Video Caption: Lead flight director Nicholas Patrick sat down with webcast host and director of civil space exploration sales, Jacki Cortese, to provide a status update on the NS-20 mission and crew preparations.

TOKYO, 29 March 2022 (Synspective PR) – Synspective Inc., a SAR satellite data and solutions provider, announced that the company has raised US $100M (11.9 billion yen) including a Series B funding round. The latest funding was led by Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. (Tokyo, Japan), Nomura SPARX Investment, Inc. (Tokyo, Japan), and Pavilion Capital Pte. Ltd. (Singapore) among others, as well as bank loans, and it is supposed to be ranked within the top ten largest startups in Japan. This puts our total funding value at US $200M (22.8 billion yen) since our founding.

PARIS (ESA PR) — ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher today underscored the Agency’s determination to ensure that ESA’s work in space is not derailed by the tragic events in Ukraine. Mr Aschbacher stresses that work continues to assess the impact on each ongoing programme, including on missions affected by Roscosmos’ withdrawal of Soyuz launch operations from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

In addition, ESA is preparing proposals that, if endorsed by its Member States, will further support European microlauncher services to complement the Ariane and Vega programmes, which form the backbone of Europe’s space transportation capability.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., March 29, 2022 (ImpulseSpace Propulsion PR) — ImpulseSpace Propulsion – leading the development of in-space transportation services for the inner solar system – today announced it has secured $20 million in a seed round led by Founders Fund, the San Francisco-based venture capital firm founded by Peter Thiel whose investments have backed some of the tech sector’s most successful and high-profile startups. Capital will be used by Impulse to further its mission to provide agile, economical capabilities to access any orbit.

“This is an exciting time for both Impulse and the space industry,” says Impulse Founder and CEO Tom Mueller. “With smaller satellites and launch costs decreasing, space is more accessible than ever. There exists, however, the challenge to efficiently move payloads into higher-energy orbits. At Impulse, we don’t see this as a problem needing a solution but rather a question needing an answer. And we’ve got it.”  

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Sidus Space PR) — Sidus Space, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIDU), a Space-as-a-Service satellite company focused on commercial satellite design, manufacture, launch, and data collection, is pleased to announce its forward progression towards launch of its LizzieSat™ (LS) satellite to the International Space Station (ISS). This mission is slated to take place later this year.

LS is a multi-mission satellite that supports custom payloads and customer needs leveraging space flight-proven communications, power, navigation and computing subsystems to provide domestic and international customers with valuable data from Low Earth Orbit.

Russian participation in the International Space Station (ISS) is up in the air (sorry, bad pun) as partners in the orbiting facility show no sign of lifting sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine by a March 31 deadline. Earlier this month, TASS reported on a threat by Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin. “We will wait until the end of March. The lack of response or a negative response would be a […]

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — Three Expedition 66 Flight Engineers are returning to Earth in less than two days as four private astronauts prepare for their mission to the International Space Station. The crew activities haven’t stopped the ongoing space research as the orbital residents studied biology, botany, and physics on Monday.

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei is nearing the end of his mission as he prepares to return to Earth on Wednesday after a NASA-record breaking 355 days in space. Soyuz Commander Anton Shkaplerov will lead Vande Hei and Flight Engineer Pyotr Dubrov inside the Soyuz MS-19 crew ship when they undock from the Rassvet module at 3:21 a.m. EDT on Wednesday. The trio will parachute to a landing just over four hours later.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., March 22, 2022 (X-Bow Launch Systems PR) — X-Bow Launch Systems Inc. (X-Bow), a revolutionary American space technology company focused on 3D printed energetics, announced today that it has exited stealth mode. X-Bow (pronounced “cross-bow”) brings to market its solid fuel rocket motors, along with a suite of small launch vehicles for both orbital and suborbital launch services. Customers already include the U.S. Air Force Research Labs and AFWERX, Los Alamos and Sandia National Labs, as well as the Defense Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Since its founding in 2016, X-Bow has focused on the design and development of 3D printed solid rocket motors that are more efficient and considerably more cost effective than traditional motors. X-Bow’s new class of highly flexible, reliable and ultra-responsive solid rocket motors introduces new products to a market that has not seen significant technological change for decades. 

Blue Origin Launch Update Due to forecasted high winds during launch and recovery operations on Tuesday, March 29, and Wednesday, March 30, the New Shepard Mission Operations team has made the decision to move the launch of NS-20 to Thursday, March 31. The team has completed Flight Readiness Review and confirmed the vehicle has met all mission requirements for flight. Astronauts are completing their training, and weather remains the only […]

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — The President’s fiscal year 2023 budget would allow NASA to sustain America’s global innovation leadership and keep NASA at the forefront of exploration and discovery by returning to the Moon with the Artemis program, among other efforts. This budget would enable NASA to address climate change, drive economic growth, and promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.

The Biden-Harris Administration Monday submitted to Congress President Biden’s budget for fiscal year 2023. The President’s budget details his vision to expand on the historic progress our country has made over the last year and deliver the agenda he laid out in his State of the Union address – to build a better America, reduce the deficit, reduce costs for families, and grow the economy from the bottom up and middle out. 

TYSONS, VA., UNITED STATES and MUMBAI, INDIA, March 23, 2022 (Omnispace/Nelco Ltd. PR) – Omnispace, the company reinventing mobile communications, and Nelco Limited, a TATA Group company and a leading satellite communication service provider in India, today announced a strategic cooperation agreement to enable and distribute 5G non-terrestrial network (NTN), direct-to-device satellite services. The collaborative effort will expand the reach of 5G using satellite communication throughout India and South Asia.

Nelco provides satcom services to enterprise customers for business-critical applications across many industry segments, including Aero IFC and Maritime communication. This strategic agreement with Omnispace will focus on enabling the use of 5G direct-to-device communications using, Omnispace’s global NGSO satellite network across various market segments. The Omnispace network will deliver IoT-based solutions and a seamless mobile connectivity experience beyond the boundaries of existing mobile networks.

This week on The Space Show with Dr. David Livingston: Tuesday, March 29 — 7 PM PDT (9 PM CDT; 10 PM EDT): We welcome back DR. YOUNG BAE re his advanced photonic laser work to be a multi-planet species. For more information, see www.ykbcorp.com. Wednesday, March 30 — Hotel Mars pre-recorded. See the Upcoming Show Menu at www.thespaceshow.com for details. Friday, April 01 — 9:30-11 AM PDT; 11:30 AM- […]