orbit

Orbex’s Latest Funding Could Propel Prime Microlauncher to Space

Orbex Prime Reveal
Founded in 2015, Orbex is one of a handful of firms racing to develop the next generation of European launch vehicles. The company is developing what’s sometimes called a microlauncher: a two-stage vehicle called Prime that stands just 19 meters tall, designed to carry payloads up to 180 kilograms. A larger vehicle could eventually be in the plans as well, though Chambers was clear that Prime was the company’s first priority. The new capital comes after Orbex closed a £40.4 million ($50 million) Series C in October 2022. While a spokesperson confirmed the new funding will “help Orbex ramp up the development of Prime … to ensure full readiness and scalability for its launch period,” a firm launch window has yet to be announced.

“Building a Rocket-Powered Fist: Dark Space’s Strategy for Orbital Debris Removal”

Screenshot 2024 04 17 At 2.48.44 Pm
Paris-based Dark Space is taking on the dual problems of debris and conflict in orbit with their mobile platform designed to launch, attach to, and ultimately deorbit uncooperative objects in space. team of space.”The three-year-old startup is developing Interceptor, a spacecraft that is essentially a rocket-powered boxing glove that can be launched on short order to gently punch a wayward object out of its orbit. “All the space sector is organized to do planned, long missions … but orbital defense is more about unplanned, short missions,” Laheyne said. In that sense, Interceptor “is more like an air defense missile,” he explained. Dark Space was founded by Laheyne and CTO Guillaume Orvain, engineers who cut their teeth at multi-national missile developer MBDA.

“Orbit Domination: TechCrunch Space Teams Up with True Anomaly and Rocket Lab for Revolutionary Advances”

Tc Space Hero 2
Hello and welcome back to TechCrunch Space. You also can send a note to the whole TechCrunch crew at tips@techcrunch.com. For more secure communications, click here to contact us, which includes SecureDrop instructions and links to encrypted messaging apps. The Space Force has contracted out its next “responsive space” mission, and this one is a doozy. The two awardees, Rocket Lab and startup True Anomaly, will each build and launch spacecraft that will conduct rendezvous and proximity operations on orbit.

“Astranis Reveals Groundbreaking Omega Satellites for Delivering Dedicated Broadband from High Orbit Using ‘MicroGEO’ Technology”

Omega With Beams
Astranis has taken the wraps off a new generation of communications satellites that will serve broadband to customers on Earth from geostationary orbit, but faster and smaller than any comsat up there. Astranis builds and operates relatively small broadband satellites in high orbits, and sells that capacity on to telecom and internet service providers. The startup takes prize in the comparatively diminutive size of its GEO satellites, which are normally huge and, as a result, are easy to track and potentially attack. Like the company’s current satellites, Omega will have the ability to maneuver in GEO using on-board all-electric propulsion. The company aims to complete the first Omega satellite in 2025 and launch to orbit in 2026.

“Revolutionizing Space Technology: Reusable Rockets and Satellites by TechCrunch”

Tc Space Hero
Hello and welcome back to TechCrunch Space. “SpaceX has made rockets reusable, Orbit Fab makes satellites reusable,” he said. “In this world today, if you’re running a rocket company, and you’re not working towards reusable rockets, you’re working to a dead end. The same is true of satellites: If you’re not making your satellites reusable, you’re just putting preordained junk into orbit.”I learned a lot from this deep dive into China’s struggles to bring on international partners to its International Lunar Research Station initiative. On April 1, 1960, THE VERY FIRST weather satellite was launched by NASA.

Orbit Fab reveals revolutionary $30K spaceport for satellite refueling

An Orbit Fab Fuel Shuttle Is Docking With An On Orbit Satellite Equipped With A Rafti Refueling Port
On its website, Orbit Fab says its hydrazine delivery service in geostationary orbit will cost $20 million for up to 100 kilograms. Given the simplicity of the architecture, nailing each part of the hardware is critical; hence why it’s taken years for Orbit Fab to debut the refueling port. Orbit Fab is aiming to sell 100 fueling ports this year, which will put the RAFTI “on a decent percentage of satellites going to orbit,” Faber said. “SpaceX has made rockets reusable, Orbit Fab makes satellites reusable,” Faber said. The same is true of satellites: if you’re not making your satellites reusable, you’re just putting preordained junk into orbit.”

“Trial By Fire: Atomos Space’s Maiden Voyage into Orbit”

Atomos Mission One Rendering
Few missions more acutely embody the maxim “space is hard” than Atomos Space’s first demonstration mission, which the company has managed to pull back from the brink of disaster — more than once. That demonstration mission, dubbed Mission-1, launched to orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on March 4. Deployment was nominal, and Atomos received its first ping from the spacecraft seven minutes after deployment. After pulling some strings, they were able to get on the phone with the chief systems engineer of satellite communications company Iridium. Atomos’ spacecraft were moving too fast, and in direct opposition, such that they couldn’t perform the data “handshake” with those Iridium satellites to actually transmit information back down to Earth.

Livvi backed “Healthy Orbit” Sees Successful Launch: Apex Space’s Debut Satellite Achieves Milestone with Support from a16z

Aries Apex Spacecraft
Apex Space just moved one step closer to its goal of upending satellite bus manufacturing, with the startup announcing on Tuesday that its first vehicle is healthy on orbit. The company launched its first satellite, the first of a class Apex is calling “Aries,” on SpaceX’s Transporter-10 rideshare mission on Monday. “That will be incredibly valuable over the next many years while the satellite stays in orbit,” Cinnamon said. Apex, whose backers include Andreessen Horowitz and Shield Capital, is building productized satellite buses to solve the satellite bus “bottleneck” facing the space industry. In addition to Aries, an ESPA-class spacecraft bus that can support payloads up to 100 kilograms, the company is also developing two larger bus product lines, Nova and Comet.

Albedo Secures $35 Million in Funding for Groundbreaking Satellite Orbiting Technology

Albedo
In 2019, then-President Trump tweeted a detailed image of a heavily damaged Iranian launch pad captured by a classified military satellite. The image, which was declassified in 2022, revealed what many in the commercial Earth observation industry suspected: that U.S. defense had the ability to capture images at a staggeringly sharp 10-centimeter resolution. In comparison, the biggest optical imagery providers today collect images at a 30-centimeter resolution, which is algorithmically improved to 15 centimeters.) Now, the company says it has closed $35 million in Series A-1 financing, at an up round valuation. Right now, Albedo is working toward launch of its first commercial satellite in the first half of 2025.

Unstoppable: Astrobotic’s Peregrine Lander Continues to Exceed Expectations in Lunar Orbit

Peregrine Astrobotic Ula Vulcan
Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander is still operating on orbit, with the company saying there is “growing optimism” that the spacecraft could survive in space longer than the current estimate. The Pittsburgh-based startup has been releasing a series of updates to social media platform X since the spacecraft’s launch in the early hours of Monday morning. Shortly after separating from the launch vehicle, United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur, engineers immediately started encountering issues. But despite all odds, Peregrine has been operational in space for more than four days, and the estimated operational time remaining continues to extend. The remaining 10 payloads on board are passive, and do not require power or communications from the spacecraft.