Commercial Space

A prolonged, privately financed mission to the International Space Station (ISS) ended on April 25 with the return of a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule chartered by Houston-based Axiom Space.

The space sector has unique propellants when it comes to M&A, which is likely to create a “melt-up.”

Planet Labs has unveiled its next constellation of 32 Earth observation satellites, the Pelican fleet, which will provide images with up to 30 cm of resolution and improved revisit rates.

Weather concerns off the Florida coast have prompted new delays in the planned return to Earth of Axiom-1 from the International Space Station and the follow-on launch of NASA’s Crew-4 SpaceX Dragon Freedom to the ISS, NASA and Axiom Space announced late April 20.

NASA selected six U.S. satellite communications providers on April 20 to develop and demonstrate near-Earth space communication services to support future agency missions as part of the Communications Services Project.

Astrobotic unveiled the flight model of its Peregrine lunar lander on April 20, the version that is scheduled to fly to the Moon in the fourth quarter of 2022 on a United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket.

Venturi Astrolab, which last month unveiled its Flex rover family for manned Moon and Mars missions, is buying certain technologies from European electric vehicle maker Venturi Group, with which it has a “strategic partnership” and a shared name.

Boryung Pharmaceutical, Starburst and Axiom Space have launched a “Care in Space Challenge,” an annual competition with a $1 million shared prize to find next-generation pharmaceutical, bioscience and medical technologies to be developed in space.

Space tug startup TransAstra and small satellite startup ReOrbit have signed multiple contracts to study joint development projects.

As their nearly six-month mission to the International Space Station draws to a close, four NASA SpaceX Crew-3 astronauts praised their experience with Axiom-1, the first U.S. all-private astronaut mission to the ISS, and predicted there will be more missions to come.

Capella Space has unveiled new software features that automate analysis of images captured by its synthetic aperture radar satellite constellation.

Launch contracts are game changers for ULA, Arianespace and Blue Origin.

First U.S.-backed private mission to the ISS is a turning point in the ongoing commercial development of space.

Air Corsica’s management team sees its recently obtained approval to adopt satellite technology as the future for landing on challenging runways.

With its improved and enlarged 3D printer enabling Starship engines, Velo3D talks about riding along with SpaceX, but not joining it.

Rapid release of imagery from space has helped Ukraine make strategy decisions and document destruction and Russian attacks on civilians.

The Defense Innovation Unit has released a request for information seeking commercial on-orbit satellite refueling and bulk fuel depot ideas as part of its “RAPIDS Refueling and Fuel Depot” project.

Axiom Mission-1's (Ax-1) four private astronauts successfully docked to the International Space Station (ISS) April 9, to begin an eight-day visit filled with medical and scientific research and technology development activities.

Artificial intelligence programs are well suited for dealing with the deluge of data generated by space systems, according to the companies.

The Axiom-1 mission kicks off a series of private astronaut flights to the International Space Station as part of an ongoing effort to expand commercial use and development of low Earth orbit

The Japanese startup said April 6 that it had resolved or mitigated most of the spacecraft anomalies experienced in January that caused it to halt an autonomous capture demonstration in low Earth orbit.

The Ax-1 astronauts will kick off more than two dozen wide-ranging scientific research and technology development activities with value to life on Earth as well as nurturing the space economy.

Sidus Space, a Cape Canaveral startup proffering the LizzieSat—a partially additively manufactured, 100-kg. (220-lb.) low-Earth-orbit satellite—reported 2021 financial results that showed net loss more than doubled while revenue decreased from 2020.

Lift Aircraft has been awarded a Phase 3 contract by the U.S. Air Force’s Agility Prime program to continue experimentation and flight tests of its single-seat HEXA electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.

The U.S. Space Force is tracking the development of on-orbit maneuvering and refueling in the commercial industry to inform how the technology could shape its plans for future national security launches.