Commercial Space

Recently revived Stratolaunch has expanded its workforce sevenfold since October when it changed owners, and has announced plans to become a high-speed testbed provider.

Centauri, a provider of bespoke space, intel, directed energy and cyber services to government agencies, has acquired The Design Knowledge Co. and PreTalen.

The global defense sector will remain robust in 2020, with global defense budgets expected to grow at least 3-4% and bring total spending up to almost $2 trillion, Deloitte predicts in a new report.

SpaceX called off a planned cargo run to the International Space Station for NASA on Dec. 4.

AeroVironment has added to its high-altitude pseudo satellite (HAPS) revenue, executives said Dec. 3, bringing the UAV pioneer’s total to $149 million related to HAPS Mobile, a joint venture with Japanese investor SoftBank.

The Pentagon is “not concerned” with how the U.S. Air Force structured its launch services competition, even though the Government Accountability Office (GAO) partially sustained a protest by Blue Origin.

House leaders urge the FAA to step up progress on a system to better segregate space launches from other air traffic.

Space tourists could lift off from a spaceport in the United Arab Emirates under an agreement between the pioneering commercial space operator and the UAE.

Insitu has developed a ScanEagle unmanned aircraft system with a satellite communications antenna for beyond-line-of-sight operations, the Boeing subsidiary says.

The next trend in sats is multiuse constellations, typically combining telecoms and Earth observation, says Guy Perez, sat manufacturer OHB chief tech officer and head of telecoms sats.

Canada’s Stratodynamics Aviation, which in September set a record by releasing an unmanned glider from a stratospheric balloon at 11,434 ft., is to conduct research flights for NASA under a contract awarded to the University of Kentucky.

House lawmakers are calling on the FAA to preserve airspace safety and efficiency as it develops a regulation to simplify launch and re-entry requirements for commercial space operators.

The Government Accountability (GAO) office defended the U.S. Air Force’s National Security Space Launch procurement in three areas outlined in a protest filed by Blue Origin.

A prototype upper-stage for SpaceX’s Mars-class Starship launch vehicle was destroyed during a maximum pressurization test Nov. 20 at the company’s Boca Chica Beach, Texas, complex.

A NASA strategy to partner with the U.S. commercial sector to resupply the International Space Station (ISS) could enrich a growing global space economy if the agency and its international partners can stay the course to the Moon and Mars, its top strategist told SpaceCom 2019 on Nov 20.

The Dutch Caribbean Air Navigation Service Provider (DC-ANSP), responsible for managing air traffic from the Caribbean island of Curacao, has started using space-based surveillance data from Aireon to track aircraft.

U.S. DOD Secretary Mark Esper is urging the FCC head to reject Ligado Networks’ license modification request to allow sat frequencies near the GPS band to be used for terrestrial 5G networks.

Japan’s AstroScale named Gene Fujii as chief engineer and Mike Lindsay as chief technology officer, adding the respective OrbComm and OneWeb veterans to its management team as the orbital debris removal startup tries to solidify its business plans.

The European Union is poised to increase its space budget and create a dedicated Directorate-General for Defense Industry and Space for the European Commission.

Inmarsat is gearing up for the Nov. 22 launch of its GX5 satellite, planned to bring a major capacity increase to serve commercial and business aircraft flying in Europe and the Middle East.

OHB is proceeding with its plan to design and operate a launcher for placing satellites up to 440 lb. in low Earth orbit.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) on Nov. 18 sustained a protest by Blue Origin of the U.S. Air Force’s National Security Space Launch procurement.

Despite losing out to Blue Origin to provide engines for ULA’s Vulcan rocket, Aerojet sees a future for the AR1.

Despite cultural and funding differences, SpaceX and Boeing are neck-in-neck in development of commercial space taxis for NASA.

Entrepreneur eyes an AAA-type service in space.