Portfolio Company News
Axiom
NASA selects Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace for spacesuit contracts
Axiom is in the news again after being awarded a contract, alongside Collins Aerospace, for Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services (xEVAS) to support the development of new spacesuits for spacewalks outside of the ISS and future Artemis moonwalks. The xEVAS contracts are worth $3.5B between Axiom and Collins Aerospace over ten years.
General Space News
NASA to buy five additional Crew Dragon flights
NASA plans to procure 5 more Crew Dragon missions to the ISS from SpaceX to “ensure redundant and backup capabilities through 2030.”
Long March 2C launches 9 navigation test satellites for Chinese automaker
Geespace, a wholly owned subsidiary of automaker Geely Technology Group, launched 9 positioning and connectivity test satellites Thursday. The satellites are the first of Geely’s “Geely Future Mobility Constellation” that will consist of 240 satellites and will provide centimeter-level accuracy positioning and connectivity support for autonomous driving in Geely brand cars.
Momentus attempting to fix anomalies with first Vigoride tug
A week after the launch of their first Vigoride tug, Momentus is dealing with “some anomalous behaviors” having to do with a communications system that was tuned to the wrong frequencies and required a special temporary authority from the FCC. They have not yet attempted to test Vigoride’s microwave electrothermal thruster. Vigoride is carrying 9 satellites and has deployed 2 from FOSSA Systems so far.
NASA to re-examine space-based solar power
During the National Space Society’s International Space Development Conference over the weekend, NASA’s Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy said they were beginning a short-term study to reassess the prospects of space-based solar power (SBSP).
Asteroid mining is doing a comeback tour.
AstroForge, a Ycombinator company, raised a $13 million “seed-plus” round from several VCs recently to “take a fresh look at asteroid mining”. For those of us who remember Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries, the fundamental issue isn’t the resource extraction technology but the inability to compete against an already optimized terrestrial resource extraction supply chain. Space resources only make sense for use in space.
UAE official is the new chair of the U.N.'s COPUOS
The recent announcement that the UAE will be leading the UN Committee On the Peaceful Use of Outer Space and that Omran Sharaf will be representing the UAE in that role made a lot of sense given how quickly the small Gulf country has moved into the business. But what may be more interesting is that the UAE is the only country that has the permanent settlement of space written into its foundational space law. The UAE has always been very clear that it intends on building a UAE city on Mars. That should prove interesting given that many COPUOS members take a very dim view of the human settlement of space.
Other Space News