Portfolio Company News
Axiom
Commercial space station developers seek clarity on regulations
Companies looking to succeed the ISS are requesting more clarity from the federal government on who will be responsible for regulating them and how. No federal agency currently has the authority to provide the authorization and continuing supervision of commercial space stations required under Article 6 of the Outer Space Treaty.
Orbital Sidekick
Orbital Sidekick Selected as Partner for Intelligent Pipeline Integrity Program (iPIPE)
OSK was selected to serve as a technology partner for iPIPE, a consortium dedicated to the advancement of emerging technologies for the prevention and detection of pipeline leaks out of the University of North Dakota’s Energy & Environmental Research Center.
SpaceX
Elon Musk tweeted that the operation cost of the ~20,000 Starlink satellites that have been donated to Ukraine has cost SpaceX $80M to date and will exceed $100M by the end of the year. SpaceX sent a letter to the Pentagon asking for funding to continue operating Starlink in Ukraine. However, about 85% of the 20,000 terminals operating in Ukraine have already received full or partial funding from outside sources such as the US, Poland, and other entities.
General Space News
Lockheed Martin Space leader aims to speed things up
Robert Lightfoot, Lockheed Martin lead of their Space Division, spoke at the Satellite Innovation conference this week in Mountain View where he emphasized urgency, they’re trying a new model where they sell a service over time, and also noted that Lockheed Martin Ventures has doubled their fund from $200M to $400M.
CAPSTONE attitude control restored
Engineers have managed to restore attitude control of a cubesat heading to the moon nearly a month after it suffered a problem during a maneuver. They believe the problem was due to a ‘partially open valve which resulted in thrust from the associated thruster when the propulsion system was pressurized.’
Eutelsat says satellite jammers within Iran are disrupting foreign channels
Iran has been jamming two Eutelsat satellites providing foreign broadcasts in the country and therefore aren’t under the control of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) which is Iran’s state-owned media organization. Eutelsat has notified the relevant authorities of the jamming operations and reminded Iranian authorities that intentional jamming is “explicitly prohibited” by the ITU.
NASA’s DART spacecraft changes asteroid’s orbit
NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft changed the asteroid Dimorphos' orbit around a larger asteroid by 32min. DART had collided with Dimorphos on Sept 26th as a test of the “kinetic impactor” technique to be used to deflect an asteroid on a trajectory to impact Earth.
Dennis Tito and wife to be on second Starship flight around the moon
Dennis Tito is back and ready to take a trip around the moon on SpaceX’s Starship with his wife and up to 10 other people. Tito is the first private astronaut to fly to the ISS on a Soyuz spacecraft in 2001.
Other Space News
Astra received a delisting warning from Nasdaq because of its falling stock price.
Astra announced a contract to provide electric thrusters for Maxar satellites.
The former CEO of satellite operator SES is joining startup megaconstellation company E-Space.
ExoTrail won a contract from the French government to demonstrate an orbital transfer vehicle.
Skyrora's first suborbital space launch didn't get very far off the pad.