Space

One builds weapons in order that they are not used. Thus goes the central premise of deterrence theory, which says it is the credible threat of aggression – not the use of aggression – that will ensure states avoid war. This theory has dominated much of America’s strategic thinking over the past fifty-plus years, but […]

SpaceX is facing a class action lawsuit over allegations that the company pays women and minority employees less than their white and male colleagues. The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court by SpaceX engineer Ashley Foltz, who says she was hired at a salary of $92,000, even though men with similar […]

Umbra, Capella Space and GHGSat are among the seven companies that will provide NASA with commercial satellite imagery, part of an acquisition program that has a maximum potential value of $476 million across all providers. The contract duration is five years, with an option to extend it by six months. Maxar’s intelligence division, PlanetIQ, Spire […]

In this issue: Mining water on the moon with Starpath Robotics, news from Blue Origin, SpaceX and more.

Japanese space company ispace has invested over $40 million in its new U.S. subsidiary to-date, as it looks to take advantage of growing investment from NASA and the Pentagon in technologies for the moon. The level of investment is a mark of ispace’s “strong commitment to the U.S. market,” CEO Takeshi Hakamada said in a […]

SpaceX won its first contract for Starshield, the defense-focused version of its Starlink satellite internet service, from the U.S. Space Force. The one-year contract has a maximum value of $70 million, a U.S. Air Force representative told Bloomberg. The contract “provides for Starshield end-to-end service via the Starlink constellation, user terminals, ancillary equipment, network management […]

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has closed the investigation into a mishap that occurred last September during a launch of Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle, with the regulator saying that Blue must implement 21 corrective actions before it can fly New Shepard again. New Shepard was grounded after a September 2022 launch ended with an […]

Sierra Space has raised $290 million in a Series B round to scale its Dream Chaser spaceplane and commercial space station projects, bringing its valuation to $5.3 billion. The company has now raised $1.7 billion to date, a record-setting figure for investment for a commercial space company, Sierra said in a statement. The equity round […]

Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith is retiring at the end of the year and his replacement is coming from Jeff Bezos’ other company. Dave Limp, an Amazon veteran who had planned to step down from his role as head of the company’s consumer devices division, is taking over the CEO spot. Limp, who was the […]

In this issue: Firefly Aerospace conquered the night, news from Varda Space and more