Top Stories
Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite company Iceye has raised $93 million. Iceye announced the round Wednesday, led by Finnish sovereign wealth fund Solidium Oy and with participation from Move Capital Fund I, Blackwells Capital, Christo Georgiev and existing investors. The Finnish company has raised $438 million to date and has launched 34 SAR satellites, with plans to launch up to 15 more this year. Iceye said it will use the funds to expand its business and develop new products and services. [SpaceNews]
The Department of the Air Force has selected its first "quick start" programs intended to accelerate work on key capabilities. Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall announced the selection of the first two programs for the initiative during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday. One is a program to develop space and airborne sensors to track moving targets, while the other is for "GPS light" navigation satellites using smaller, less expensive commercial spacecraft. The Air Force did not specify how much funding will be allocated to get these projects kick-started, but said that funding will need to be taken out of other projects for those early-stage activities. [SpaceNews]
Satellite operator ABS has hired industry veteran Mark Rigolle as its new CEO. Rigolle, most recently chief operating officer for the proposed Rivada Space Networks constellation, will join ABS as CEO April 29. He succeeds Amit Somani, who left abruptly in January after less than two years at the company. ABS, originally known as Asia Broadcast Satellite but which changed its name to Agility Beyond Space last year after moving its headquarters from Hong Kong to Dubai, currently operates five GEO communications satellites. [SpaceNews]
Maxar Intelligence is looking for ways to strengthen its position in the competitive geospatial intelligence market. The company's CEO, Dan Smoot, said in a recent interview that the company will look to diversify its offerings beyond its traditional high-resolution imagery to provide more sophisticated analytics and novel data products like 3D mapping. Maxar also is forging partnerships with other remote sensing operators to create a "virtual constellation" for geospatial intelligence. The company's near-term priority is the deployment of its WorldView Legion constellation, with the first two satellites scheduled to launch as soon as this month. [SpaceNews]
NASA is willing to consider options for restructuring its Mars Sample Return program that would sharply reduce the number of samples returned. NASA released a call for proposals Tuesday for MSR architecture studies as part of efforts to lower the cost and shorten the schedule of the program. NASA said it would consider proposals for architectures that would return as few as 10 samples collected by the Perseverance rover, a third of the number current plans call for bringing back. That has raised concerns among scientists that this approach would harm the scientific value of the mission. NASA expects to make multiple awards this summer for architecture studies that would be due to the agency by October. [SpaceNews]
| | Scientific Discovery Begins with L3Harris
L3Harris is at the forefront of unraveling the universe's deepest secrets, like dark matter and distant exoplanets. From the iconic Hubble to the groundbreaking James Webb and Nancy Grace Roman space telescopes and beyond, our cutting-edge imaging technology, integration and testing solutions have helped shape humanity's understanding of the cosmos and push the boundaries of scientific discovery for decades. Learn more. | | Other News
Boeing's CST-100 Starliner commercial crew vehicle has arrived at the launch pad for its crewed test flight. The spacecraft rolled out early Tuesday from a processing facility at the Kennedy Space Center to Space Launch Complex 41, where it was attached to the Atlas 5 rocket that will launch it next month. The Crew Flight Test mission will carry two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station on a test flight lasting a little more than a week. NASA has scheduled a flight test readiness review for the mission for next Thursday. [SpaceNews]
The Defense Department has awarded a contract or the production of space-qualified materials for solar cells. The award announced Tuesday to semiconductor manufacturer 5N Plus is part of a Defense Production Act investment program to sustain and expand the capability to produce germanium substrates used in solar cells for defense, civil and commercial satellites. By supporting companies that produce essential materials, the DoD aims to reduce reliance on foreign sources and bolster the domestic industrial base. [SpaceNews]
Another day means another signatory for the Artemis Accords. Sweden formally joined the Artemis Accords Tuesday, signing the accords at an event in Stockholm. The signing comes a day after Switzerland joined the accords in a ceremony at NASA Headquarters. Sweden is the 38th country to sign the Artemis Accords, which outline best practices for space exploration. [SpaceNews]
Starlink is taking steps to close a growing black market for its broadband satellite services. SpaceX notified customers using Starlink in South Africa, Sudan and Zimbabwe that access to the service will be cut off by the end of the month. Starlink is not authorized to operate in those countries but users, going through unauthorized resellers, have found ways to use Starlink in those and other places. SpaceX has come under scrutiny for allowing use of Starlink by the Russian military in occupied regions of Ukraine as well as by militia groups in Sudan. [Wall Street Journal]
A former SpaceX executive is reportedly starting a venture capital fund. Incorporation and trademark filings revealed the existence of Interlagos Capital, a new company with plans to pursue venture capital services. Among its founders is Tom Ochinero, a SpaceX senior vice president who left the company earlier this year, along with another former SpaceX employee, Achal Upadhyaya, who most recently had been at investment firm Cantos. [TechCrunch]
| | Free Lunch (for Astronauts)
"Almost immediately, she instituted a strict company policy: Astronauts eat free."
– From a report on Olivia Huynh, the 12-year-old proprietor of Rocketbelly, a "space-themed bubble tea and chicken joint" in Arlington, Texas. Retired NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy was the first to qualify for the free meal when he visited recently, but insisted on paying. [WFAA-TV Dallas]
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