COLUMBUS, Ohio (battleface PR) — Known for providing travel insurance, including covering adventurous spirits, battleface’s next mission is launching insurance for space tourists.

The new policy is a bespoke offer with benefits available including accidental death and permanent disablement. Underwritten by certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, the policy can be valid for any of the space flights operated by Tesla Founder Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin, Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, and high-tech balloon manufacturers Space Perspective among others.

Sasha Gainullin, CEO of battleface said: “We are proud to be providing this pioneering product for space tourism. We regularly revisit our policies to ensure we are relevant to today’s marketplace, and while space tourism is still in its infancy, several hundred space flights have been sold to ‘civilians’ and demand is growing. This type of product fits with our values of providing people with the confidence to fulfil their dreams.”

LONDON, UK, 2 September, 2021 (OneWeb PR) — OneWeb, the low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications company, has signed an insurance agreement for an aggregate insured value of more than $1 billion through Marsh, the world’s leading insurance broker and risk advisor.

In response to growing interest in capable SmallSats, a team of engineers and scientists are thinking outside the (CubeSat) box with DiskSat, a new circular satellite design.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (Aerospace Corporation PR) — A defining feature of a standard CubeSat is its containerization—the shape, volume and design—which makes it rideshare-friendly. This quality was historically important since these devices comprised a minor part of the total payload. Containerization ensured that CubeSats could not endanger the launch vehicle or primary payload.

Now, Aerospace engineers and scientists have reevaluated whether the standard CubeSat may be the best shape for a mission.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said today that Virgin Galactic cannot launch its SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicle until the agency completes an investigation into an anomaly that occurred on a flight test that carried company founder Richard Branson on July 11.

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket failed in its maiden launch attempt on Thursday evening, dealing a setback to the Tom Markusic-led company that is seeking to establish itself in the small-satellite launch industry. Video of the flight showed the two stage rocket tumbling out of control before exploding after liftoff at 6:59 p.m. PDT from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The explosion occurred about 1 minute 45 seconds into the […]

Firefly Aerospace will attempt the maiden flight of its Alpha booster later today from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The window for the rideshare mission extends from 6 to 10 p.m. PDT (0100-0500 UTC on Friday). A livestream of the launch will be available through Everyday Astronaut beginning one hour before the scheduled liftoff. The rideshare mission will carry a number of payloads, which are show below. Payload Purpose Company/ […]

HERNDON, Va. (BlackSky PR)–BlackSky Holdings, Inc. (“BlackSky”), a leading technology platform providing real-time geospatial intelligence and global monitoring, announced today that Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE: PLTR) has committed to making an equity investment in BlackSky, which is scheduled to close after the completion of BlackSky’s business combination with Osprey Technology Acquisition Corp (“Osprey”). Following the successful completion of a joint pilot program between BlackSky and Palantir, this investment signifies the strengthening of a strategic collaboration that will enable BlackSky to further extend its capabilities and meet the increasing demand for global monitoring services from its and Palantir’s customers.

Through the pilot project, BlackSky automatically delivered insights and intelligence to Palantir customers within minutes of collection, without any human interaction. The ability to quickly deliver worldwide intelligence that can inform proactive strategic decision-making introduces a significant advantage in time-sensitive operations.

• “Unity 23” Test Flight Will Mark First Research Customer Mission
• Partnership with Italian Air Force Marks First Mission of Its Kind led by European Country

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (Virgin Galactic PR) — Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SPCE) (the “Company” or “Virgin Galactic”), a vertically integrated aerospace and space travel company, today announced the manifest for the next rocket-powered test flight of SpaceShipTwo Unity from Spaceport America, which will be the first commercial, human-tended research mission for the Company.

The scope of the contract, which leverages HyImpulse’s SL1 launcher and D-Orbit’s ION Satellite Carrier, includes a study of a late payload integration that will enable third parties to board the launch vehicle as late as possible.

FINO MORNASCO, Italy, 1 September 2021 (D-Orbit PR) – Space logistics and transportation company D-Orbit announced the signing of an agreement with HyImpulse Technologies aiming at a joint launch and deployment mission that will leverage HyImpulse’s SL1 launcher and D-Orbit’s ION Satellite Carrier.

Isar Aerospace Announcement In April this year, we won the national micro launcher competition #Boost! With a funding of 11M€ for the first two flights of its Spectrum [rocket] by Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie and  Deutsches Zentrum für Luft-und Raumfahrt e.V., Isar Aerospace will offer launch opportunities for institutional payloads of up to 150 kg total mass each flight. Today, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft-und Raumfahrt e.V., European Space Agency – ESA and Isar Aerospace published the Announcement of Opportunity, which is […]

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (Aerospace Corporation PR) — The population of satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) is expected to rapidly rise over the next decade, adding to those already present. Accompanying this increase of satellites is a higher risk of space junk-forming collisions between active satellites, inactive satellites or other space debris. This increased collision risk is a concern previously highlighted by The Aerospace Corporation’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy.

PALO ALTO, Calif. (Ramon.Space PR) — Ramon.Space, a leader in space computing systems, announced today that it has been selected by the Israel Space Agency to provide a space computing payload for a mission scheduled to launch in early 2022. As part of the mission, Ramon.Space digital payload will perform computing on-orbit including software updates and upgrades using the company’s programmable space computing systems.

Ramon.Space high performance computing systems are based on in-house manycore Rad- Hard DSP space processor IC’s complete with machine learning, storage and a virtual radiation shield designed to operate reliably in the harsh space environment.