launch

“India Paves the Way for a Revolutionary Spaceport, Focused on Small-Scale Launches”

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It will be second after the space agency’s existing Satish Dhawan Space Centre, founded in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota in 1971, with two launch pads. The spaceport will be dedicated to launching smaller launch vehicles and will be ready in about two years, ISRO chairman S Somanath said on the sidelines of the event in Tamil Nadu. Spread over 2,350 acres, the Kulasekharapatnam spaceport will help save fuel for small rocket launches as the port can launch rockets directly south over the Indian Ocean without requiring crossing landmasses. “This facility will play an instrumental role in accommodating the increasing launch frequency of both ISRO and the growing private space industry in the coming years. Bhatt, director general of the Indian Space Association.

SECO Stage Separation Test Sparks FAA Investigation of Second Starship Burn Trial

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The Federal Aviation Administration has concluded its review of SpaceX’s investigation of the second Starship launch in November, with the regulator saying Monday that it accepted the “root causes and 17 corrective actions” identified by the company. While this means the investigation is now closed, SpaceX must implement all the corrective actions and apply for a modified launch license before it can fly Starship again. When any rocket launch encounters catastrophic issues during flight, the FAA opens what’s known as a “mishap investigation” — that’s what’s happened here. After the first test, the FAA directed SpaceX to complete 63 corrective actions. “More Starships are ready to fly, putting flight hardware in a flight environment to learn as quickly as possible.

“Blue Origin Unveils New Glenn on Launch Pad Prior to Test Flight”

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The test version of the rocket is all Blue Origin hardware, but not all of it will necessarily end up going to space. Tests are anticipated to take at least a week, Blue Origin CEO David Limp said on LinkedIn. (The BE-4 engines gained flight heritage earlier this year, when they powered United Launch Alliance’s first Vulcan Centaur rocket launch.) The 320-foot-tall launch vehicle is Blue Origin’s first heavy-lift rocket, designed to launch more than 45 tons of payload to low Earth orbit. Blue Origin has also scored launches for telecom providers Telecast and Eutelsat for later this decade.

Frost Giant Embraces Community Capital as VC Gaming Investments Dwindle

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Frost Giant, a venture-backed startup building a real-time strategy (RTS) game called Stormgate, is turning to its community to top up its coffers ahead of the game’s launch this year. The venture capital market for gaming companies has retreated sharply since Frost Giant last raised money (a $25 million Series A back in 2022). Thus far, Frost Giant has picked up $611,421 in reservations for its community fundraise on its Start Engine page. Reg CF offerings are limited to $5 million, so Frost Giant has a hard cap on how much it can raise. We got a similar peek into Substack’s financials when it raised capital from its community last year, and we’ll get a similar influx of data from Frost Giant.

First round of funding secured for the launch of Zūm Rails’ revolutionary banking-as-a-service and FedNow solutions

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Milewski and Schwartz bootstrapped Zūm Rails, building it up to a team of 30 people. “We reached the point where we realize that bootstrapping is no longer healthy for our business,” Schwartz told TechCrunch. In addition, Zūm Rails is working on a FedNow offering in the U.S. that will enable businesses to send and receive FDIC-insured payments within seconds. Zūm Rails’ performance to date “is really impressive,” Jake Olson, vice president at Arthur Ventures, told TechCrunch. Any organization that views the streamline digital financial interaction coupled with the instant payments capability as a competitive advantage will be a great fit for Zūm Rails.”

“Introducing Amazon’s Exclusive Value Fashion Store in India”

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“Your products will be featured in a special store on Amazon, making them easy for customers to find,” the company wrote in the communication. TechCrunch reported earlier this month, citing job recruitment posts, that Amazon was looking to expand its focus on fast fashion. Top player Flipkart leads the category but faces mounting competition from Ambani’s Ajio, which has amassed about 30% market share, according to research firm Bernstein. The fashion market is extremely fragmented offline, and the online market is seeing similar trends with multiple players emerging to gain share. (Amazon is instead doubling down on AWS in India, and plans to deploy $12.7 billion in the cloud business in the country by 2030.)

“Maintain Your Privacy on Signal: Introducing Usernames to Secure Your Phone Number”

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Up until now, you have had to give someone your phone number to chat with them on Signal. Signal still requires a phone number when registering for the app. Instead, they’re just a quick way to connect with someone on the app without sharing your phone number. However, if you still want people to see your phone number when you message them, you can change the default setting in your “Phone Number” settings. Signal is also introducing a new privacy setting that will let you control who can find you on the app with your phone number.

Space Perspective proposes to use balloons for an exhilarating journey to the highest reaches of the skies, leaving rockets behind.

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The husband-and-wife duo departed World View in 2018; the following year, they started another balloon company, Space Perspective, this time squarely focused on ultra-high-altitude tourism. Space Perspective, which aims to commence commercial service as soon as the end of this year, is entering a nascent market: its closest competitors are Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin, which offer rides to suborbital space. There’s duration: a flight on New Shepard takes 11 minutes from lift-off to landing; Space Perspective’s will last six hours. Simultaneously, Space Perspective is working with the U.S. Coast Guard, which maintains regulatory authority over space-related activities that occur in water. One notable difference is development costs: Space Perspective has raised $77 million from investors since 2019, while Virgin Galactic has spent more than $1 billion developing its system.

“Hexa Start-up Studio Recruits Former Doctolib Executive to Pioneer Health Division”

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Hexa, the Paris-based startup studio that recently raised $22 million, is launching a new vertical focused on improving the healthcare system. Julien Méraud, a senior team member of the French unicorn startup Doctolib, is joining the startup studio . After a while, startups “graduate” from the startup studio and continue their life as independent companies — Hexa keeps a stake in its portfolio companies. As Hexa starts to branch out to other verticals, the startup studio is also rethinking its strategy. For the health vertical, Hexa is not only hiring Julien Méraud.

Opera to Debut Revolutionary iOS Browser in Europe with Advanced AI Technology After Apple’s DMA Updates

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Opera revealed today that it will launch a new AI-powered browser built on its own engine for iOS in Europe. The changes will allow developers to offer browsers that are not based on the WebKit browser engine. Opera says the changes will allow it to provide iPhone users with an AI-powered alternative to Safari. Last year, Opera introduced its “Aria” browser AI and redesigned its flagship desktop browser and called it Opera One, which will also be the name of the new iOS browser. At the time, Opera said the new browser has elements that will make it ready for a “generative AI-based future.”