Starbridge Weekly Space Update for 11/21/2022

Portfolio Company News

SpaceX

• SpaceX performed its biggest Starship static-fire test to date Monday.

• SpaceX launched a pair of Intelsat satellites Saturday on the final flight of a frequently used booster.

• NASA awarded SpaceX a $1.15 billion contract modification Tuesday for a second Artemis landing mission.

• Several workers fired by SpaceX earlier this year have filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.

GeoOptics

GeoOptics Inc. won a NASA contract to provide researchers with data acquired by the company's small satellite constellation

The NASA contract is worth up to $7M over 5 years to provide researchers with GeoOptics radio occultation data

Axiom

LEOcloud is partnering with Axiom Space on space-based edge computing projects

The two companies will work togethr to develop and deliver space-based cloud services linked to terrestrial cloud computers to 'reduce the timeframe from raw data to actionable insights'.

General Space News

Artemis I Leaves The Pad

It was a busy week for the Moon last week. CAPSTONE successfully entered its near-rectilinear halo orbit, Artemis I  successfully launched Orion on Wednesday,  and Orion performed a critical flyby that put Orion into Lunar orbit.

South Korea’s first lunar mission is also on the way and Japan’s iSpace launches in December. Q1 next year will be even busier as several CLPS companies make an attempt; India and Israel make their second attempt at landing.

The Cislunar Technology Strategy Interagency Working Group of the National Science & Technology Council, as supported by the Office of Science and Technology Policy, published a National CisLunar Science and Technology Strategy last week. An initial read shows a fair number of recommendations but few hard specifics since any funding or regulations would still need to go through an Agency or Congress. While there is little that appears heavy-handed, the details necessary to translate policy into action are so limited that we will reserve judgment on the importance of the report.

Other Space News

• Satellite servicing startup Starfish Space plans to launch its first demonstration mission next year.

• The leader of a Venus mission facing a three-year delay is lobbying for a reprieve.

• AST SpaceMobile says its BlueWalker 3 spacecraft has unfolded its large antenna.

• Three top executives at smallsat manufacturer Terran Orbital have left the company because of its focus on military projects.

• The girlfriend of Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos is planning her own flight to space.

• European space officials are stressing a need for greater autonomy and sovereign capabilities in the wake of geopolitical trends and developments.

• South Korea's first lunar mission has demonstrated "space internet" technologies on its way to the moon.

• Established and emerging companies have differing views on how the European launch sector should evolve.

• Apple plans to expand its satellite-based SOS iPhone service to Europe.

• Boeing is reorganizing the part of the company that handles space and defense work.

• The Japanese government has formally agreed to extend participation on the International Space Station through 2030.

• NASA said Thursday a test flight of an inflatable heat shield last week was a success.

• Microsoft is rolling out software to make it easier to develop space-related applications.

• A Japanese commercial lunar lander is now scheduled for launch late this month.

• An Indian startup successfully launched a suborbital rocket Friday.

• An Exit Interview With Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson