kilograms

Latitude, an emerging French startup, secures impressive $30M in Series B funding for small launch endeavors

5 Latitude Zephyr Launcher Navier Engines Cluster
French small launch developer Latitude has closed $30 million in new capital as it eyes the first flight of its Zephyr rocket in 2025. While other rocket companies are going bigger, developing even more massive rockets, Latitude is taking a different approach: light, small, and hopefully cheap enough to beat out competitors. Its first rocket, Zephyr, will stand at just 62 feet and will be capable of delivering up to 100 kilograms of payload to low Earth orbit. The two-stage rocket will be powered by eight 3D-printed engines called Navier, which Latitude is developing in-house. In a statement, Latitude CEO and cofounder Stanislas Maximin said 2024 would be a “pivotal year” before Zephyr’s first flight in 2025.

Venture-Backed Apex Space Unveils State-of-the-Art Manufacturing Facility to Boost Production of Satellite Buses

Apex Factoryone Foundersloadingdock
When Apex Space emerged from stealth last October, the company had a provocative goal: remove the “new bottleneck” hitting the space industry by manufacturing satellite buses at scale. To get there, Apex announced today that it has opened a new headquarters and production facility in California that will eventually scale up to manufacture 50 satellite platforms annually. Apex wants to disrupt one of the more entrenched parts of the space industry. In general, satellite buses have been built to order at a very high cost and with very long lead times. Apex is planning on flying its first Aries on SpaceX’s Transporter-10 ride-share mission scheduled for the first quarter of next year.

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