PARIS (CNES PR) — SpaceFounders, the accelerator for European space startups, whose goal is to identify and support future champions to enable them to become industrial leaders and amplify their impact on the structuring of the space sector, announces the winners of its 2nd promotion.

Services using earth observation data for sustainable development are in the spotlight this year. Space is an essential tool to support the agricultural and urban sectors in their necessary transition and to observe and prevent the impact of climate change. Space propulsion is another key theme of this second promotion, demonstrating the interest of the market for systems allowing maneuvers in orbit with an ever higher performance/cost ratio. The other topics covered are those of on-board artificial intelligence for autonomous systems in orbit, telecommunications and the Internet of Things by satellite.

Event within the SpaceBR Show was the first action within the scope of the Term of Strategic Intent and Cooperation signed between the institutions

BRASILIA (Brazilain Space Agency PR) — On the third day of the SpaceBR Show, there was a competition between eight startups in the space sector, which were selected among 21 registered, by professionals from the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB), based on the degree of adherence to the space theme, to participate in pitches with Agency and AWS jurors. The event was the result of a Term of Strategic Intent and Cooperation signed between AEB and Amazon Web Services (AWS), which had as one of its objectives to foster entrepreneurship and disruption between companies in the space sector.

“We have been emphatic in saying that Brazil is one of the few countries capable of acting in all segments of the space sector. We have infrastructure, we have a consumer market, we have a creative people. For all of this to turn into a thriving space economy, we have to engage in global value chains. The partnership with AWS and the incentive for startups are part of this joint effort by the Brazilian space sector”, said AEB President Carlos Moura.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (Momentus PR) — Momentus Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTS) (“Momentus” or the “Company”), a U.S. commercial space company that plans to offer transportation and other in-space infrastructure services, today announced a status update on its first demonstration mission. We have established two-way contact with the Vigoride Orbital Transfer Vehicle, and as is often the case with a new spacecraft, have had some initial anomalies. We are using an unplanned […]

By David Bullock
Staff Writer

To disrupt a $4 billion market, Tom Marotta and co-founder Ian Vorbach of The Spaceport Company seek to deliver commercial launch and reentry facilities to providers around the world, starting with ocean-based platforms.

“The Spaceport Company builds commercial launch and reentry sites for launch and reentry operators,” said Marotta. “The demands for launch sites are exceeding the supply.”

The two founders hope to cater to the dozens of new launch entrants and the hundreds of payloads that are planned to be launched, at a time where demand for launch is at its highest ever.

“The challenge to build new spaceports have come from a regulatory and local, political standpoint. So, moving the spaceport offshore will not eliminate regulatory concerns, but it does significantly reduce the regulatory obstacles for building a launch site. So much so that the benefits of expedited regulatory approval far exceed the costs of operating offshore,” Marotta added.

HAWTHORNE, CA, May 24, 2022 (Launcher PR) – The U.S. Space Force has awarded Launcher $1.7M to further develop our E-2 engine, which we proved earlier this month at NASA Stennis Space Center to be the highest-performing liquid oxygen and kerosene rocket engine combustion chamber in the U.S.

We are grateful for the U. S. Space Force’s support to advance E-2 development and help meet the goals of the DoD by maximizing performance and payload capacity for a small launch vehicle, accelerating vehicle production, and removing both geographic and supply chain constraints for volume production. 

The ELSA-M servicer will launch towards the end of 2024. The partnership is taking an important step to create a more sustainable space environment. 

United Kingdom (Astroscale PR) – OneWeb together with Astroscale Ltd.* will seek to safeguard the satellite economy with ground-breaking new spacecraft technology, thanks in part to a new investment of €14.8 million. The mission to demonstrate Astroscale’s ELSA-M servicer will launch towards the end of 2024, with ambitious plans to deliver a debris removal service to satellite operators thereafter.

Video Caption: Today we’re going up SpaceX’s Orbital Launch Tower with the ultimate tour guide, Elon Musk. He’s going to walk us around the bottom, explain how they plan to catch the booster with the chopsticks and then we’ll go up the elevator stopping at the quick disconnect and on the upper deck! Recommended videos to help with some context [Playlist] – https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLW… Huge thanks to Ryan Chylinksi from Cosmic […]

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — NASA will announce at 2 p.m. EDT (1 p.m. CDT) Wednesday, June 1, the company, or companies, selected to move forward in developing the next generation of spacesuits for Artemis missions at the Moon and the International Space Station during an event at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The announcement will air live on NASA Television, the agency’s website, and the NASA app. Event participants will […]

FAIRFAX, Va. and MCLEAN, Va. (iridium Communications Inc. PR) — General Dynamics Mission Systems (NYSE: GD), and Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) announced today that they have been awarded a contract by the Space Development Agency in the amount of $324,516,613, including a base amount of $162,954,122 and  $161,562,491 in options, to establish the ground Operations and Integration (O&I) segment for Tranche 1 of the National Defense Space Architecture (NDSA). Together, General Dynamics Mission Systems and Iridium will build ground entry points and operations centers for the NDSA as well as provide network operations and systems integration services for the SDA’s next tranche of proliferated low-earth orbit satellites. 

SEATTLE (Spaceflight Inc. PR) — Spaceflight Inc., the leading global launch services provider, today announced it has contacted its Sherpa-AC vehicle and confirmed the vehicle is operating nominally. This is the debut launch of Sherpa-AC, the latest variation in the company’s Sherpa orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) portfolio. The Transporter 5 rideshare mission on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral on May 25 headed to a Sun Synchronous orbit, 525km. Spaceflight successfully delivered all five customer payloads, including two hosted payloads on the Sherpa OTV, to their desired orbital destinations.

WASHINGTON (NASA HQ PR) — NASA has selected hundreds of small businesses and dozens of research institutions to develop technology to help drive the future of space exploration, ranging from novel sensors and electronics to new types of software and cutting-edge materials. The newly awarded projects under the agency’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program also include a high-power electric rocket and a coating to make solar panels more efficient that could be used both in space and here on Earth.

MOJAVE, Calif. (Stratolaunch PR) — Stratolaunch is excited to announce the public debut of its structurally complete Talon-A test vehicle, TA-0, in this week’s issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology. This first Talon-A vehicle will be used to test and validate Roc’s release system and characterize the separation dynamics of the Talon vehicle. In addition to the first view of the vehicle by itself, the article also includes recent photos of the first mating of TA-0 to Roc’s pylon located on the center wing.