TUSTIN, Calif. (Virgin Galactic PR) — Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SPCE) (the “Company” or “Virgin Galactic”), an aerospace and space travel company, today announced that former Rolls-Royce executive Matthew Boguradzki has been appointed Vice President, Sales and Strategy, effective today.

Boguradzki will lead Virgin Galactic’s sales team, supporting the Company’s commercial growth and developing its thriving customer community. He will oversee all sales efforts including strategy, sourcing, negotiation, and client management, and will report to Blair Rich, President and Chief Business Officer, Commercial and Consumer Operations.

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA transferred ownership and operational control on Thursday of the Landsat 9 satellite to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in a ceremony in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Landsat 9 is the most recent in the Landsat series of remote-sensing satellites, which provide global coverage of landscape changes on Earth. The Landsat program – a joint effort between NASA and USGS – recently marked 50 years of continuous service on July 23.

CHICAGO & LONDON (OneWeb/Intelsat PR) — Leading satellite communications companies OneWeb and Intelsat have signed a global distribution partnership agreement to offer airlines a seamless inflight connectivity (IFC) solution with the best combination of performance, coverage, and reliability on the market. The partnership enables Intelsat to distribute OneWeb’s ground-breaking low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite services to airlines worldwide, coupled with Intelsat’s extensive IFC experience and existing geo-stationary (GEO) satellite service. The result is a truly multi-orbit solution for the aviation community, leveraging the benefits of both networks.

By harnessing the power of multi-orbit capabilities, Intelsat will ensure airlines and their passengers are able to enjoy the best IFC, without compromise. Airlines and their passengers will no longer have to accept significant gaps in IFC coverage or capacity – even at busy hubs, across oceans, and over polar routes. Intelsat will seamlessly manage connectivity, allowing passengers to remain connected no matter where they are.

Proceeding on Innovation and Transformation in the Space Economy

WASHINGTON (FCC PR) — In an effort to promote United States leadership in the emerging space economy, the Federal Communications Commission today voted to open a proceeding on the economic potential and policy questions related to servicing, assembly, and manufacturing taking place beyond the earth’s atmosphere. This Notice of Inquiry will examine the opportunities and challenges of space missions like satellite refueling, inspecting and repairing in-orbit spacecraft, capturing and removing debris, and transforming materials through manufacturing while in space.

Today’s action continues this modernization effort as in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing capabilities – or “ISAM” – has the potential to build entire industries, create new jobs, mitigate climate change, and advance America’s economic, scientific, technological, and national security interests. ISAM missions take place on-orbit, in transit, or on the surface of space bodies. The FCC’s effort to open up this conversation dovetails with the Office of Science and Technology Policy’s recent release of a ISAM National Strategy.

Chabot Space and Science Center
Oakland, California

1:51 P.M. PDT
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon, everyone.  Please have a seat.  How about Sala?  Can we — (applause).  We were talking before we came out, and I’m telling you: Our future is so bright when you look at just our young leaders, who — she’s just full of enthusiasm and excitement, and she’s committed and passionate.  And — it just excites me.  I think it excites us all.  So, thank you all.  Thank you. 

I really have enjoyed this afternoon, being here at Chabot and with these extraordinary leaders — just investing in the best of who we are and the future of our country and our world and our universe.  It really is — it really is emblematic of also — I will say this as a proud kid of the Bay Area — of who we are in this region of the world.  Because we are always, I think, committed to seeing what is possible and then charting a course to get there.  So, thank you all very much.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

During the past week, SpaceX launched 98 Starlink satellites, a Chinese commercial launch provider made it three in a row, Russia launched a rideshare mission with an Iranian satellite aboard, and India’s new small satellite launcher fell just short of orbit.

There have been 103 orbital launches worldwide, with 99 successes and four failures.

Let’s take a closer look at the last week in launch.

• Record revenue of $55.5 million, representing 36% sequential quarter-on-quarter growth and 392% Year-on-Year quarterly revenue growth
• Third quarter revenue expected to range between $60 million and $63 million

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Rocket Lab PR) — Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”), a global leader in launch services and space systems, today shared the financial results for its fiscal second quarter of 2022, ended June 30, 2022.

“In the second quarter of 2022 our team upheld our track record of relentless execution, delivering three successful launches, more than any other small launch provider for the entire year so far. Electron retains its position as the industry’s reliable small launch vehicle, delivering satellites to orbit for a range commercial constellation operators and NASA in the second quarter, quickly followed by back-to-back national security launches for the National Reconnaissance Office after the second quarter end,” said Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Peter Beck. “We continue to push the boundaries with our launch and spacecraft technology, a strategy that also saw us successfully launch the CAPSTONE mission to the Moon for NASA. The highly complex two-phase mission encompassed a flawless launch on Electron and successful deployment to ballistic lunar transfer orbit by our in-house designed and built Lunar Photon spacecraft, paving the way for future deep space missions to Mars and Venus.”

• Completed fourth consecutive successful launch in 18 months on July 1, 2022; delivered satellites for the Department of Defense Space Test Program (STP)
• Signed binding launch contract with iQPS for launch of synthetic aperture radar satellites
• Announced NRO, U.S. Space Force, UK MoD, and commercial payloads for Cornwall, UK launch
• Established new Brazilian subsidiary and received launch operator’s license
• Continued international momentum with signed study for South Korean spaceport

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Virgin Orbit PR)–Virgin Orbit (Nasdaq: VORB) (“Virgin Orbit” or the “Company”), the responsive space flight and services company, today announced its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022.

Virgin Orbit’s Chief Executive Officer, Dan Hart, commented, “We had another strong quarter of execution, culminating in our latest launch on July 1^st. Our ‘Straight Up’ mission, which was our fourth successful launch in 18 months, delivered seven satellites for the DoD. We continue to see strong efficiency gains as we scale production and increase launch rate.”

NASA Mission Update

NASA will hold a trio of media teleconferences the week of Aug. 14 to preview the science and technology payloads that will fly as part of the agency’s Artemis I flight test. NASA also will provide livestream coverage of Artemis I’s move to the launch pad ahead of its targeted no earlier than Monday Aug. 29 liftoff.

By Kendall Murphy
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

GREENBELT, Md. — NASA uses lasers to send information to and from Earth, employing invisible beams to traverse the skies, sending terabytes of data – pictures and videos – to increase our knowledge of the universe. This capability is known as laser, or optical, communications, even though these eye-safe, infrared beams can’t be seen by human eyes.

Revenue Increased 695% in Second Quarter 2022 from Second Quarter 2021

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, today announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022 and provided company business updates.

Q2 2022 Financial Highlights

• Revenue increased to $1.85 million for the three months ended June 30, 2022 from $232,000 in the comparable period of 2021, an increase of 695%.
  • This increase is primarily attributed to increased customer confidence as a result of previous deliveries and increased contract flow driven by sales efforts from an expanded sales team.
• Gross Profit increased to $347,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2022 from a loss of $56,000 in the comparable period of 2021, attributable to an increase in revenue, a decrease in labor intensive contracts and an increase in our higher margin Satellite-as-a-Service business line.
• Operating Expenses increased to $2.7 million for the three months ended June 30, 2022 compared to $418,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2021, resulting from expansion of our staff and facilities, as well as increased insurance, investor relations, legal and accounting fees that are associated with being a publicly traded company.
• During the quarter, the Company’s principal shareholder forgave approximately $1.624 million of debt, consisting of the entire unpaid principal amount and accrued interest owed by the Company to the shareholder.

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. (NASA PR) — Poised to launch on Artemis I from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida,  BioSentinel – a shoebox-sized CubeSat – will perform the first long-duration biology experiment in deep space. Artemis missions at the Moon will prepare humans to travel on increasingly farther and longer-duration missions to destinations like Mars, and BioSentinel will carry microorganisms, in the form of yeast, to fill critical gaps in knowledge about the health risks in deep space posed by space radiation.