Skip to main content

Max Q: That’s a wrap

Hello and welcome back to Max Q! Thanks for everyone who came to TC Sessions: Space in Los Angeles on December 6. I even had the pleasure of meeting a few Max Q readers — fair to say, one of the highlights of the event.

In this issue:

  • SpaceX debuts defense-focused business line
  • Slingshot’s new round of funding
  • News from ispace, Metaspectral and more

SpaceX goes full defense contractor with national security-focused Starshield

The dual-use nature of broadband satellite services came into sharp relief during the Russia-Ukraine war, with Ukranian forces partly relying on SpaceX’s Starlink for their communications. It seems that SpaceX has decided to lean into that, with the launch of Starshield, a new business line that will provide “government entities” with secure comms and other services.

The brand, which may be a subsidiary, is now sitting alongside Dragon, Starlink and Starship on SpaceX’s website, which may reflect its importance. But much about Starshield is still unknown, and the company’s providing scant details so far. We’ll keep our ears to the ground about what the business vertical entails in the coming weeks.

globe with purple haze

Image Credits: T-Mobile

Slingshot Aerospace closes Series A-2 to grow space situational awareness platform

Space is packed with human-made objects, and will likely only get more crowded with the continued growth of the space industry. Spacecraft operators have surprisingly little real-time data about where things actually are in orbit, especially in relation to each other.

Enter Slingshot Aerospace. The company is building a real-time “digital space twin” so that operators can keep their assets safe and secure while in orbit. Investors are certainly paying attention. The company has closed $40.85 million in Series A-2 funding, led by Sway Ventures and with participation from C16 Ventures, ATX Venture Partners, Lockheed Martin Ventures, Valor Equity Partners and Draper Associates. Slingshot also received a venture loan for an undisclosed amount from venture lending firm Horizon Technology Finance.

Slingshot Aerospace's space situational awareness network

Image Credits: Slingshot Aerospace

More news from TC and beyond

  • Blue Origin and Dynetics have each submitted proposals for a NASA Sustaining Lunar Development (SLD) contract. Blue’s team includes Lockheed Martin, Draper, Boeing, Astrobotic and Honeybee Robotics. The winning contractor would develop a lunar lander under the agency’s Artemis program. (Reuters)
  • Blue Origin is still quietly conducting New Glenn component testing at its site at Kennedy Space Center, including fairing testing last week. (NASA Spaceflight)
  • China is already considering an expansion to its just-completed Tiangong space station. (SpaceNews)
  • Dawn Aerospace, a startup developing a launch system that uses an orbital spaceplane, raised $20 million at a NZ$170 million ($108 million) valuation. (Dawn Aerospace)
  • dearMoon, a Japanese billionaire’s project to send himself and eight crew members to the moon aboard a SpaceX Starship rocket, now has an all-civilian crew. The crew members include Steve Aoki and Tim Dodd, the host of “Everyday Astronaut.” (Endgadget)
  • Mangata Networks will open a new space engineering and manufacturing hub in Scotland, supported by a funding package totaling £83.7 million ($102.3 million). (Via Satellite)
  • Relativity Space’s Terran 1 rocket has rolled out of the hanger and is now vertical on the launch pad ahead of its first orbital flight. (Relativity)
  • SpaceX launched 40 satellites for its ostensible competitor, OneWeb, after the latter company desisted from using Russian Soyuz rockets. (CBS)
  • SpaceX’s Super Heavy Booster 7 prototype has returned to the factory after being subjected to a number of tests, though the reason why is unclear. (Teslarati)
  • Virgin Orbit is delaying its mission from Cornwall, England — the first-ever spaceflight launch from that country — for “weeks,” the company said in a statement. (TechCrunch)

Max Q is brought to you by me, Aria Alamalhodaei. If you enjoy reading Max Q, consider forwarding it to a friend. 

Max Q: That’s a wrap by Aria Alamalhodaei originally published on TechCrunch



from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/S9ivgOJ
via IFTTT

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Max Q: Psyche(d)

In this issue: SpaceX launches NASA asteroid mission, news from Relativity Space and more. © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/h6Kjrde via IFTTT

Max Q: Anomalous

Hello and welcome back to Max Q! Last week wasn’t the most successful for spaceflight missions. We’ll get into that a bit more below. In this issue: First up, a botched launch from Virgin Orbit… …followed by one from ABL Space Systems News from Rocket Lab, World View and more Virgin Orbit’s botched launch highlights shaky financial future After Virgin Orbit’s launch failure last Monday, during which the mission experienced an  “anomaly” that prevented the rocket from reaching orbit, I went back over the company’s financials — and things aren’t looking good. For Virgin Orbit, this year has likely been completely turned on its head. The company was aiming for three launches this year, but everything will remain grounded until the cause of the anomaly has been identified and resolved. It’s unclear how long that will take, but likely at least three months. Add this delay to Virgin’s dwindling cash reserves and you have a foundation that’s suddenly much shakier than before. ...

What’s Stripe’s deal?

Welcome to  The Interchange ! If you received this in your inbox, thank you for signing up and your vote of confidence. If you’re reading this as a post on our site, sign up  here  so you can receive it directly in the future. Every week, I’ll take a look at the hottest fintech news of the previous week. This will include everything from funding rounds to trends to an analysis of a particular space to hot takes on a particular company or phenomenon. There’s a lot of fintech news out there and it’s my job to stay on top of it — and make sense of it — so you can stay in the know. —  Mary Ann Stripe eyes exit, reportedly tried raising at a lower valuation The big news in fintech this week revolved around payments giant Stripe . On January 26, my Equity Podcast co-host and overall amazingly talented reporter Natasha Mascarenhas and I teamed up to write about how Stripe had set a 12-month deadline for itself to go public, either through a direct listing or by pursuin...