Wyler is behind the scheme. He helped found O3b and OneWeb. Their first demonstration satellites are readying for launch. Three prototype satellites are to be launched as part of a 34-payload mission carried into […]
SpinLaunch is a technology business that uses a massive centrifugal mass accelerator to launch payloads into space. Based in Long Beach, California, it has signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA. “Through the partnership, we’ll fly a NASA payload on our Suborbital Accelerator to collect the necessary data to enable potential future commercial launch opportunities,” […]
The news on April 5th that Jeff Bezos had signed unprecedented orders for rocket capacity to get Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband system operational did not go far enough. The announcement also kick-starts a five-year timetable and designed to compete head-to-head with Elon Musk’s Starlink operation which is already in business. Amazon had ordered up a […]
Jeff Bezos has ordered a massive series of rocket launches to get Amazon’s Project Kuiper broadband system into space. Amazon has selected Arianespace, its own Blue Origin, as well as the United Launch Alliance for an overall 68 launches, split between the three giant launch providers. The three sets of contracts are by far the […]
According to observation data from Johnathan McDowell, from the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics, the orbit for a Russian DTH satellite has been raised to a ‘graveyard’ orbit. Express (Ekspress) AM-3, once transmitting what is described as ‘civilian’ television signalsand launched in June 2005, has been shifted from a standard geostationary orbit at about 35,786 kms […]
Sir Richard Branson-backed space plane and small satellite launcher Virgin Orbit has reported a downbeat revenue picture for 2021 with just two launches last year (and only one to date in 2022). This translated into a net loss of $157.3 million (€141.5m) for 2021 on $ 7.4 million in revenue. Back in August last year […]
US President Joe Biden, in his plans for next year, shows a potential increase in the US space budget for defence and satellite communications. While the overall budget grows by 2 per cent, the amount suggested for the US Space Force is upped by 26 per cent. A report from investment bank Exane/BNPP says that […]
It might be logical to think that coming out of a two year pandemic – which saw staff and logistical problems for satellite operators and the companies building their new satellites – might offer a reasonable excuse for missing launch deadlines. ‘Not so’, implies the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The ITU has firmly rejected applications […]