Kathy Lueders at the International Space Development Conference with an image of an orbital habitat on her closing slide.
Michael Mealling will be speaking at the International Space Development Conference (ISDC) today on financing human communities beyond Earth and how difficult that is without understanding who the customers are.
Portfolio Company News
SpaceX launches Transporter-5 dedicated smallsat rideshare mission
On Wednesday, May 25th, SpaceX launched three satellites from two Starbridge portfolio companies, GeoOptics and Umbra, along with over 50 other satellites on their Transporter-5 rideshare mission. You can watch the launch here and satellite deployment begins around the 1hr:10min mark.
Space Forge announces partnership with Benchmark
Space Forge of Cardiff, Wales, intends to produce high-value materials in orbit to bring to Earth. Under the contract announced May 24, Benchmark will provide propulsion for ForgeStar-1, Space Forge’s first in-space manufacturing and return demonstration.
General Space News
Boeing's CST-100 Starliner landed in New Mexico Wednesday
Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner safely landed in New Mexico on May 25, concluding a six-day uncrewed test flight to the International Space Station and setting the stage for the spacecraft’s first flight with people. Controllers had to work through several minor issues, including off-nominal behavior of a thermal cooling loop and the failure of 2 of the aft-facing Orbital Maneuvering and Attitude Control (OMAC) thrusters, causing docking with the ISS to take place later than was originally scheduled.
Space Operations Command is retraining cybersecurity specialists to defend military satellite networks in response to an increase in cyber attacks on ground stations. Space Force Lt. Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, deputy chief of space operations for nuclear and cyber, says that Russian cyberattacks are targeting ground networks and not the satellites themselves. The US State Department also blamed Russia for cyberattacks on Viasat’s KA-SAT internet network back in February that disabled around 40,000 user terminals in Ukraine and across Europe. SpaceX’s Starlink broadband service in Ukraine has also been targeted by Russian hackers according to Elon Musk.
Starlink adds RV plan that provides roving coverage
Starlink announced that it will begin offering a new “RV” plan that will automatically bundle in access wherever Starlink offers service. This is designed to be used while stationary at parking spots, camping grounds, and RV parks. The biggest difference between the “RV” plan and Starlink’s standard service is the ability to stop and start the service whenever you want and will also cost $135 per month.
Biden vows to expand space cooperation with South Korea, Japan
Following a summit on May 23rd with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, President Biden said the U.S.-Japan space cooperation is “taking off, looking towards the moon and to Mars […] I’m excited about the work we will do together on the Gateway station around the moon and look forward to the first Japanese astronaut joining us in the mission to the lunar surface, under the Artemis program.”
Biden had also met with South Korean President Yoon where they committed to strengthening the Republic of Korea and US alliance across all sectors of space cooperation. Previously, the ROK and the US agreed to cooperate on space situational awareness for military purposes and signed an agreement to “share intelligence about outer space, nurture space experts through training and exercises, and enhance interoperability for combined space operations.”
Astroforge raises $13M seed round for asteroid mining ambitions
Y Combinator startup, Astroforge, will try its hand at asteroid mining after raising $13M in seed funding led by Initialized Capital, and with investments from Seven Seven Six, EarthRise, Aera VC, Liquid 2, and Soma. This funding enables them to fly their first 2 missions; the first of which they plan to fly next year on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshare mission.
New Greg Wyler Startup E-Space Raises $50M in Funding
Greg Wyler is back again with a new startup, E-Space, which plans to deploy a network of over 100,000 satellites featuring applications such as data collection from sensors and devices, secure communications, and managing remote infrastructure. E-Space announced they received a $50M investment from Prime Movers Lab. Wyler previously founded 03b Networks and OneWeb.
Macroeconomic issues could put a damper on the growth of the space industry
At the Space Tech Expo this week several panelists called out supply chain disruptions and staffing issues as the main macroeconomic trends affecting space businesses. While hyperbolic reporting included speculation that SPAC performance and a looming recession would spell doom for everyone, attendees disagreed with Lars Hoffman’s, senior vice president of global launch services at Rocket Lab, dismal speculations.
AWS picks 10 startups for 2022 space accelerator
Very low Earth orbit (VLEO) high-resolution satellite imagery provider Albedo
Climate intelligence startup Blue Sky Analytics
Satellite imagery analytics provider EOS Data Analytics (EOSDA)
Epsilon3, which specializes in software for managing complex aerospace operations and procedures
SSA software provider Kayhan Space
Electric propulsion developer Magdrive
Space weather intelligence startup Mission Space
Ocean data management solutions provider Terradepth
Reusable orbital vehicle developer The Exploration Company
Positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) specialist ZaiNar Tech
Other Space News
Open All of the Satellite Imagery Archives - Joe Morrison
SpaceX seeks to raise $1.7 billion in a new round at a higher valuation.
Industry groups are calling on Congress to pass a NASA authorization bill.
Nanoracks is flying a payload on a SpaceX launch this week to test metal cutting in space.
Supply chain problems pose challenges to the space industry but also present opportunities.
Varda Space is buying a fourth Photon spacecraft from Rocket Lab.
Space logistics experts say open standards are critical for encouraging the market's growth.