Starbridge Weekly Space Update for 12/5/2022

Portfolio Company News 

Lynk

• Optus and Lynk conduct a live demonstration of LEO satellite-to-mobile technology in Australia

SpaceX

• SpaceX conducted another static-fire test Tuesday of the Super Heavy booster for its first orbital Starship launch attempt.

• SpaceX has indefinitely postponed the launch of a Japanese lunar lander because of an issue with the Falcon 9 rocket.

• The British government, a part-owner of satellite broadband company OneWeb, is rolling out a rural connectivity pilot project… with Starlink.

• The FCC will allow SpaceX to begin deployment of its second-generation Starlink constellation while it reviews the overall 30,000-satellite proposal.

General Space News

NASA cancels GeoCarb greenhouse gas monitoring mission - SpaceNews

GeoCarb appears to have been canceled by NASA due to cost overruns, technical concerns, and the availability of commercial sources able to provide equal or better data at a fraction of the cost. *

Rocket Lab launches a subsidiary focused on the national security market

SpaceX rolls out new business line focused on military satellite services

Possibly taking a cue from Anduril, both SpaceX and Rocket Lab are creating vertically integrated, one-stop solutions for DoD applications. While DoD may appreciate this approach in the short term, the DoD has always been willing to pay extra to ensure that multiple providers exist. The question will be whether either can build something so comprehensive that no one can duplicate it. 

Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth Sunday after six months on the country's space station.

The first crew of China’s space station landed in China on Sunday, completing their mission to assemble all of the station modules and welcoming the new crew to the fully operational space station. 

Congressional Leadership Update

Unless something strange happens, it appears that Frank Lucas (R-OK, 3 - northern district of Oklahoma), former Ranking Member of the House Science Committee will become the new committee chair, and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA,19 - San Jose and Santa Clara area) will be the Ranking Member. Robert Aderholt  (R-AL) remains on the House Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) Appropriations subcommittee so it's clear that Northern Alabama is still well defended. 

Other Space News

• The head of the U.S. Space Force says the war in Ukraine is a sign of what future use and reliance upon satellites will look like.

• AST SpaceMobile, Inc. Announces Launch of Offering of $65,000,000 of Class A Common Stock

• Virgin Orbit Abandons Securities Offering Amid Shrinking Cash Reserves, Financial Losses and Launch Delays

• GomSpace signs EUR 18 million credit facility agreement with the European Investment Bank

• BlueWalker 3 Breaks Satellite Brightness Records - Payload

• SiriusXM Orders Two New Satellites from Maxar - Payload

• ICON Wins NASA Contract for Lunar 3D Printing - Payload

• A Chinese cargo spacecraft deployed a smallsat after undocking from the Tiangong space station earlier this month.

• South Korea's president says the country will land spacecraft on the moon in 2032 and Mars in 2045.

• Astra's chief engineer is stepping down as part of a company reorganization.

• A Japanese billionaire and space tourist says he will make a space-related announcement later this week.

• Spaceport Cornwall receives first U.K. spaceport license

• Rocket Report: SpaceX launch delayed indefinitely; Virgin Orbit cancels funding round