 | Top Stories
Astranis has raised $200 million to fully fund development of a new broadband satellite design. Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz co-led the Series D funding round with investment firm BAM Elevate, bringing the total raised by Astranis to $750 million. The company will use the funding to complete the development of Omega, a spacecraft slightly larger than its existing line of small GEO satellites but still small enough that 12 could fit on a single Falcon 9. The Omega satellites will have five times the throughput of its earlier satellites. Astranis has not disclosed any customers yet for Omega. [SpaceNews]
SES won a U.S. Army contract to provide managed satcom services. The $3.6 million contract to SES Space & Defense, the U.S. arm of the Luxembourg-based operator, is part of a pilot program initiated by the Army in September to explore "satcom as a managed service," a departure from traditional military contracts for satellite capacity. Under this model, SES will deliver comprehensive services including satellite capacity, ground infrastructure and network management. The Army selected SES and Intelsat for the awards in September but only now disclosed the value of the SES contract. [SpaceNews]
A startup proposing to beam power to satellites has raised more than $12 million in seed funding. Star Catcher announced Wednesday the $12.25 million seed round co-led by Initialized Capital and B Capital. The company, founded by two former Made In Space executives and a space investor, is proposing to set up a network of spacecraft that can beam sunlight to other satellites, allowing their solar panels to generate more power. Potential applications for Star Catcher's solar energy delivery service include synthetic aperture radar satellites and direct-to-device communications constellations. The seed round will allow the company to conduct ground- and space-based demonstrations of the technology. [SpaceNews]
Engine manufacturer Ursa Major opened a new 3D-printing center in Ohio. The facility will focus on accelerating material development and qualification processes for aerospace applications of additive manufacturing. Colorado-based Ursa Major chose Ohio for the facility based on access to materials, suppliers and an existing ecosystem of additive manufacturing companies. Ursa Major said its new facility represents a $14.5 million capital investment, including $4 million from a JobsOhio grant. [SpaceNews]
New Frontier Aerospace has performed the first tests of an engine it plans to eventually use on high-speed point-to-point vehicles. The company's chairman said at the Farnborough International Airshow Tuesday that it successfully hotfired its Mjölnir engine last week for the first time. The engine used an advanced full-flow staged combustion engine design, like SpaceX's Raptor, although with far less thrust. New Frontier proposes to use the engine to power vehicles for hypersonic intercontinental flights that will carry cargo and, eventually, people. [SpaceNews]
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| Other News
Sierra Space has conducted a second burst test of a full-sized space station module. The company announced Thursday it performed the test last month at the Marshall Space Flight Center, exceeding NASA safety margins by more than 20%. The result was similar to the first test the company conducted last December. Sierra Space is developing the inflatable module for the Orbital Reef commercial space station, with this test serving as a milestone in a NASA award to support its development. The company also plans to fly the module on a pathfinder mission before the end of the decade. [SpaceNews]
The Artemis 2 core stage is now in Florida. The stage was unloaded from its barge at the Kennedy Space Center Wednesday and moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building. It was shipped last week from the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, where it was built. At KSC, the stage will undergo some final work before being integrated with other elements of the Space Launch System and the Orion spacecraft for the mission, slated for no earlier than next September. [Florida Today]
Blue Origin announced Wednesday the crew for its next New Shepard suborbital flight. The six-person NS-26 crew includes Rob Ferl, a University of Florida scientist who will conduct microgravity research on the flight. Another member of the crew is Karsen Kitchen, a University of North Carolina student who is the daughter of Jim Kitchen, who flew on an earlier New Shepard flight. The company has not announced a date for the launch. [Blue Origin]
Rocket Lab has set a July 30 date for its next Electron launch. The company said the launch will carry a radar imaging satellite for Japanese company Synspective. It will be the fifth of 16 launches Rocket Lab is conducting for Synspective, each carrying an individual satellite. The launch was previously scheduled for earlier this month with a Capella Space radar imaging satellite on board, but Capella requested the launch be postponed to perform additional tests on the spacecraft. [Rocket Lab]
| |  | Now About Those Wishes…
"Launch is only going to continue to grow. This genie will not go back in the bottle."
– Kelvin Coleman, FAA associate administrator for commercial space transportation, discussing growth of launch activity and its effects on airspace access at the Farnborough International Airshow on Tuesday.
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