Commercial Space

Charles Beames
The nation needs to declassify technology, rely on private industry and compete for routine space missions.
Space

By Thierry Dubois
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has cleared the way for Inmarsat to continue operating its European Aviation Network (EAN) inflight connectivity system.
Interiors & Connectivity

By Michael Bruno
The owners of aerospace and defense group Sierra Nevada are creating an independent company to take over the former’s space business, to be called Sierra Space, which will sell to the burgeoning low-Earth-orbit and Moon commercial space markets.
Space

By Irene Klotz
Startup ABL’s launcher is well-sized for Lockheed’s new satellite bus.
Commercial Space

By Michael Bruno
Astranis, a startup aiming to provide lower-cost broadband service from geostationary orbit, has announced $250 million in new financing.
Defense and Space

By Michael Bruno
Orbital Sidekick, a San Francisco-based startup aiming to offer satellite-based hyperspectral imaging and data analytics for the energy sector and others, has wrapped up a $16 million series A investment round, as expected.
Commercial Space

By Graham Warwick
The second Mission Extension Vehicle, MEV-2, autonomously docked with the Intelsat 10-02 satellite on April 12 in its operational GEO location at 1 deg. West longitude.
Space

By Michael Bruno
Do SPACs herald a brave new world for space dreamers or a repeat of the dot-bomb era of the early 2000s and the space flops of the 1990s?
Commercial Space

By Mark Carreau
Former NASA astronaut and U S. Air Force test pilot Jack Fischer has joined with the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership (BAHEP) to provide the emerging Houston Spaceport with TexSpace, a future nonprofit focused on facilitating innovation within the space enterprise.
Commercial Space

By Michael Bruno
OrbComm, the low Earth orbit constellation provider of industrial connectivity services whose roots date to 1990s commercial space efforts, will be acquired by GI Partners, a U.S.-based investor in data infrastructure businesses, in an all-cash deal worth around $1.1 billion, including net debt.
Commercial Space

By Irene Klotz
Rocket Lab plans to conduct its second parachute-assisted booster splashdown next month, as it works to evolve the Electron small satellite launch vehicle into a reusable rocket, the company said on April 8.
Commercial Space

By Tony Osborne
Airbus and the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) are to develop a terminal for aircraft to receive laser-based communications.
Connected Aerospace

By Thierry Dubois
Philippe Baptiste, an engineer by training with experience in science, industry and politics, is to succeed Jean-Yves Le Gall at the helm of French space agency CNES after the country’s parliament approved the nomination.
Space

By Irene Klotz
SpaceX on April 7 completed its eighth mission of the year to deploy its Starlink broadband network, boosting the constellation to about 1,400 spacecraft.
Commercial Space

By Michael Bruno
Swedish-British small satellite manufacturer AAC Clyde Space this month entered a conditional agreement to buy privately owned Omnisys Instruments, a Swedish developer and manufacturer of sensors for space projects, in a deal worth about $8.7 million.
Commercial Space

By Michael Bruno
Former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine will chair the advisory board at Voyager Space Holdings, the market’s first vertically integrated new-space holding company that recently acquired the Launch Co, Nanoracks and others.
Space

By Irene Klotz
As SpaceX prepared to deliver its 24th batch of Starlink satellites into orbit this week, President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell said beta trials will continue until the network, designed to deliver high-speed, low-latency internet, is more reliable.
Commercial Space

By Irene Klotz
Lockheed Martin is doubling down on investments in small satellite launch service companies, signing a block buy with startup ABL Space Systems for up to 58 missions through 2029.
Commercial Space

By Michael Bruno
Vaya Space, a Cocoa, Florida, space startup formerly known as Rocket Crafters, on March 31 announced its entrance into the small satellite launching marketplace for launches of up to 1 ton to low Earth orbit starting in 2023.
Commercial Space

By Michael Bruno
Fresh off its declaration that it was becoming a space-based weather service provider, ClimaCell has revealed its financing for getting there.
Commercial Space

By Michael Bruno
AST Spacemobile, the new publicly traded version of nanosatellite startup AST & Science of Midland, Texas, should emerge from its reverse-merger with a special purpose acquisition company on April 6 sporting around $462 million.
Commercial Space

By Irene Klotz
To chart his administration’s path in space, Biden calls upon a colleague.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Michael Bruno
Tapping into the crosscurrents of the commercial space boom and advanced technologies such as cloud computing, Amazon is opening an AWS Space Accelerator to assist and network with related startups, with applications due April 21.
Commercial Space

By Michael Bruno
Finland-based Iceye, an Earth observation data analytics provider with its own constellation of synthetic aperture radar satellites, said March 31 it plans to launch more satellites this year than previously planned, with the next launch booked for midyear.
Commercial Space

By Irene Klotz
SpaceX is aiming for a mid-September launch of a privately chartered Crew Dragon spacecraft on a three-day, 336-mi.-high, free-flying mission called Inspiration4, bankrolled and commanded by Shift4 Payments CEO Jared Isaacman.
Commercial Space