Plus: Artemis 2 flies around the moon
By Jeff Foust
In this today's edition: Artemis 2 flies around the moon, Starfish Space raises more than $100 million for satellite servicing vehicles, Earth observation companies race to return images and more.
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Top Stories
Artemis 2 is on its way home after swinging around the moon. The Orion spacecraft made its closest approach to the moon at 7 p.m. Eastern Monday, around the same time it set the record for the furthest crewed mission from Earth at 406,771 kilometers. The four astronauts spent several hours during the flyby observing the moon, reporting on their observations while also taking images for later downlinks to Earth. After the flyby, the crew also spoke with President Trump and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. The Orion spacecraft is performing well and on track for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on Friday evening. [SpaceNews]
Starfish Space has raised more than $100 million to scale up production of satellite servicing vehicles. The company announced a Series B round Tuesday led by Point72 Ventures and co-led by Activate Capital and Shield Capital, with participation from several other new and existing investors. The Seattle-based company plans to use the funding to increase production of its Otter line of spacecraft designed for satellite life extension and deorbiting defunct spacecraft. The company has already signed several customers, such as the U.S. Space Force and satellite operator SES, for Otter missions scheduled to launch starting later this year. [SpaceNews]
Earth observation companies are working to rapidly deliver images from their satellites. Data latency, the time between image capture and delivery, has long been a key metric for Earth observation customers, but customers are pushing operators to decrease latency in order to obtain real-time intelligence. Two years ago, government customers called for image delivery in 60-90 minutes, but those same offices are now pushing contractors to provide data in minutes. Companies are scrutinizing every aspect of their businesses from satellite design and construction to launch, commissioning, tasking, ground-station networks and image processing. [SpaceNews]
Spanish smallsat startup FOSSA Systems is pushing into Japan's defense market after securing a local partner to expand its reach. FOSSA opened a Tokyo office and signed a distribution agreement with Kanematsu, a conglomerate with a significant presence in Japan's aerospace and defense market. FOSSA develops its satellites in-house and was initially focused on spacecraft weighing less than a kilogram to provide Internet of Things services. The company is now building larger 3U and 6U cubesats, some of which carry dedicated customer payloads for signals intelligence. FOSSA also recently joined NATO's Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) to advance its dual-use commercial and government technologies. [SpaceNews]
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Other News
SpaceX launched more Starlink satellites Monday night. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 10:50 p.m. Eastern, putting 25 Starlink satellites into orbit on the first flight of a new booster. The twilight launch created a backlit plume visible throughout much of southern California. [Noozhawk]
SpaceX plans to give retail investors a bigger role in its upcoming IPO. The company is laying out plans for its initial public offering, including a traditional "roadshow" of presentations to institutional investors scheduled for early June. However, SpaceX also plans to give smaller retail investors an opportunity to participate in the IPO, with up to 30% of the shares available for sale to them. SpaceX will host 1,500 retail investors at an event after the IPO roadshow. [Reuters]
The head of Roscosmos says he is preparing to meet with NASA Administrator Isaacman this summer. Dmitry Bakanov said Monday he expected a face-to-face meeting with Isaacman this summer after a brief video conference earlier this year. Isaacman said in February that he planned to attend the next Soyuz crewed launch to the International Space Station in July, which would be the first time a NASA administrator has gone to a Soyuz launch since 2018. Bakanov said that, at the upcoming meeting, he hopes to discuss "the future prospects of our cooperation." [TASS]
Firefly Aerospace has signed an agreement to study the prospects of sea launches of its Alpha rocket. The company said Monday it signed a memorandum of understanding with Seagate Space to work on the design of a sea-based platform for Alpha launches. Seagate Space is working on an offshore launch platform called Gateway that recently received "approval in principle" from the American Bureau of Shipping. The companies did not disclose any timetables for performing Alpha launches offshore. [Seagate Space]
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The debate the space industry didn't know it needed: Forget delta-v. Forget mass fraction. Forget everything you know about actual spacecraft for one glorious evening. Redwire is crowning the greatest sci-fi spaceship of all time this year at Space Symposium — and YOUR vote decides the battlefield. Vote now. |
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The Other Great One
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"I spoke to a very special person, Wayne Gretzky, who I think you know, the Great One. And I spoke to your prime minister, and many other friends they have in Canada. They are so proud of you, and you have a lot of courage. I'm not sure if they'd want to do that. I'm not even sure if the Great One would want to do that, to be honest with you."
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– President Donald Trump, talking with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen Monday night after Artemis 2 completed its flyby of the moon.
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