Commercial Space

Interest in reusable rockets revived by SpaceX’s success.

Fly-by-wire taking off; More orbital cleanup plans; Zero-emissions island links; Wing drones go urban; Food giant eyes SAF.

Swedish Space Corp. has partnered with Bradford Space to offer a commercial orbital-debris-removal service beginning in 2024.

Small-satellite startup Terran Orbital, backed by Lockheed Martin and others, plans to become a publicly traded company after a reverse merger with a special-purpose acquisition company, the companies announced late Oct. 28.

Roscosmos’ commercial arm, Glavkosmos, has made its first direct sales for tourist flights on Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

A Northrop Grumman census is now tracking 164 small-satellite launch programs, although 46 of the projects are effectively defunct and the status of nine others is unknown.

Universities, in partnership with industry and government, must ensure a highly trained commercial space workforce is ready for blastoff.

Japan successfully launched the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-IIA rocket on the morning of Oct. 26 local time from the Tanegashima Space Center.

A team of heritage and new space companies headed by Blue Origin and Sierra Space plan to build, launch and operate an International Space Station-class commercial outpost in low Earth orbit that can be tailored and expanded to accommodate a broad array of scientific, technological, business, entertainment and other pursuits.

Israel Aerospace Industries is adding a miniaturized, 1,500-lb. geostationary communications satellite to its product line.

Fuel-cell cargo drone; Electric air racers; LeoLabs down under; Hydrogen box wing; 100% SAF flights.

Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.

Ahead of NASA’s selection of up to four proposals to support development of commercial space stations, a team led by Nanoracks unveiled plans on Oct. 21 for a four-person outpost called Starlab, with initial operational capability expected by 2027.

Science fiction becomes science fact as iconic Star Trek actor flies in space.

Actor returns from spaceflight deeply touched by experience.

The Australian location will provide good coverage of launch corridors from East Asia, and improve space coverage in the Southern Hemisphere.

Rocket Lab will attempt a controlled ocean splashdown and recovery of the Electron small satellite launcher earmarked for flight next month, the company said on Oct. 19.

Boeing is nearing the end of a winding technical analysis of a valve problem that scotched plans for an uncrewed orbital flight test of its CST-100 Starliner spacecraft in August.

U.S. Air Force experiments with satellite to augment GPS.

Axiom Space, which is working with NASA to develop a commercial successor to the International Space Station, announced this week the completion of three joint design reviews for the project.

The partnership enables the two entities to partner on research and development opportunities, promoting U.S. space industry growth.

The venture capital and private equity firehose fueling space startups continues unabated.

Startup Space Perspective announced a $40 million venture capital fund raising on Oct. 14, claiming the largest round yet for a space tourism balloon company and coming months after a successful demonstration.

Satellite broadband provider OneWeb has successfully placed more than half of its constellation into low Earth orbit following the 11th launch of its campaign from Vostochny spaceport in Russia’s Far East at 5:40 a.m. EDT Oct. 14.

More than 50 years after portraying the fictional captain of Star Trek’s USS Enterprise, actor William Shatner joined two paying passengers and a Blue Origin vice president for the company’s second crewed flight to suborbital space.