MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (Muon Space PR) — Muon Space, a climate-focused satellite constellation company, today announced it has raised $10 million in Seed funding led by Costanoa Ventures with participation from Space Capital, Congruent VC, Ubiquity Ventures, South Park Commons, Climactic VC.

Founded by a proven team from JPL, Skybox Imaging, Loft Orbital, Ball Aerospace, Apple and Google who have led more than 30 successful remote sensing missions, Muon Space is building the Earth’s first scientific, software-defined remote sensing constellation platform and collaborating with organizations to deliver critical climate and Earth systems data. Early customers including Tomorrow.io and Google are partnering with Muon to develop new mission-critical geophysical datasets.

Industry leading global strategy consultancy and market intelligence firm Euroconsult have announced the six companies that have been shortlisted for their 5th annual Finspace competition. Part of this year’s World Satellite Business Week, the Finspace initiative recognizes and celebrates the achievements of innovative startups from across the space sector.

PARIS, WASHINGTON D.C., MONTREAL, YOKOHAMA, SYDNEY, 6th October 2021 –Euroconsult’s Finspace pitch initiative was launched in 2017 as part of the company’s flagship World Satellite Business Week event and strives to showcase the most promising and innovative start-ups from across the space and satellite industry value chains. Six finalists have been selected for the 2021 awards from entries that were submitted from all across Europe, the United States, and Australia. Approximately one third of this year’s entries represented small launch development companies.

Longtime SpaceX Vice President nominated by supervisory board to replace resigning supervisory board member

LOS ANGELES, Calif., October 6, 2021 – Mynaric today announced that space industry leader Hans Koenigsmann was nominated to join its supervisory board. Koenigsmann was nominated by the supervisory board to replace resigning supervisory board member Gerd Gruppe, a former Executive board member of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), contingent on court approval. Mynaric wins Koenigsmann for his first advisory role outside of SpaceX where he acted in various high-profile leadership roles during a 20-year tenure. 

Geared toward improving spacecraft navigation, the technology demonstration operated far longer than planned and broke the stability record for atomic clocks in space.

PASADENA, Calif. (NASA PR) — For more than two years, NASA’s Deep Space Atomic Clock has been pushing the timekeeping frontiers in space. On Sept. 18, 2021, its mission came to a successful end.

The instrument is hosted on General Atomics’ Orbital Test Bed spacecraft that was launched aboard the Department of Defense Space Test Program 2 mission June 25, 2019. Its goal: to test the feasibility of using an onboard atomic clock to improve spacecraft navigation in deep space.

This is an important step for the Brazilian Space Program, which will now advance in the construction of its Microsatellite Launch Vehicle (VLM) and VS-50.

BRASILIA, Brazil (AEB PR) — The test of the S50, which took place this Friday (1st), at a unit of the Institute of Aeronautics and Space (IAE), was a success. The engineers present were very happy with the results. Among the various authorities were the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), Marcos Pontes, the president of the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB), Carlos Moura, the director of the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology (DCTA), Lieutenant Brigadier from the air Hudson Costa Potiguara, the director of the Aeronautics and Space Institute (IAE), brigadier air O`Donnell, and the president of the Aerospace Industries Association of Brazil (AIAB), Julio Shidara, as well as representatives of the national industry, for middle of Avibrás.

The Electron rocket will deploy an innovative satellite designed to test new deployable structures and materials technologies for solar sail propulsion systems, paving the way for sunlight to power future deep space exploration

LONG BEACH, Calif., October 6, 2021 (Rocket Lab PR) – Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”), a global leader in launch services and space systems, today announced it has been selected to launch NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System, or ACS3, on the Electron launch vehicle.

12 ambassadors selected to participate in weightless parabolic flight on October 17

Ambassadors with mobility, vision, and hearing disabilities will test the design for accessibility in zero-gravity and high gravity environments

LONG BEACH, Calif., October 5, 2021 (AstroAccess PR) – AstroAcccess, a mission dedicated to advancing disability inclusion in space exploration, today unveils a crew of 12 ambassadors selected to participate in a parabolic flight with the Zero Gravity Corporation (ZERO-G) on 17 October 2021.

Finalists Will Present Technologies That Can Solve Problems in Space to Compete for $100k in Cash Prizes at the Fourth Annual Hyperspace Summit on December 2

ALBUQUERQUE, NM, October 5, 2021 (Hyperspace Challenge PR) – Hyperspace Challenge, a business accelerator run by the Air Force Research Laboratory and CNM Ingenuity as part of the new SpaceWERX for the U.S. Space Force, announced today it has selected 13 startups and 11 university teams to participate in its 2021 cohort. Finalists comprising the cohort represent 13 states, as well as one company from Ottawa, Canada.

The new cohort is tasked with the development of technology that can be applied to or solve problems in the space domain. This is the first year the program will include a formal university accelerator track which aims to increase collaboration opportunities between the federal government and university research teams, traditionally siloed from commercial and government innovation.

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — NASA has reassigned astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada to the agency’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station as part of the Commercial Crew Program.

Mann and Cassada will serve as spacecraft commander and pilot, respectively, for the Crew-5 mission. Additional crew members will be announced later.

PARIS, 6 October 2021 (Eutelsat PR) – Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) has exercised a call option on a portion of the latest OneWeb funding round subscribed by Bharti, for a consideration of $165 million, taking its shareholding from 17.6% to 22.9%.

The transaction was undertaken on identical financial terms to Eutelsat’s initial investment of $550 million announced in April and completed on 8 September. The completion of this latest transaction is expected around year-end 2021 subject to regulatory authorisations.

Since Eutelsat’s initial investment, OneWeb has gained significant traction, both operationally, with a 100% launch success rate leading to nearly half of the constellation now in orbit, and commercially, with numerous distribution partnerships secured ahead of its partial entry into service, which remains on track for end-2021.

Longtime Customer LatConnect 60 in Partnership with Curtin University Awarded Australian Research Council (ARC) Federal Grant

VIENNA, Va. (Spire Global PR) – Spire Global, Inc. (NYSE: SPIR) (“Spire” or “the Company”), a leading global provider of space-based data, analytics, and space services announced today that LatConnect 60, an Australian-based satellite data and insights provider, has extended their subscription to Spire’s Automatic Identification System (AIS) vessel tracking data. LatConnect 60 and Curtin University, Western Australia’s largest university, have recently been awarded a federal grant from the Australian Research Council (ARC) to conduct research on maritime collision avoidance in shipping lanes.

LatConnect 60 and Curtin University’s Intelligent Sensing & Perception Laboratory, led by Professor Ba-Ngu Vo, are creating sensor fusion algorithms to help solve this industry-wide issue, using data from satellite sensors, primarily Spire’s maritime domain awareness information. Incorporating this intelligence into maritime traffic monitoring systems is expected to result in more effective collision and contact avoidance strategies and contribute to more accurate predictions of traffic patterns for ship owners and insurers.

ARLINGTON, VA (AFNS) — The Space Force, working with the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, has selected 670 active-duty service members and 259 civilians to transfer into the Space Force during fiscal year 2022. These volunteers come from the pool of candidates who applied in March 2021 and members who are currently assigned to Army and Navy units slated to transfer into the new service.

These new selects join the initial tranche of 50 selects announced in June 2021 and once transferred into the Space Force, they will account for about seven percent of the service, which totals nearly 13,000 military and civilians today.

“Successfully integrating the units, capabilities and people from Sister Services into the Space Force is critical to our mission and was one of the driving forces in creating the new service,” said Gen. David D. Thompson, Vice Chief of Space Operations. “We look forward to welcoming these Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and civilians into our force and encourage them to apply their experiences and perspectives to help us meet the needs of the Joint Force and shape a unique service culture.”