Starbridge Weekly Space Update for 11/21/2022

Portfolio Company News

SpaceX

• SpaceX performed its biggest Starship static-fire test to date Monday.

• SpaceX launched a pair of Intelsat satellites Saturday on the final flight of a frequently used booster.

• NASA awarded SpaceX a $1.15 billion contract modification Tuesday for a second Artemis landing mission.

• Several workers fired by SpaceX earlier this year have filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.

GeoOptics

GeoOptics Inc. won a NASA contract to provide researchers with data acquired by the company's small satellite constellation

The NASA contract is worth up to $7M over 5 years to provide researchers with GeoOptics radio occultation data

Axiom

LEOcloud is partnering with Axiom Space on space-based edge computing projects

The two companies will work togethr to develop and deliver space-based cloud services linked to terrestrial cloud computers to 'reduce the timeframe from raw data to actionable insights'.

General Space News

Artemis I Leaves The Pad

It was a busy week for the Moon last week. CAPSTONE successfully entered its near-rectilinear halo orbit, Artemis I  successfully launched Orion on Wednesday,  and Orion performed a critical flyby that put Orion into Lunar orbit.

South Korea’s first lunar mission is also on the way and Japan’s iSpace launches in December. Q1 next year will be even busier as several CLPS companies make an attempt; India and Israel make their second attempt at landing.

The Cislunar Technology Strategy Interagency Working Group of the National Science & Technology Council, as supported by the Office of Science and Technology Policy, published a National CisLunar Science and Technology Strategy last week. An initial read shows a fair number of recommendations but few hard specifics since any funding or regulations would still need to go through an Agency or Congress. While there is little that appears heavy-handed, the details necessary to translate policy into action are so limited that we will reserve judgment on the importance of the report.

Other Space News

• Satellite servicing startup Starfish Space plans to launch its first demonstration mission next year.

• The leader of a Venus mission facing a three-year delay is lobbying for a reprieve.

• AST SpaceMobile says its BlueWalker 3 spacecraft has unfolded its large antenna.

• Three top executives at smallsat manufacturer Terran Orbital have left the company because of its focus on military projects.

• The girlfriend of Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos is planning her own flight to space.

• European space officials are stressing a need for greater autonomy and sovereign capabilities in the wake of geopolitical trends and developments.

• South Korea's first lunar mission has demonstrated "space internet" technologies on its way to the moon.

• Established and emerging companies have differing views on how the European launch sector should evolve.

• Apple plans to expand its satellite-based SOS iPhone service to Europe.

• Boeing is reorganizing the part of the company that handles space and defense work.

• The Japanese government has formally agreed to extend participation on the International Space Station through 2030.

• NASA said Thursday a test flight of an inflatable heat shield last week was a success.

• Microsoft is rolling out software to make it easier to develop space-related applications.

• A Japanese commercial lunar lander is now scheduled for launch late this month.

• An Indian startup successfully launched a suborbital rocket Friday.

• An Exit Interview With Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson 

Starbridge Weekly Space Update for 11/14/2022

Portfolio Company News

SpaceX

UK grants Starlink and Telesat NGSO licenses

British regulator, Ofcom, granted SpaceX and Telesat competing licenses to expand their constellation’s into non-geostationary orbit (NGSO).

A former Tesla executive is now working on SpaceX's Starship program.

A shuffle at SpaceX occurred over the weekend as Elon shifted his attention fully to Twitter. Starbase operations are now being managed by SpaceX president and COO Gwynne Shotwell and vice president Mark Juncosa. Starship operations are now being led by Omead Afshar, a Texas-based Tesla operations lead (This has to be the strangest update we’ve written).

General Space News

Astra lays off 16% to focus on spacecraft thrusters and new rocket

Astra Space (NASDAQ: AST) is laying off one-sixth of its workforce, a move the company’s leadership says is needed to focus its resources on production of spacecraft electric thrusters and development of a new launch vehicle. The company has not released a plan for preventing its delisting as its price has been below $1/share for weeks.

Maxar acquires Wovenware as it pursues growth in gaming and media
Wovenware was acquired for its expertise in 3D geospatial technology and machine learning. In particular Maxar intends on using the company’s 3D geospatial intelligence systems to increase the value of Maxar’s new optical imagery products in non-traditional EO markets such as gaming, media, entertainment, and virtual reality. 

Initial inspections of the Space Launch System and Orion rocket show only "very minor" damage so far after the passage of Hurricane Nicole Thursday.

The number of exceptions to normally hard and fast rules by NASA with respect to this first SLS launch suggest a possible bad case of ‘go fever’. But at the same time everyone involved must understand how critical it is that this flight work given the money behind it. The SLS launch plus the eminent test launch of the first Starship illustrates just how focused of an inflection point we are experiencing in the space industry. 

Military Spaceplane Returns Home, After 900+ Days in Space - Payload

The X37-B flights by DoD illustrate how badly DoD wanted its own space capability and how useful it might have been if it had had one much earlier. Of note on this flight was a microwave power beaming experiment that many space solar power advocates point to as the first tests of future systems. X37-B flights are never publicized so there is no news on when the 7th flight is expected or what it will be carrying.

“Dark ships” emerge from the shadow of the Nord Stream pipeline mystery

According to analyst's at SpaceKnow, two large "dark ships" appeared near the gas leaks on the Nord Stream in the Baltic Sea with their Automatic Identification System (AIS) transceivers turned off back in September. Sabotage has been long suspected and multiple countries investigating the incident believe the pipelines were rocked by a series of explosions; possibly from Russia though they have denied involvement. SpaceKnow completed their analysis through scouring 90days worth of archived satellite images of the area using multiple satellite systems.

AEI Closes Acquisition of Majority Stake in York Space Systems

AEI acquisition of York and the incorporation of York’s senior leadership into AEI leadership is a strong indication that AEI’s industry rollup is far from complete. What isn’t known yet is whether York will be incorporated into Redwire or left outside. Redwire’s stock price suggests that York may stay within AEI for the foreseeable future as Redwire struggles to meet expectations by both AEI and the markets.

Other Space News

• Intelsat is buying a small geostationary satellite from 3D printing specialists Swissto12.

• Inmarsat Government announced Monday it won a $410 million, five-year contract extension to provide connectivity for U.S. Army devices.

• A Space Force general says it's "absolutely vital" that the Commerce Department succeed at taking over civil space traffic management (STM) work.

• A federal judge will allow parts of a shareholder lawsuit against Virgin Galactic to proceed.

• Lunar lander company ispace has secured a license for its upcoming mission from the Japanese government.

• Astra is laying off 16% of its staff as it focuses on producing spacecraft electric thrusters and developing a new launch vehicle.

• A Cygnus spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station early Wednesday despite one solar array not deploying.

• A Chinese cargo spacecraft undocked from the country's space station early Wednesday.

• Redwire has named Mike Gold as its new chief growth officer.

• Rocket Lab will conduct its first Electron launch from Virginia next month.

• Rocket Lab separately announced Wednesday a $14 million contract to provide separation systems for a Space Development Agency (SDA) constellation.

• The Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) awarded a $72 million contract to Advanced Space to develop a cislunar space situational awareness spacecraft.

• The Space Force's Space Development Agency (SDA) remains optimistic it will launch its first set of satellites next month.

• Apple revealed Thursday it's spending $450 million to provide a satellite-based "emergency SOS" service for its latest iPhones.

• Divers looking for a World War II-era aircraft instead found debris from the shuttle Challenger.

• JetBlue Selects Tomorrow.io for Weather Forecasting - Via Satellite

Starbridge Weekly Space Update for 11/7/2022

Portfolio Company News

Axiom

Saudi astronauts to fly on Ax-2 mission to ISS

NASA confirmed Axiom will be flying 2 astronauts from Saudi Arabia to the ISS on a private mission spring of 2023. They will be accompanied by Peggy Whitson and John Shoffner on the Ax-2 mission. There is some controversy related to this mission due to the current dustup between the Biden Administration and Saudi Arabia over OPEC's refusal to increase oil output.

General Space News

FCC proposes new bureau for space activities

FCC Chairwoman, Jessica Rosenworcel, announced her intent to reorganize the commission’s International Bureau into a new Space Bureau and a standalone Office of International Affairs to give satellite licensing and regulatory work greater prominence and access to more resources. The push back from other agencies who feel that the FCC is overstepping its mandate, possibly even illegally, was muted but still voiced. The jurisdictional fight over space regulations is only going to get worse in 2023. 

The timing of the FCC's announcement was of particular interest since it comes just two weeks before the National Space Council's 'listening tour' for how to solve some of the industry's regulatory issues and who might be in charge of those. The consensus across the industry is that what is needed is clarity more than new regulations.

Some Key Space Advocates Are Leaving Congress in 2023 - Payload

While some may already be aware that notable Senate and House committee Chairs such as Richard Shelby and Eddie Bernice Johnson are retiring at the end of this Congress, there are numerous other retirements and election losses that will have a significant impact on space policy. The most significant one will be whether there are any changes in party control of the House or Senate. But beyond that the Alabama Senate delegation’s space representation was all but gutted when Mo Brooks was primaried. It will be very interesting to see how this affects the historical strength of Huntsville, AL. Ed Perlmutter’s (D-Colorado) departure means that Congresses primary advocate for Mars is gone. And with Peter DiFazio retiring at the Transportation Committee, the fight over where space regulatory policy lives changes rather drastically. As one lobbyist noted recently, “This is the largest generational transfer of power in Congress since the Reagan administration.”

VCs go outside their comfort zone with bets on defense tech

Investors have begun flocking to portfolio companies with more of a "dual use" case where satellites, robotics, and software tools double as military and commercial technologies. The sector is on track to surpass last year's record deal value of $7.6 billion according to PitchBook data and contrasts with a slowing pace of investments in other sectors. Many investors, including Starbridge, are also looking for “dual use” in the form of space and terrestrial business models. A diverse customer base is a key strategy for thriving during economic downturns.

China’s mystery spaceplane releases object into orbit                  

China had the second launch of their secretive reusable experimental spacecraft back on Aug 4th and the Space Force recently tracked an object close to the spacecraft. China previously released an object from the spacecraft before deorbiting during its first mission in Sept 2020. It is still unknown what this space object’s purpose is. 

Arianespace partners with Australian space tug startup

Arianespace is working with Australian startup Space Machines Company (SMC) to explore compatibility between their rockets and SMC'S orbital transfer vehicles (OTV). SMC plans on launching their first OTV, Optimus-1, in 2023 and plans to carry Australian customer payloads to their final orbital destinations. 

Rocket Lab launches Swedish satellite, fails to catch booster

Rocket Labs' 2nd attempt to recover its rocket booster mid-air via a helicopter equipped with a hook designed to grapple the rocket's parachute failed due to a telemetry problem. The launch and recovery took place out of their Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. The booster was later recovered in the water.

Other Space News

• An independent review of the problems that delayed the launch of NASA's Psyche asteroid mission found more fundamental issues at the center developing it.

• Why Apex Believes the Satellite Bus Sector Is Ripe for Innovation - Payload

• The DIU partnered with AWS, Kuiper Government Solutions, Microsoft Azure, and SpiderOak Mission Systems to demonstrate space-based communications using interconnected commercial and government networks.

• Two Saudi Arabian astronauts will fly to the International Space Station on a private astronaut mission next year.

• The Space Force is funding a project to study the use of artificial intelligence to predict satellite failures.

• Gen. B. Chance Saltzman assumed command of the U.S. Space Force Wednesday.

• Russia launched a missile warning satellite Wednesday.

• The CAPSTONE lunar cubesat mission is closing in on the moon.

• A Chinese space station lab module is now open for business.

• NASA rolled out the Space Launch System vehicle to the pad overnight.

• The NRO plans to soon release an RFP for commercial hyperspectral imagery.

• The head of the Office of Space Commerce said development of a civil space traffic management (STM) system will be gradual process.

• NASA and Boeing have delayed the crewed test flight of the CST-100 Starliner to April 2023.

• Spire Global Unveils Solution for Dark Shipping Detection

Starbridge Weekly Space Update for 10/31/2022

Portfolio Company News

SpaceX

SpaceX launches Falcon Heavy, the world’s most powerful rocket, on Space Force mission

SpaceX Passes Boeing

Ars Technica reported that in the Federal fiscal year 2022, SpaceX became NASA’s second-largest contract behind CalTech which operates the Jet Propulsion Lab for NASA. The result is that Boeing is no longer NASA’s largest contractor. In FY 2022 NASA paid SpaceX $2.04 billion while Boeing only received $1.72 billion and Lockheed Martin received $1.3 billion. This comes as Boeing reports that it took another charge against earnings because of CST-100 Starliner delays. Turning the giant ship of state takes time but they do eventually turn.

• NASA expects SpaceX will be ready to perform the first orbital launch attempt of its Starship vehicle as soon as early December.

• SpaceX has started taking preorders for a flat panel antenna that enables land vehicles to use its Starlink broadband service while in motion.

• SpaceX performed a static-fire test of a Falcon Heavy rocket launching a classified payload.

• NASA has added a landing to a future Artemis mission previously devoted to lunar Gateway assembly.

General Space News

Regulatory Humility

At the CONFER Global Satellite Servicing Forum meeting late last week, member companies and CONFERS organizers were clear that there was a need for some limited and voluntary standards but cautioned that premature standards and regulations could hamstring the industry. This was primarily in response to the National Space Council scheduling two listening sessions in November to gauge what is needed. 

Public vs Private Markets: Information Asymmetry

Ever since the market downturn began earlier this year there has been a steady stream of press describing the imminent death of the commercial space sector. Much of that press reflects the fact that private equity markets benefit from a significant information asymmetry with public markets. One exception is when companies such as Pitchbook, a specialist in private equity databases and analytics, use their superior knowledge of actual deal details to briefly break down that information asymmetry. In their recent report on mid-year performance within the space sector, their data suggests that the sector is positioned to match or outperform 2021 in terms of funded space sector deals. Yes, general economic sentiment is affecting round pricing in some cases. Some firms are even postponing their next raise until mid-next year if possible. The primary lesson to learn from Pitchbook’s report is that SPAC performance is not a valid proxy for the sector.

Commercial Companies As Defense Assets

While Russia has signaled its intent to stay in the ISS Partnership until 2027, it has ratcheted up its rhetoric with respect to US commercial companies being treated as military assets. Konstantin Vorontsov, deputy director of the Russian foreign ministry's department for non-proliferation and arms, said at a United Nations meeting, “Quasi-civilian infrastructure may be a legitimate target for a retaliatory strike”. Vorontsov went on to reiterate Moscow’s position that Western civilian and commercial satellites helping Ukrainian’s war effort were “an extremely dangerous trend.” While not unexpected, this is the first time Russia has said its position out loud and in public.

The trend will continue though as the recently published US National Defense Strategy outlined that the DoD will continue to depend on commercial providers for all of its needs, space included. When it does depend on them it will prepare to defend them if necessary. White House spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday that any attack on U.S. infrastructure would be met with a response but he did not go into detail.

Other Space News

Readers have probably noticed that we are including more news reports from Payload Space. The team at Payload is doing one of the best jobs around at reporting on what is actually happening in the space business sector.

• Lockheed Martin is investing $100 million in smallsat manufacturer Terran Orbital, which is backing away from the PredaSAR constellation.

• Satellite antenna company SatixFy went public Friday after completing a SPAC merger.

• Blue Origin has delivered the BE-4 engines for the first Vulcan Centaur launch.

• Space data relay company SpaceLink plans to wind down operations barring a last-minute investment.

• NASA has rescheduled the launch of the Psyche asteroid mission for next October.

• A Chinese module docked at the country's space station Monday.

• The first uncrewed launch of India's Gaganyaan human spaceflight program is scheduled for February.

• The Defense Innovation Unit and the U.S. Air Force announced Wednesday that they selected five companies to help build weather models using satellite data and other sources.

• China launched the third module for its space station Monday.

• The Russian government has signed paperwork that would allow missions to the International Space Station to continue through 2027.

• OneWeb resumed deployment of its broadband satellite constellation with a launch from India on Saturday.

• Iridium is providing more details about its direct-to-smartphone services.

• A startup has raised a seed round of funding as a first step in its plans to mass-produce small satellites.

• The FAA has revamped the membership of a commercial space advisory committee.

• A private astronaut mission whose launch slipped to next March could face further delays.

• In-space refueling company Orbit Fab has lined up a new investor.

• Relativity is gearing up for its first Terran 1 launch before the end of the year, if the launch range is available.

• Aerojet Rocketdyne's leadership is considering a sale of the company.

• Partners on the International Space Station are studying how they can participate in future commercial space stations.

• Credit Suisse Initiates A&D Coverage

• Amazon says it would not rule out procuring launches from SpaceX to deploy its Project Kuiper constellation.

• European smallsat manufacturer Gomspace has delayed its financial results after a major customer stopped payments.

• A Q+A with Relativity Boss Tim Ellis on First Launch, Terran R, and More

• Airbus’ HAPS connectivity business signed a strategic partnership with Salam, a Saudi telecom and ICT company, to develop services for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

• BlackSky ($BKSY) won a $10M contract to provide on-demand, real-time imagery services to an international ministry of defense customer in Asia.

• D-Orbit signed a contract with Elecnor Deimos for the launch of cubesat ALISIO-1. The company also signed a contract with ODIN Space to launch an in-orbit technology demonstration to map sub-centimeter debris.

Starbridge Weekly Space Update for 10/24/2022

Starbridge

Michael Mealling addressed the inaugural session of ‘Space Technology: The Next Business Frontier’ Conclave last week at IIT Madras in Chennai, India. The event received some press in the Indian business news.

Portfolio Company News

Lynk

Iridium sheds more light on direct-to-smartphone plan

Iridium says it will also begin supporting occasional communications for emergencies and other unforeseen needs in remote areas, similar to Globalstar’s connectivity for Apple’s iPhone 14. From the article:

James Alderdice, vice president of Asia Pacific for Virginia-based Lynk Global, told the conference his startup has raised $27 million for a constellation of dedicated LEO satellites that would connect directly to unmodified phones. Lynk deployed the first satellite for its operational network in April and expects SpaceX to launch three more before the end of this year to provide initial services. Four satellites would enable users to send and receive text messages about four to eight times a day, depending on their latitude, and Alderdice said Lynk is closing in on a Series B round that would get it to an additional 100 satellites. Lynk expects to have deployed 50 pizza-boxed shaped satellites by the end of 2023, which he said would close the service gap to between 30 and 45 minutes. Alderdice said “continuous service” would require less than a thousand satellites in certain areas.

SpaceX

DoD eyeing options to provide satcom in Ukraine as it continues talks with SpaceX

The Pentagon said it is looking into alternatives to Starlink to provide communications for Ukraine's military. After which, Elon Musk promptly tweeted that SpaceX would continue to cover the cost of Starlink services in Ukraine.

Even the EU is considering supporting Ukrainian Starlink services. The Biden Administration is reportedly considering national security reviews of Starlink and other projects associated with Elon Musk although the White House has denied the reports. In related news, University of Texas at Austin researchers have reverse-engineered Starlink signals to provide a GPS-like navigation service — even without support from SpaceX.

General Space News

Lockheed Martin Holds “Destination: Space 2050” Event in DC

Lockheed hosted their ‘Destination: Space 2050’ event near the Capitol filled with interactive exhibits with lunar and Mars themes. Robert Lightfoot, Lockheed Martin’s Space Chief, noted that they are looking to partner with non-traditional companies or startups to capitalize on capabilities that already exist and that one-third of capital from Lockheed’s corporate VC arm is being invested in space startups.  

Space Force briefing on military space race catches Jeff Bezos’ attention

SMSgt. Ron Lerch, senior enlisted leader of Space Systems Command’s intelligence directorate, conducted a briefing at the Space Industry Days event of unclassified material highlighting Russia and China. Of note: the use of fixed-site and mobile laser systems that could be used to target foreign optical imaging satellites flying over Russian territory; China’s “inspector satellites” Shiyan 12 01 and Shiyan 12 02 and their ability to ‘disperse’; jammers being used in space; more sophisticated cyberattacks; China’s testing of a ‘Fractional Orbital Bombardment System’ (FOBS), a Cold War nuclear-weapons delivery technology combined with a hypersonic glide vehicle; China’s deployment of their Tianlian data relay network in GEO; advanced features in China’s Beidou navigation satellites; and last but not least, of concern to the US is that if China views the cislunar region as a space economic zone, “you’re going to have the celestial equivalent of the South China Seas happening in cislunar space.” 

Credit Suisse Initiates Aerospace & Defense (A&D) Coverage

On Oct 11th, Credit Suisse initiated coverage of the aerospace and defense (A&D) industry. However, the space industry still has to prove itself in the eyes of Credit Suisse:

• The space sector overstates revenue potential while soft-pedaling costs, the deck notes. (For further reading on the matter, see the forward-looking revenue estimates in space SPACs’ investor decks.)

• The industry is headed toward a speculative bubble, reminiscent of one that took place in the 1990s. (For further reading, check out Eccentric Orbits.)

• SpaceX—the poster child of “new space”—has the best shot at commanding most of the industry’s remaining upside, while other promising players have been snapped up by defense primes through M&A and industry consolidation. 

• 11 newly public space companies tracked by Credit Suisse reported $1.3B in operating expenses last year against $335M in sales. High burn rates, shortening runway, and a recessionary environment don’t help the sector’s top- or bottom-line financial prospects.

Other Space News

• A Crew Dragon returned four astronauts to Earth from the International Space Station on Friday. 

• Amazon's Project Kuiper satellites will carry laser terminals to link them to a Defense Department network. 

• It remains difficult to combine data from different Earth observation systems.

• The National Science Foundation (NSF) will not rebuild the giant radio telescope at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.

• China is preparing to launch the final mission to complete its three-module Tiangong space station.

• The Space Force gave a personal briefing to Jeff Bezos about military competition with China in space.

• The Chinese Academy of Sciences is studying several ambitious astrophysics and planetary science missions.

• Mynaric, SA Photonics, Skyloom and Tesat are providing optical communications terminals for Space Development Agency satellites.

• Relativity Space is expanding its engine test facilities at NASA's Stennis Space Center.

• A launch of OneWeb satellites this weekend shows India's growing role in the commercial launch market.

Starbridge Weekly Space Update for 10/14/2022

Portfolio Company News

Axiom

Commercial space station developers seek clarity on regulations

Companies looking to succeed the ISS are requesting more clarity from the federal government on who will be responsible for regulating them and how. No federal agency currently has the authority to provide the authorization and continuing supervision of commercial space stations required under Article 6 of the Outer Space Treaty.

Orbital Sidekick

Orbital Sidekick Selected as Partner for Intelligent Pipeline Integrity Program (iPIPE)

OSK was selected to serve as a technology partner for iPIPE, a consortium dedicated to the advancement of emerging technologies for the prevention and detection of pipeline leaks out of the University of North Dakota’s Energy & Environmental Research Center.

SpaceX

Exclusive: Musk’s SpaceX says it can no longer pay for critical satellite services in Ukraine, asks Pentagon to pick up the tab

Elon Musk tweeted that the operation cost of the ~20,000 Starlink satellites that have been donated to Ukraine has cost SpaceX $80M to date and will exceed $100M by the end of the year. SpaceX sent a letter to the Pentagon asking for funding to continue operating Starlink in Ukraine. However, about 85% of the 20,000 terminals operating in Ukraine have already received full or partial funding from outside sources such as the US, Poland, and other entities.

General Space News

Lockheed Martin Space leader aims to speed things up

Robert Lightfoot, Lockheed Martin lead of their Space Division, spoke at the Satellite Innovation conference this week in Mountain View where he emphasized urgency, they’re trying a new model where they sell a service over time, and also noted that Lockheed Martin Ventures has doubled their fund from $200M to $400M.

CAPSTONE attitude control restored

Engineers have managed to restore attitude control of a cubesat heading to the moon nearly a month after it suffered a problem during a maneuver. They believe the problem was due to a ‘partially open valve which resulted in thrust from the associated thruster when the propulsion system was pressurized.’

Eutelsat says satellite jammers within Iran are disrupting foreign channels

Iran has been jamming two Eutelsat satellites providing foreign broadcasts in the country and therefore aren’t under the control of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) which is Iran’s state-owned media organization. Eutelsat has notified the relevant authorities of the jamming operations and reminded Iranian authorities that intentional jamming is “explicitly prohibited” by the ITU.

NASA’s DART spacecraft changes asteroid’s orbit

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft changed the asteroid Dimorphos' orbit around a larger asteroid by 32min. DART had collided with Dimorphos on Sept 26th as a test of the “kinetic impactor” technique to be used to deflect an asteroid on a trajectory to impact Earth.

Dennis Tito and wife to be on second Starship flight around the moon

Dennis Tito is back and ready to take a trip around the moon on SpaceX’s Starship with his wife and up to 10 other people. Tito is the first private astronaut to fly to the ISS on a Soyuz spacecraft in 2001. 

Other Space News

• Firefly Aerospace says its Alpha launch earlier this month was a success even though its payloads reentered within days.

• Astra received a delisting warning from Nasdaq because of its falling stock price.

• Astra announced a contract to provide electric thrusters for Maxar satellites.

• The CEO of Astra says he is confident the company can avoid delisting of its stock from the Nasdaq exchange.

• The former CEO of satellite operator SES is joining startup megaconstellation company E-Space.

• The two Intelsat satellites launched by SpaceX over the weekend are the first of six C-band satellites the company expects to launch this year.

• ExoTrail won a contract from the French government to demonstrate an orbital transfer vehicle.

• The head of Lockheed Martin's space division is emphasizing partnerships so it can work more quickly.

• SpaceX says it can no longer afford to provide Starlink services in Ukraine without support from the Defense Department.

• Skyrora's first suborbital space launch didn't get very far off the pad.

Starbridge Weekly Space Update for 10/7/2022

Michael joined Guy Adami and Danny Moses on their 'On the Tape' podcast to discuss investing in the space industry

Portfolio Company News

If you’re in or traveling to Chicago and in need of some cold-weather gear, go check out OROS’ first physical retail store! In other Oros news, they scored a $10M contract with the DoD. 

SpaceX

A Crew Dragon spacecraft docked with the International Space Station Thursday

SpaceX successfully launched the Crew-5 mission to the ISS Wednesday to kick off their 5-month mission in space. Crew-5 include NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Russian Cosmonaut Anna Kikina. Crew-4 is set to return to earth in about a week.

General Space News

AE Industrial Partners Makes Significant Investment in York Space Systems, a Leading Manufacturer of Small Satellites and New Space Technology

AE Industrial Partners announced that they have acquired a majority stake in York Space Systems alongside BlackRock Private Equity Partners. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. York Space Systems then announced they had been awarded a contract from the Pentagon for up to $200M to build experimental satellites for the military’s Space Development Agency (SDA).

Large Constellations of Satellites: Mitigating Environmental and Other Effects

A General Accounting Office report on large satellite constellations found that there are ~5,500 active satellites as of spring 2022 with an estimate of that growing by another 58,000 satellites by 2030 mainly due to large constellations in LEO. This could lead to potential environmental and other effects such as an increase in orbital debris, emissions into the upper atmosphere, and disruption of astronomy - which all need further study.

Roscosmos official supports continued cooperation with NASA on ISS

Sergei Krikalev, executive director of human space flight programs at Roscosmos struck a more conciliatory tone than Roscosmos has done in recent history suggesting the new head of Roscosmos, Yury Borisov, feels he has a mandate to preserve the program. The complete change in rhetoric from Roscosmos does suggest that previous bellicose statements from Dmitry Rogozin did not represent official Russian policy so much as Dmitry’s own personal opinion. There is still a significant risk that Russia itself does something that causes the ISS partners to decide they can’t work with Russia at all regardless of what Borisov might be saying.

John Deere Releases Satcom RFP for Always-On, Connected Agricultural Solution

John Deere is seeking a strategic partnership to connect their new machines and retrofitted machines with satellite service and ruggedized satellite terminals to create a connectivity solution for their customers, most of which operate in rural regions with low population densities. Estimates put the market opportunity at about 5,000 new machines annually and about 40,000 machines that could be retrofitted for a satellite solution. John Deere already works with satellites in its precision agricultural technology which sends reprocessed signals over Inmarsat’s L-band network which allows their tractors to drive themselves, place seeds, and develop accurate geospatial maps.

Other Space News

• Firefly Aerospace's Alpha rocket reached orbit for the first time early Saturday.

• NASA announced late Friday it will not make another Artemis 1 launch attempt before mid-November.

• The Space Development Agency (SDA) formally became part of the U.S. Space Force on Saturday.

• The head of the Office of Space Commerce said Friday that the FCC was pushing the limits of its authority with its new orbital debris regulations.

• The National Space Council is planning "learning sessions" with industry to discuss how to develop a new regulatory framework for novel commercial space activities.

• Viasat will sell its tactical data link business to L3Harris for $1.96 billion, the companies announced Monday.

• The new head of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) started her career working on satellite policy in the U.S. government.

• NASA assigned two astronauts to the first operational Boeing Starliner commercial crew mission.

• British defense firm QinetiQ is selling its Belgian commercial satellite systems division to Redwire.

• An Atlas 5 launched two communications satellites for SES Tuesday.

• The Space Force is studying options to procure more commercial space domain awareness data.

• A Sherpa tug launched a month ago carrying a Boeing payload has yet to start raising its orbit.

• The impact of NASA's DART spacecraft with an asteroid created a debris trail at least 10,000 kilometers long.

• A couple liked a suborbital spaceflight so much that they plan to fly again

Starbridge Weekly Space Update for 9/30/2022

THIS ONE IS FOR THE DINOSAURS

The final images leading up to the DART spacecraft’s intentional collision with asteroid Dimorphos.
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL

Portfolio Company News

Lynk

Lynk will test the ability to send a 5G signal from a satellite launching in December to standard mobile devices. Funding for the test came from an undisclosed partner. While the test will demonstrate 5G connectivity from space, most MNOs will be at 4G for the next few years. Charles Miller, Lynk CEO, said “I suspect Lynk will be ready to provide 5G services well before MNOs want to make the transition from 4G to 5G.”

Umbra

The National Reconnaissance Office awarded study contracts for space-based radio frequency (RF) data to six companies on Wednesday.

General Space News

NASA and SpaceX will study a proposal by SpaceX and Jared Isaacman's Polaris Project to re-boost and possibly service the Hubble Space Telescope at no cost to NASA. At the hastily put together briefing earlier this week, Isaacman said, “We’d be taking advantage of everything that’s being developed within the commercial space industry to potentially execute on a mission, should the study warrant it, with little or no potential cost to the government.”

In May NASA requested public comment on its “Moon to Mars Objectives” which left many yawning. In a subsequent meeting with various groups who responded to the RFI, NASA was roundly criticized for reverting to “Flags and Footprints” missions and doing nothing to encourage or enable the development of space. There were reports that NASA even insisted that it didn’t know what the word “development” meant. Now, in one of those rare cases when a Federal Agency actually listens, NASA has updated its list of objectives which now includes a set of overarching ‘tenets’, one of which is “foster the expansion of the economic sphere beyond Earth orbit to support U.S. industry and innovation.”

Evidence that there is a disconnect between Congress and the White House on where new space regulations continue to grow. The leadership of the House Science Committee asked the FCC to defer consideration of a new orbital debris rule which the FCC summarily ignored the next day when the FCC commissioners approved the new five-year deorbit rule for low Earth orbit satellites. Ezinne Uzo-Okoro, assistant director for space policy at OSTP, stated that the FCC’s decision didn’t necessarily conflict with an ongoing review of space debris prevention and mitigation. It appears that the White House is willing to move forward without regard to who the regulatory agency is, what the process looks like, or which Congressional toes get stepped on.

With the Space Launch System back in the Vehicle Assembly Building, NASA is studying when it be ready for another launch attempt. The current suggestion is late November which is also when Elon Musk recently suggested the first Starship orbital test. November may be a very eventful month for very large rockets. 

Other Space News

• A Delta 4 Heavy lifted off from California for the final time Saturday carrying a classified reconnaissance satellite.

• SpaceX says it will "activate" Starlink service in Iran in response to protests in the country.

• The U.K. Space Agency has selected teams led by Astroscale and ClearSpace for studies to remove two spacecraft from low Earth orbit.

• Trans Astronautica Corp. announced an agreement Tuesday with telescope manufacturer Celestron to develop a space-qualified version of a telescope.

• Doreen Bogdan-Martin will be the next secretary general of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

• Weather will again delay the launch of a NASA commercial crew mission to the ISS.

• UK builds leadership in space debris removal and in-orbit manufacturing with national mission and funding boost

• Astroscale opened a satellite production facility in the UK, dubbed Zeus.

• Most of the tracked debris from last year's Russian ASAT test has since reentered.

• Firefly Aerospace aborted a launch of its Alpha rocket just as its engines ignited early Friday.

• Cathie Wood's Ark is buying stock in space SPAC Rocket Lab

• NASA's DART spacecraft successfully collided with a small asteroid Monday night.

• Images from telescopes and a passing cubesat illustrated the aftermath of the deliberate collision of NASA's DART spacecraft with the asteroid Dimorphos.

Starbridge Weekly Space Update for 9/23/2022

Brian Binnie, the pilot who flew SpaceShipTwo on its prize-winning suborbital flight nearly 18 years ago, has died.

Brian Binnie, pictured here standing on Space Ship One after winning the XPrize, passed away this week. Binnie's 24-minute flight reached a peak altitude of 69.6 miles (112 km), qualifying Scaled Composites to win the Ansari XPRIZE, which offered $10 million to the first privately-built spacecraft to fly twice into space within a two-week period. This specific moment is considered by many to be the beginning of the commercial space race. 

Portfolio Company News

Avealto Launches $20M Series A

Avealto announced their $20M Series A raise last week. Proceeds will be used to establish manufacturing operations and production of full-sized commercial Wireless Infrastructure Platform (“WIP”) vehicles. While the initial focus is on high throughput, low latency communications in disconnected areas, Avealto’s airships can also provide high-resolution earth imagery and security services. 

Axiom

Axiom Space announced three new agreements with countries to fly their astronauts to the International Space Station. Saudi Arabia plans on flying two astronauts to the ISS, one of which will be a woman. On Sept. 19, Axiom announced an agreement with the Turkish Space Agency to fly a Turkish astronaut on a future Axiom mission. The third was an MOU with the Canadian Space Agency that could include flying Canadian astronauts to the ISS. Canada is a junior partner in the ISS partnership so its astronauts rarely get ISS slots. Axiom has also signed similar agreements with Hungary, Italy, New Zealand, and the UAE. 

Voyager

Voyager Space announced that it is working with hotel chain Hilton to help design its commercial space station. “For decades, discoveries in space have been positively impacting life on Earth, and now Hilton will have an opportunity to use this unique environment to improve the guest experience wherever people travel,” Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta said in a statement. Voyager and its operating company Nanoracks are developing the free-flying Starlab space station in partnership with Lockheed Martin. The companies aim to have the first Starlab operational in low Earth orbit as early as 2027.

General Space News

Signatories to the US-led Artemis Accords met for the first time this week at the International Astronautical Congress in Paris. While the meeting was intended to focus on organizational issues, it was clear the member nations were interested in tackling concrete problems quickly. A few members were even eager to move toward more formal multilateral agreements but all agreed that would still take time. 

The Defense Department plans to stop buying geostationary orbit missile warning satellites as it shifts to constellations in lower orbits.

While DoD still uses geostationary orbits, even it has to concede that lower orbits have significant advantages. One major reason is that GEO satellites, due to their cost, are generally large and very capable systems which makes them high-value targets in any conflict. Businesses that depend on GEO markets growing continue to face challenges like this. 

Other Space News

• NASA said it achieved all the objectives of a tanking test of the Space Launch System Wednesday despite some hydrogen leaks.

• A Soyuz spacecraft delivered two Russians and one American to the International Space Station Wednesday.

• Elon Musk says it's "highly likely" SpaceX will attempt the first orbital Starship launch by November.

• The head of Roscosmos said Russia "most likely" will remain on the ISS to 2028.

• NASA issued a request for proposals Friday for a second Artemis crewed lunar lander.

• OneWeb has reportedly started efforts to raise several billion dollars to fund its second-generation constellation.

• Three government agencies have formed a new program office to coordinate disparate procurements of satellites to detect ballistic and hypersonic missiles.

• The French government intends to increase spending on space by 25% over the next three years.

• Two Chinese astronauts performed a spacewalk outside the Chinese space station Sunday.

• Companies developing analytics products based on space data are looking to government customers for growth.

• NASA is ready to conduct a Space Launch System tanking test while acknowledging that they don't know for certain what caused an earlier hydrogen leak.

• SAIC is partnering with startup Rogue Space Systems to develop small satellites for in-space services.

• Planet will develop a series of hyperspectral imaging satellites.

• Astrobotic is developing a commercial lunar power grid.

• A group of individual investors that want a chance to buy SpaceX stock has pledged more than $11 million.

• SpinLaunch raised $71 million to continue the development of its alternative launch system.

• The new Space Force procurement chief is taking aim at the old way of doing business.

• Maritime connectivity specialist Marlink will offer Starlink to its customers as SpaceX's latest partner.

Starbridge Weekly Space Update for 9/16/2022

Starbridge News

Starbridge spent this week at the SALT conference in New York and held a small reception with existing and prospective LPs. Steven and Neil worked the event hard and ended up in the Top 10 in the number of meetings held: 

Portfolio Company News

Lynk

BREAKING: Lynk received the world's first commercial satellite-direct-to-phone license from the FCC today...aka they are officially ahead of SpaceX's Starlink:

Umbra

Satellite radar startups spar over commercial market importance

Joe Morrison, Umbra’s VP of Commercial Product, spoke on the ‘SAR Market Update’ panel at Euroconsult’s World Satellite Business Week today. He noted that Umbra is focused on using the same infrastructure currently in place to serve large customers to also support smaller, innovative companies that are seeking to grow market share. Capella CEO, Payam Banazadeh, and Synspective CEO, Motoyuki Arai, were also on the panel.

Axiom

NASA requests proposals for two ISS private astronaut missions

NASA is allowing up to 2 private astronaut missions (PAMs) to the ISS each year for up to 2 weeks to help the industry build up its experience for future commercial space stations to succeed the ISS. They are currently seeking proposals for the third and fourth PAM to the ISS and are requiring that each solicitation must include a former NASA astronaut to provide guidance for the private astronauts during pre-flight prep through to mission execution. Axiom completed PAM-1 in April and will be flying PAM-2 in the second quarter of 2023.

General Space News

New Shepard suffers in-flight abort on an uncrewed suborbital flight

Blue Origin had to abort their uncrewed suborbital vehicle, New Shepard NS-23, after an undisclosed anomaly occurred causing the vehicle to fire its abort motor. NS-23 was carrying 3 dozen payloads sponsored mainly by NASA’s Flight Opportunities program for suborbital research on commercial vehicles. 

Artemis 1 launch plans slip again

NASA is now looking to attempt the Artemis I mission on Sept 23rd or 27th.

Intuitive Machines to go public in SPAC merger

Intuitive Machines announced today that it would go public through a merger with Inflection Point Acquisition Corp, a SPAC trading on the NASDAQ, which will have a pro forma enterprise value of $815M. Intuitive Machines is developing lunar landers and other related capabilities for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program and other customers.

U.S. weighing options to compensate commercial companies if satellites are attacked

Director of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency’s Commercial and Business Operations Group, David Gauthier, said that ‘if private sector satellites become part of a hybrid public-private space architecture, “then we have some obligation to think about commercial protection. [...] We’re engaging with our industry partners to have that discussion more fully. And everything is still on the table.”’ 

Senators Cantwell, Hickenlooper, Lummis, and Wicker introduced the Orbital Sustainability Act of 2022 (ORBITS Act) that would “establish a demonstration program for the active remediation of orbital debris” and “require the development of uniform orbital debris standard practices in order to support a safe and sustainable orbital environment.” This demonstration attempts to move ADR (Active Debris Removal) forward even though it still does not solve any of the business model issues for commercial ADR providers. 

The Executive Branch began flexing its muscle this week when it asked federal agencies for proposals for regulating "novel" commercial space activities, the FAA and NTSB signed an agreement outlining their roles in investigating commercial space accidents, and Reps. Don Beyer (D-Va.) and Brian Babin (R-Texas) asked for details ahead of a possible hearing from the FAA on its investigation into the New Shepard launch accident. There is a real risk that enthusiasm for the industry is translating into various parts of the US Government becoming overzealous in order to catch some of that limelight. All of the National Space Council meetings spend half of their schedule with every single agency outlining how they are “here to help” with new "regulatory clarity". 

Axios has a good overview of the interaction between antisatellite tests and international law that shows how the US is leading the way among nations that would have never done an antisatellite weapon's test to begin with. The two greatest threats, Russia and China, have no intention of signing any treaty so it's not clear how much of an impact this will have. The argument is that if no one overtly objects, then it becomes customary international law and countries are bound by that regardless. But from the actual behavior of both China and Russia, it appears that the idea of customary international law stops at their borders. 

Other Space News

• The United States will introduce a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly calling on countries to join its moratorium on testing direct-ascent ASATs.

• The Commerce Department and Defense Department signed an agreement to cooperate on the transition of civil space traffic management (STM) responsibilities.

• SpaceX launched a set of Starlink satellites and a prototype satellite for AST SpaceMobile Saturday night.

• A bankruptcy court approved plans to sell most of Masten Space Systems' assets to Astrobotic.

• Sierra Space is the latest company to win a contract to study point-to-point rocket travel.

• A small company plans to test advanced computing technology on a lunar lander mission.

• Japan and Germany joined the United States this week in pledging not to conduct direct-ascent anti-satellite missile tests that create orbital debris. 

• Microsoft is expanding its Azure Space cloud services.

• A startup founded by a cryptocurrency billionaire is proposing to develop a commercial space station with artificial gravity.

• The White House is asking federal agencies for their proposals for regulating "novel" commercial space activities.

• The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board have signed an agreement outlining their roles in investigating commercial space accidents.

• Two members of Congress are asking the FAA for more information about its investigation into the New Shepard launch accident.

Starbridge Weekly Space Update for 9/9/2022

Portfolio Company News

SpaceX/Lynk/Apple

In case you needed to catch up on the latest Apple announcement and how it affects Lynk, here are a ‘few’ articles:

• Apple announced Wednesday its long-anticipated satellite connectivity feature for new iPhones using Globalstar's network.

• Apple, iPhone 14, direct to satellite, and the others

• Lynk Global moves closer to reality with BICS deal

Axiom

NASA Taps Axiom Space for First Artemis Moonwalking Spacesuits

Most insiders who were paying attention to NASA’s spacesuit program and Artemis’ schedule were well aware that this extension was inevitable. It's another great win for Axiom that will result in significant additional revenues, as well as being a great acknowledgment of Axiom's expertise in human spaceflight broadly.

NASA has finalized an agreement with Axiom Space for a private astronaut mission to the International Space Station next year.

Axiom Space Hires Catie Hague as Vice President of Strategic Communications and Sandra Nelson as Vice President of Marketing — Axiom Space

Carbice

Nanotechnology startup opens facility in Atlanta's West End

Carbice Corp. is moving to 1050 White St. SW, which has 23,000 square feet of labs, offices, and distribution. The startup spent the past 11 years in a 2,000-square-foot office Georgia Tech's ATDC business incubator.

General Space News

Queen Elizabeth II passed away yesterday at the age of 96. NASA noted in a tweet how the Queen had always been particularly curious about the US space program saying, “Queen Elizabeth II's reign spanned all of spaceflight, predating both Sputnik and Explorer 1. As we join the planet in marking her passing, we are moved by the curiosity Her Royal Highness showed our explorers over the years.”

ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher clarified in an Ars Technica interview with Eric Berger just how significant and permanent the rift is between Russia and ESA: 

"Look at what is happening on the ground," he said in an interview with Ars. "I'm really disgusted by the invasion of Ukraine. We see it every single day. What is happening there is not meeting our European values, and we cannot work with a partner who is completely trampling on those values."

"I cannot see a rebuild of the cooperation we had in the past," Aschbacher said. "I am speaking here on behalf of my member states. They all have very much the same opinion. And this is really something where the behavior of ESA will reflect the geopolitical situation of the member states on this point. And I think this is very clear."

ESA is seriously considering switching to SpaceX until their Ariane update is complete. 

FCC proposes reducing de-orbit time after end of life from 25 years to 5 years.

The FCC has proposed a modification to its license granting process that changes the deorbit requirement from 25 years to 5 years. The requirement even extends to any spacecraft that transmits data to the US. Waivers may be available for smaller experimental missions. To meet this new requirement all spacecraft above ~500Km altitude will need some active deorbit mechanism (engines, drag devices, electrodynamic tethers, etc). The proposal has been circulated to the FCC Commissioners for discussion at their next open meeting.

The willingness of NASA to consider the repair of a liquid hydrogen leak on the pad shows how much the Agency is concerned about the stresses and schedule slips caused by rolling the rocket back to the Vehicle Assembly Building. The team is very concerned about the stresses that multiple trips back and forth can have on critical structural components of the vehicle. A concern of “go fever” has been raised in many circles although NASA stresses that this is still a test flight and asks for the same patience other rocket developers have received during their initial test flights.

GAO: Defense, intelligence agencies need a better plan to buy commercial satellite imagery

Even as more commercial Earth observation capabilities come online, much of the DoD still prefers to keep to the old methods. Reportedly the main reason is that mid-career officers are evaluated on how flawlessly they execute the bureaucratic processes within DoD and not the effectiveness of the outcomes. Unless and until the use of new capabilities becomes a requirement for career advancement, this problem will remain.

Chinese megawatt-level space nuclear reactor passes review

In preparation for Lunar ground operations, China is designing multiple different power options for surviving the Lunar night with small nuclear reactors being the most likely solution. Their first design has passed preliminary reviews and will probably begin construction of test reactors almost immediately.

U.S. Space Command calls for investment in technologies for deep space missions

The “blue water vs brown water” debate continues within Space Force. Space Force leaders know they need to begin to monitor all of cislunar space but the funding and attention that requires have not been made available. The quote “I will deal with the alligator that is coming at me after I deal with the alligator that is currently gnawing on my foot.”  is often heard. 

Both the US and UK defense organizations published updated space policy documents this week. The US update specifically adopted previously published “norms of behavior” that it is encouraging other space powers to adopt.  The UK update, while not as comprehensive, does harmonize space operational doctrine between the two allies. The UK update also referenced enhanced norms of behavior but chose to reference UN resolutions on the matter but the result is still a better expectation of behavior by all space powers.  

Frank Drake, an astronomer and pioneer in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), died Friday.

Frank Drake is best known for the Drake Equation which is one of the first attempts at a first principles approach to calculating the probability of extraterrestrial intelligence occurring in the universe. His work as a published and acclaimed astronomer and thinker on life beyond Earth was foundational to why and how we look for signatures of life in our galaxy. To date, we have discovered 5,157 exoplanets and have now begun to understand where and how they occur. 

Congress is preparing a stopgap funding bill to keep the federal government funded through mid-December.

As expected, Congress is now in full campaign mode which puts the likelihood of any major funding or policy legislation passing this year at nearly zero. There will be some chance for narrowly scoped legislation to make it through but any appropriations are definitely on hold until the next Congress convened in January.

Other Space News

• OneWeb takes $229 million charge for canceled Soyuz launches

• New Zealand is promising more funding for its space industry as part of a policy update.

• The head of India's space agency wants to work with industry on a reusable launch vehicle.

• A South Korean lunar orbiter completed a critical maneuver on its way to the moon.

• Rocket Lab has signed a cooperative agreement with the U.S. military to study using its rockets for point-to-point cargo delivery.

• India is seeking to expand space cooperation with Australia and The Netherlands.

• The head of the United Arab Emirates' first Mars orbiter mission is taking a new position in the government.

• Indian launch startup Skyroot Aerospace has raised $51 million in a Series B round.

• Scout collaborates with Privateer on space sustainability framework

Starbridge Weekly Space Update for 9/2/2022

Portfolio Company News

SpaceX/Lynk

In case you needed to catch up on SpaceX/T-Mobile’s announcement last week and how it affects Lynk, here are a "few" articles:

• Starlink mobile play validates Lynk’s strategy says CEO (this is a great deep dive with Charles on Lynk’s strategy and current status)

• Companies developing satellite systems to connect directly to cellphones say the SpaceX/T-Mobile partnership does not faze them.

• A federal court upheld the FCC's decision to modify SpaceX's license for its Starlink constellation.

• Startups working on direct-to-cell satellite systems said they expected SpaceX to enter the market.

• Royal Caribbean Group announced Tuesday it is the first cruise liner to adopt SpaceX's Starlink satellite broadband services.

• NASA announced Wednesday it completed an extension of its commercial crew contract with SpaceX worth more than $1.4 billion.

• Finally, SpaceX Joining The Direct Satellite-To-Device Race

Axiom

Axiom Space and NASA agree to send 2nd all-private crew to space station in 2023

Axiom is organizing its second private mission, Ax-2, to the ISS for a 10-day stay targeted to launch in Spring 2023. Axiom has previously reported that the Commander of the flight will be former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson. 

Oros

Portland startup's tech to blast off with Bezos' next space mission

Outpost

Outpost Raises $7.1M Seed Round to Develop Reusable Satellites for Earth Return Service

Outpost announced that they closed a $7.1M oversubscribed Seed round. They plan to launch their first satellite in early 2023.

General Space News

The 2022 State of the Space Industrial Base report was released last week

This is the fourth year that the report has been published by major DoD space organizations and it reiterates a continuous theme of the need for a larger encompassing vision that goes beyond simply reacting to China but something that moves the nation as a whole. The report stresses that, while the US is still ahead of China technically, China’s rate of development is faster than the US' and that rate is accelerating. In any race, it's the 2nd derivative that matters.

The report is the result of small meetings held around the country and involves input from other civilian agencies, commercial companies, universities, and nonprofits. While we did mention the report last week, after reading through it completely we noted how comprehensive it was and how much consensus there was from the participants. What isn’t clear is whether Congress or the White House agree with the findings or the recommendations.

Countdown has started for the second Artemis 1 launch attempt

NASA will try again Saturday to launch the Artemis 1 mission to the moon after it scrubbed its launch on Monday due to a faulty temperature sensor.

Astra to sell electric thrusters to Airbus OneWeb Satellites

Astra won a contract from Airbus to provide electric propulsion systems for their OneWeb Arrow line of small satellites. The electric thruster was originally developed by Apollo Fusion which Astra acquired back in 2021. Astra is currently expecting its revenue to be dominated by orders for its Astra Spacecraft Engine saying they’ve received over 100 orders for it to date. Airbus OneWeb Satellites were previously using electric propulsion systems from a Russian company, Fakel.

Orbit Fab announces in-space hydrazine refueling service

Orbit Fab announced that they will begin offering hydrazine refueling for GEO satellites beginning in 2025 at the price of $20M per 100kg. The startup is planning to initially offer a depot operating in a ‘service lane’ orbit 300km above GEO and eventually develop a shuttle to transport fuel to satellites equipped with a ‘Rapidly Attachable Fluid Transfer Interface’ (RAFTI) refueling port.

JAXA, Mitsui Sumitomo to sell insurance for civilian space travelers

The Japanese space agency, JAXA, will work with the insurance company, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co., to begin providing coverage for commercial space travelers in a bet that more and more civilians will begin venturing into space. Insurance offerings will probably cover travelers against damage to possessions and bodily damage before and after their travels.

Other Space News

• The United Kingdom released a comprehensive military space strategy Thursday.

• The U.S. Space Force has started building a gateway site in Alaska to support polar communications satellite payloads.

• Space-tracking startups Scout Space and Privateer announced Thursday they will partner on space situational awareness services.

• Spire Global is working with French company ThrustMe to provide propulsion for its Lemur cubesats.

• Two Chinese astronauts performed a spacewalk outside China's space station Thursday.

• Former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine is joining the board of space propulsion company Phase Four.

• South Korea is considering a lunar lander mission launching in 2031.

• A Chinese nuclear reactor for providing power and propulsion in outer space has passed a review.

• Engineers have resolved a telemetry glitch on Voyager 1.

• A U.S. Space Command general called for more investments in technologies needed for deep space operations.

• China is considering some of the same regions at the south pole of the moon for lander missions as NASA.

• A payload on the Perseverance rover is producing oxygen equivalent to a small tree.

Starbridge Weekly Space Update for 8/26/2022

An Editorial

Last night’s announcement from SpaceX and T-Mobile, plus other recent movements by well-funded companies, is an illustration of something Starbridge has noticed over the past few years: space is now a hypercompetitive area where speed to market and speed to scale is now a significant part of any go-to-market strategy. Blitzscaling has entered the space industry.

This requires a significantly new skill set for founders. Early teams should include members from other tech sectors that have successfully managed hypergrowth startups. Marketing and sales teams need to be built much earlier. 

All of this means that investment rounds will become much larger and faster as the company works to suck the oxygen out of the market. This is one reason why Starbridge is raising $125M for Fund III: the way to ensure success for our early investments is to make sure portfolio companies have the capital to move faster.  

But, unlike the SaaS world where blitzscaling can happen in weeks and months, our sector is one of hardware and hardware by nature is different. Blitzscaling with hardware requires agile management methods and extremely tight 'build, test, debug' cycles that are very ‘hardware rich’. Time is more valuable than Inconel. 

Portfolio Company News

SpaceX/Lynk

T-Mobile phones will connect to Starlink for free starting next year

Yesterday, T-Mobile (CEO, Mike Sievert) and SpaceX (CEO, Elon Musk) announced that starting next year, Starlink satellites will begin connecting directly to phones over existing cellular bands enabling global roaming wherever Starlink’s coverage exists and may be added for free to certain T-Mobile plans. 

As you may recall, Starbridge portfolio company Lynk already demonstrated a direct satellite-to-cell phone connection last year and plans to begin launching its initial commercial services soon. “Having Elon validate this as a service is great. It’s a huge need, a huge market, and a huge validation,” Lynk CEO, Charles Miller.

Axiom

Axiom taps Epsilon3 software platform for space station development

Software startup, Epsilon3, is developing a workflow platform for Axiom to help coordinate their ground and on-orbit operations. Epsilon3 recently raised $15M to further develop its project management suite focused on coordinating space development workflows. 

General Space News

SLS Launch of Artemis I mission on Monday, Aug 29th

NASA plans to launch their first test flight of SLS on Monday, Aug 29th which will be launching the Artemis 1 mission along with 10 cubesats from the US, Italy’s ASI, and Japan’s JAXA that will be prospecting for lunar ice, flying by asteroids, studying space weather and radiation in cislunar space, deep-space communications, etc. NASA’s Artemis I mission will fly the Orion spacecraft around the moon in order to test its capabilities before splashing down in California about 6 weeks later and will enable NASA to proceed with Artemis 2, their first crewed Orion mission, as soon as late 2024.

NASA and Boeing push back first Starliner astronaut mission to 2023

Starliner’s crewed launch date has now been pushed back to February 2023 due to several major issues that were identified during its uncrewed flight back in May. 

‘State of the space industrial base’ report calls for a national plan to compete with China

Director of the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), Michael Brown, warned that “China could surpass the US in space superiority if we don’t increase our investment” during an Atlantic Council event discussing their ‘State of the Space Industrial Base’ report. The report calls for an increase in public-private partnerships and an increase in government contract revenue to commercial companies focusing on space infrastructures such as space mining, manufacturing, and solar energy.

NASA asks industry for input on ISS deorbit capabilities

NASA issued an RFI to help develop a spacecraft to deorbit the ISS at the end of the station's life to help it break up in the atmosphere over the South Pacific Ocean.

An FCC commissioner criticized stripping Starlink rural broadband subsidies.

Whether its allocation of limited spectrum or administration of telecom subsidies, the FCC has become one of the battlegrounds where large telecom companies battle for influence. The semi-factional and partisan nature of the assignment of commissioners to the FCC can exacerbate those battles. This public statement by one of the four Commissioners suggests that the fights between telecom providers are becoming so vicious that the Commissioners feel they must comment on it and the potential impact it has on the ethics of the entire process. 

Other Space News

• NASA announced Friday it has selected 13 regions around the south pole of the moon as potential launching locations for Artemis 3.

• Intelsat has lost control of the Galaxy 15 communications satellite after it was hit by a geomagnetic storm.

• NASA is asking for industry input on a proposed deorbit vehicle for the International Space Station.

• SpaceX is now planning to use a mix of Falcon 9 and Starship launches for its second-generation Starlink constellation.

• China is making progress on two heavy-lift vehicles that would support future human lunar missions.

• The new director of the space division of the Applied Physics Lab (APL) is making a long-term plan for the lab.

• A proposed commercial space station has passed a NASA review.

• A new report warns that commercial satellite operators have to deal with being targets of attacks in international conflicts.

• NASA says the SpaceX Starship vehicle that performs an uncrewed lunar landing demonstration may be different from the one that makes a crewed landing.

• Boeing has delivered twin SES communications satellites to Florida for launch this fall.

• Megaconstellation startup E-Space has hired new executives as it plans to move into serial production of its satellites.

• In-space services startup Scout Space has won two Space Force contracts.

• Astrobotic has won NASA funding to develop and fly a small rover designed to survive the lunar night.

Starbridge Weekly Space Update for 8/19/2022

Portfolio Company News

SpaceX

SpaceX gets a $1.9 million Air Force contract for Starlink services in Europe and Africa

The US Air Force Special Operations Command awarded SpaceX a $1.9M, 1-year contract, to support military airlift units based at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

Sky Perfect JSAT picks SpaceX’s Starship for 2024 satellite launch

Japanese satellite operator, JSAT, announced that they will be launching their Superbird-9 Satellite on SpaceX’s Starship rocket in 2024. This contract with SKY Perfect JSAT is one of the first contracts announced by a commercial satellite operator to launch on Starship. 

Lynk

Space 5G is Ready for Its Launchpad Countdown

5G will soon go extraterrestrial. Taking a page from the famous catchphrase from hit 1980s movie about a space alien befriended by some earthling kids, satellite-based cellular networks will allow you to phone home from just about anywhere.

General Space News

Late last week, Vice President Kamala Harris, convened a National Space Council meeting in Oakland, California following closed-door briefings with SpaceX, Northrop Grumman, Axiom, Capella, Sierra Space, Maxar, Planet, Nanoracks, and HawkEye 360. Her remarks were fairly unremarkable other than the announcement that the Administration would be moving swiftly to update national space regulations.

Reports suggest that the first regulatory change will be to clarify which agency is ultimately responsible for the authorization and supervision requirements of the Outer Space Treaty (OST). Regulatory oversight of OST is currently split between the FCC and FAA due to inertia and is causing problems. The Department of Transportation thinks it should get the role, but many in Congress and industry would prefer the Department of Commerce’s Office of Space Commerce take the lead. 

AST SpaceMobile delays commercial satellite debut by six months

AST SpaceMobile announced that, due to supply chain issues, the launch of their first operational satellite would be delayed until late 2023. They also announced that their first five satellites will be half their original size to avoid further delays. They still expect to be launching their prototype satellite, BlueWalker 3, next month.

SLS arrives at the pad for Artemis 1 launch

NASA will be attempting, for a third time, to launch SLS in early September. 

D-Orbit cancels SPAC merger plan

Italian company, D-Orbit, announced that it has canceled plans to SPAC through a merger with Breeze Holdings Acquisition Corp. D-Orbit had originally planned to raise $185M to expand staff and accelerate investments in its orbital transfer vehicle, ION Satellite Carrier. 

Astrobotic bids for Masten Space Systems assets

Fellow lunar lander developer, Astrobotic, has made a formal bid of $4.2M for Masten’s assets following their filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month.

Blue Origin scraps original recovery ship for New Glenn boosters

Blue Origin is scrapping the ship it originally planned to use for landings of New Glenn boosters. The ship had been named after Jeff Bezos’ mother. The company now seems to be focused on barge recovery similar to what SpaceX now does routinely. This change does not appear to be related to Project Jarvis, Blue’s R&D project to develop a reusable upper stage. 

ESA to request funding for space-based solar power study

Space-based solar power (SBSP) has been capturing the attention of various Government agencies because of its synergies between DoD and climate change prevention strategies. While the White House has been quietly discussing it, the European Space Agency has jumped on the opportunity aggressively and is now seeking funding for feasibility studies from its member state agencies. Supporters within ESA view space-based solar power as a unique technology and mission that Europe is best suited for. 

Other Space News

• U.S. Army hands over satellite operations to Space Force, but keeps a foothold in space 

• Why Does Space Access Matter? - Privateer Space

• Mobile satellite connectivity specialist Anuvu is buying Signal Mountain Networks, a satellite communications provider to the U.S. government.

• Hackers are taking aim at Starlink terminals.

• France will no longer work with Russia on an instrument for an Indian mission to Venus.

• A Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft remains in orbit nearly two weeks after launch.

• The pandemic and the war in Ukraine have dealt the smallsat industry's supply chains a one-two punch.

• Redwire is planning the first commercial greenhouse on the ISS.

• HawkEye 360 brought two new satellite clusters into service.

• Russian cosmonauts cut short a spacewalk outside the International Space Station Wednesday when one of them had a spacesuit battery problem.

• Congress has questioned the Defense Department's ability to manage rideshare launches.

Starbridge Weekly Space Update for 8/12/2022

Portfolio Company News

SpaceX

SpaceX loses $900 million in rural broadband subsidies

SpaceX lost its bid for almost $900M in rural broadband subsidies for its Starlink broadband service after failing to meet the FCC’s requirements for unlocking the additional funds. Starlink's median download speeds improved to 90.55Mbps in the first quarter of 2022 while their upload speeds decreased to 9.33Mbps according to Ookla speed tests. SpaceX also accused Viasat of attempting to have the FCC “impede competition at all costs to protect its legacy technology” back in July.

There is considerable speculation that this is the result of ViaSat lobbying within the FCC since there are very few other awardees that qualify according to the rules the FCC is using.

Europe eyes Musk's SpaceX to bridge launch gap left by Russia tensions

Much like the Northrop Grumman decision below, Europe has decided that SpaceX is preferable to depending on suppliers from Ukraine or Russia during the conflict there. Companies do tend to learn from SpaceX while they work with them so it will be interesting to see what ESA learns from working closely with SpaceX.

General Space News

Space Development Agency (SDA) to take another stab at space-to-aircraft laser communications

The SDA is currently seeking proposals to demonstrate laser communications between satellites and aircraft while in orbit and flight. They hope to connect their Tranche o Transport Layer satellites to an aircraft.

Virgin Galactic again delays the start of commercial suborbital flights

Virgin Galactic says they are now expecting to begin commercial flights of its SpaceShipTwo vehicle, VSS Unity, in the second quarter of 2023 due to upgrades of their carrier aircraft that are taking longer than expected.

Chinese space firm raises funds for commercial weather data satellite constellation

Chinese space startup, Yunyao Yuhang, raised almost $14.8M in a Pre-A+ round led by Zhongwei Yihe Investment to build a constellation of 80 satellites to provide weather data. Yunyao Yuhang was founded in 2019 and aims to provide data for global weather forecasting and short-term earthquake forecasting.

Entire NASA astronaut corps eligible for Artemis missions

Chief of the Astronaut Office, Reid Weisman, says he expects the four-person Artemis 2 crew will be selected soon out of the current corps of 42 active astronauts and is expected to launch no earlier than 2024. Artemis 2 will be a crewed flight around the moon lasting about 10 days.

Masten Receives $4.5M Offer For Assets

Masten Space Systems has received an initial bid on its assets of $4.5M from Astrobtotic, another CLPS lunar lander company, as well as a $1.4M debtor in possession loan. Masten is using this minimum bid to generate interest in higher bids. Masten has significant assets such as a $15M credit with SpaceX, patents, a VTVL testbed that has been flying since 2009, and a contract with NASA. 

Debris

Issues with space debris are becoming more of a concern for LEO constellations as the number of items tracked by US Space Command has grown from 25,000 items in 2019 to 47,000 three years later. Some of that growth came from a Russian ASAT test last year which is now directly affecting parts of the Starlink constellation. The responsibility of tracking everything in space is in the process of being transferred from US Space Command to the Department of Commerce’s Office of Space Commerce but that transition is taking longer than Congress expected. 

Ukraine Fallout

It is not commonly known that a fair amount of the US space industry relied on subcontractors in Ukraine since that’s where much of the Soviet Union’s space program was based. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused severe disruptions that have finally led Northrop Grumman to find other solutions for the first stage of its Antares rocket. The Antares has been the primary launch vehicle for the Cygnus ISS cargo carrier for ISS resupply. On Monday Northrop Grumman announced that it would begin flying its ISS resupply missions using SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and begin working with Firefly to develop an upgraded version of the Antares rocket.

Interplanetary Smallsats

Beck: CAPSTONE demonstrates the feasibility of low-cost interplanetary smallsats

Rocket Lab's CEO says his company's launch of NASA's CAPSTONE lunar cubesat mission demonstrated the ability to do low-cost interplanetary smallsat missions. The orbit that CAPSTONE is investigating will be used by NASA’s Lunar Gateway. What may not be obvious about this mission is that the Earth-Moon L1 libration point (the point where the gravity of the Earth and the Moon balance out) is a jumping-off point for the entire inner solar system. With the right secondary propulsion, small satellites like CAPSTONE can begin exploring beyond the Earth/Moon system.

Other Space News

• The FCC is considering opening up more Ku-band spectrum for satellite broadband constellations.

• The Pentagon's Space Development Agency (SDA) is seeking proposals for a demonstration of laser communications between orbiting satellites and aircraft in flight.

• SpaceX disclosed Friday it has raised an additional $250 million.

• Blue Canyon Technologies won its largest constellation order to date, a contract with weather technology company Tomorrow.io.

• A U.K. regulator is investigating Viasat's planned acquisition of Inmarsat.

• NovaWurks is emerging from secrecy to talk about its technologies and customers.

• Capella Space announced Wednesday a new generation of radar imaging satellites with improved image resolution and quality.

• Lockheed Martin's venture capital arm is planning to increase investments in space companies.

• DARPA has selected 11 organizations, including five commercial satellite operators, to help develop laser terminals and technical standards to connect satellites in space.

• SpaceX tested both its Starship vehicle and Super Heavy booster on Tuesday.

• The growth of the small launch vehicle industry is slowing, with fewer new projects and more going defunct.

• Momentus will reduce spending to conserve cash as it focuses on its next space tug missions.

• Rocket Lab reported higher revenues but also greater losses in the second quarter.

• A move by the FCC last week seeks to position the U.S. as a leader in an emerging space economy.

• ESA is considering SpaceX as well as Indian and Japanese rockets to launch missions once planned for Soyuz.

• Astro Digital says it's seeing strong interest in providing small satellite technology as a service.

Starbridge Weekly Space Update for 8/5/2022

Portfolio Company News

Axiom

NASA, companies reject concerns over commercial space station development schedules

NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Destinations (CLD), which supports the development of commercial space stations, anticipates that these new stations will be ready in the late 2020s prior to the retirement of the ISS in 2030 despite concerns raised by watchdogs. Axiom’s Executive VP of In-Space Solutions, Christian Maender, said work on the first two modules are on schedule and the first module is set to be launched in late 2024 during a panel at the ISS R&D Conference. 

NASA revises requirements for ISS private astronaut missions

NASA is currently changing its requirements for future private astronaut missions to the ISS following the first private mission led by Axiom Space’s Ax-1 flight in April. In their procurement notice posted on Aug 1st, some requirements NASA outlined include: all missions have “a former flown NASA government astronaut” as a commander; research plans be submitted 12 months in advance in order to review and certify payloads; they have a “mission specific communications plan” outlining media and commercial activities; and “arrival to the spaceflight environment requires adaptation time for each individual; therefore, NASA is requiring additional time for microgravity adaptation and handover activities prior to the execution of the main mission activities. Axiom is also putting together its own “lessons learned” processes following Ax-1 and ahead of Ax-2. 

General Space News

NASA and Roscosmos officials restate intent to operate ISS after 2024

“Perhaps something was lost in the translation,” said Sergei Krikalev, executive director of human space flight programs at Roscosmos, himself speaking through an interpreter. “The statement actually said that Russia will not pull out of the program until after 2024. This means that, up until the end of 2024, there will be no changes. ‘After 2024’ could mean 2025, 2028 or 2030.” NASA, though, has been developing contingency plans to operate the station if Russia decides to withdraw.

Consolidation wave pushes rivals SES and Intelsat into merger talks

SES and Intelsat are currently discussing the potential to merge in order to better compete against SpaceX’s Starlink broadband constellation following Eutelsat and OneWeb’s planned merger which they announced last week. 

Blue Origin launches sixth New Shepard crewed suborbital flight

Blue Origin completed their 6th crewed flight Thursday, August 4th, launching Coby Cotton, Mario Ferreira, Clint Kelly III, Vanessa O’Brien, Sara Sabry, and Steve Young. 

Geospatial analysis provider Descartes Labs sold to a private equity firm

New York based private equity firm, Antarctica Capital, acquired geospatial analytics company Descartes Labs to add to its growing space based data portfolio. Antarctica bought parts of Canadian based UrtheCast last year to form EarthDaily Analytics (EDA) to provide optical satellite imagery. 

Former Descartes Labs CEO Mark Johnson, published Meditations: A Requiem for Descartes Labs where he says the company was sold at a firesale price:

… there were two main reasons for the mismatch in the actual value of the company versus the price that was paid:

1. The company was burning too much cash.

2. The sales process was run poorly.

At fault is the management team, who executed poorly, and especially the board, who knew these facts and chose to do nothing.

But at the core, the company struggled with three forces: what the customers wanted the company to be, what the founders and staff thought the company should be, and what kind of company the investors thought it should be to maximize return. Some VCs will take any investment and attempt to pigeonhole it into business model compartments. In this case, it was assuming Descartes was a SAAS company instead of understanding the company and its market from first principles. Reasoning by analogy is just as bad for VCs as it is for companies. 

House appropriator Robert Aderholt’s (R-AL.) vision for NASA

One of the core rules for how Congress operates is that the spending money is split between committees that authorize an action or Agency by the Government and the committees that appropriate money to be spent on that action. It is not uncommon for items that are authorized never actually receive any funds. Essentially this gives Appropriations committees in both branches of Congress a ‘veto’ over what an authorizing committee may say. This is why Aderholt’s views on priorities for NASA are important, regardless of what the House Science, Space, and Technology committee might say. Aderholt’s summary of his vision for NASA refers to the commercial sector sparingly and generally only in terms of  ‘harmony’ between ‘old’ and ‘new’ space. While Senator Shelby is retiring this year, his ghost will haunt space policy for decades to come.

Slingshot acquires Numerica’s space-tracking business and UK space data firm Seradata

Data analytics company, Slingshot, announced they have acquired Numerica and Seradata to help expand their footprint in the commercial and government space markets. Numerica sold its space domain awareness division, consisting of a network of ground-based telescopes that track space objects but will still maintain its air and missile defense divisions. Slingshot is fully acquiring Seradata which includes their SpaceTrak satellite and launch database which gives Slingshot a foothold in the UK and Europe.

Astra cancels Rocket 3 to focus on larger vehicle

Astra is canceling its existing small launch vehicle following its most recent failure and will be focusing on its larger vehicle, Rocket 4, which will have a payload size of 600kg. Their previous Rocket 3.3 had a payload of only 50kg.

Russian spacecraft may seek to inspect another NRO satellite

Russia has launched a spacecraft into an orbit that closely matches a US reconnaissance satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office in February. Similar launches by Russia in the past have deployed ‘inspector’ satellites that monitor US intelligence satellites. A new object linked to the US satellite was cataloged last week, but it was not clear if it was debris or some kind of sub-satellite deployed from it. The Outer Space Treaties make it clear that any nation can monitor other nation’s assets in space as long as they do not interfere. But what is not known are what antisatellite/defensive capabilities either satellite has and what conditions would cause them to be employed. While Russia often demonstrates that it can approach and observe, it has yet to indicate it has any desire to escalate conflict in space. Yet…

Space Florida is proposing to expand its role lining up funding for space companies

Most space focused VCs are no longer surprised to see Space Florida alongside them in a startup's cap table since Space Florida has long been known as a source or space-focused financing that comes with economic development strings. While most state economic development organizations avoid direct equity stakes in companies, Florida has never shied away from it and has done so to great success. As with some VCs, Space Florida appears to be ready to move up the capital stack. 

Other Space News

• SpaceX launched South Korea's first lunar mission Thursday

• China launched a secretive reusable spaceplane Thursday.

• An Electron launched a classified NRO payload early Thursday.

• Lockheed Martin is investing in a startup working on an alternative satellite navigation system.

• NASA said Wednesday the first SLS launch remains on schedule for Aug. 29.

• Delays in restarting production of RS-25 engines affected Aerojet Rocketdyne's earnings.

• Momentus has deployed four more spacecraft from its first orbital transfer vehicle that suffered problems after its launch in May.

• Hyundai is planning to develop a vehicle for lunar surface exploration.

• Space Force will take on a bigger role in coordinating space requirements for other branches of the military.

• Another private crewed mission is planning to launch late this year.

• Lunar lander developer Masten Space Systems has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Starbridge Weekly Space Update for 7/29/2022

Portfolio Company News

GeoOptics

GeoOptics to Provide NOAA with Space Weather Data

GeoOptics was awarded a contract to provide space weather data to NOAA’s Commercial Weather Data Program using their CICERO earth observation satellites to help generate 3-D maps measuring electron density profiles of Earth’s ionosphere to aid in monitoring and predicting geomagnetic storms caused by solar activity. 

SpaceX

SpaceX requests spectrum to upgrade Starlink mobile services

SpaceX looks to “augment” its mobile satellite services (MSS) by applying for 2GHz spectrum from the FCC. They were previously granted permission to operate Earth Stations in Motion (ESIMs) back in June to enable broadband services on moving aircraft, ships, and motor vehicles. Dish Network currently has 2 aging satellites utilizing the 2GHz spectrum and is asking the FCC to upgrade its 12GHz band license to support their 5G network plans. SpaceX, OneWeb, and DirecTV have raised interference concerns to the FCC over Dish Networks' plans.

Axiom

UAE names astronaut who will spend six months on International Space Station

Axiom is facilitating the first long duration ISS mission for a UAE astronaut. The UAE purchased the seat from Axiom which is the Falcon 9 seat that Axiom was given by NASA after the company gave up its Russian Soyuz rocket seat for American astronaut, Mark Vande Hei, back in 2021. The amount paid for the seat was undisclosed.

General Space News

Policy Frameworks

The White House released a National Orbital Debris Implementation Plan last week. The plan is based on the U.S. Space Priorities Framework, the National Orbital Debris Research and Development (R&D) Plan, and the input received from the industry from a Request for Information in 2021. The R&D plan and RFI were conducted by the Trump Administration and show a continuation of the core of the previous Administration’s space policy. 

This plan continues a stream of national strategies, frameworks, implementation plans, reports, and requests for information from the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) that makes it clear how this White House prefers to develop Government-wide technology policy. The DoD’s desire to spur investment in satellite servicing is a good example of where these policy statements lead. While the previous Administration preferred policy to be developed as a series of Space Policy Directives by the National Space Council, the current Administration is leaning heavily on interagency working groups organized under the NSTC. This reliance on the NSTC may have been the reason why this Administration felt it didn’t need the National Space Council until Vice President Harris fought for it. 

Congressional Action

Congress passed the first NASA authorization act in more than five years on Thursday. The impasse between previous House and Senate versions of the authorization was ‘solved’ by simply removing the differences and doubling down on Artemis. The bill appears to solve Congress’ frustration with NASA over Artemis reporting by mandating the Agency implement the program structure Congress wants, giving it a single person they can deal with, and excluding anything from Artemis’ budget not directly intended to be delivered to the surface of Mars or in its direct development chain. The basic statement being is that anything Lunar related, beyond testing of Mars hardware, is not part of Artemis' budget (making the program’s name rather odd). 

Almost simultaneously, the Senate Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Subcommittee published a related bill that would match the overall funding for NASA, to the agency’s request. However, it also includes some important changes such as limiting funding for commercial stations, “solving supply rather than demand problems,” and prevents NASA from spending any money “to subsidize the cost of any project that is primarily intended for marketing, advertising, or entertainment.”

As readers may remember, it is our contention that commercial development in LEO requires both supply and demand generation. Demand generation can come from leadership and rhetoric, but doing nothing is Governmental wishful thinking.

Russia to drop out of International Space Station after 2024

The new head of Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, stated that Russia will pull out of the ISS after 2024 and will be building its own ‘Russian Orbital Service Station’ (ROSS). Russia is aiming to have the first phase, consisting of its core module, done as early as 2028 with the second phase, consisting of 2 large modules, completed by 2030. NASA officials said Tuesday they have heard nothing from Russia about plans to end participation in the International Space Station despite public comments to that effect by the new head of Roscosmos.

Eutelsat announced Monday that it is in discussions with OneWeb about a merger. Much of the reporting around this merger concerns itself with the byzantine board structure and other published terms but the core issue is that the combined entity is so far behind and has such an unsustainable cost structure that it an only turn into a Government supported also ran similar to Minitel. 

Boeing takes additional charge for Starliner astronaut capsule, bringing cost overruns to near $700 million

Boeing has disclosed further setbacks on their Starliner astronaut capsule program falling further behind SpaceX. Starliner had successfully docked with the ISS in its second uncrewed flight back in May in preparation for its first crewed flight. Boeing is determining whether they need to redesign the Aerojet Rocketdyne propulsion valves on Starliner which malfunctioned during its first launch attempt in August 2021. Comparatively, SpaceX has already completed 5 crewed flights for NASA and 2 privately crewed missions overall. 

Saltzman tapped to succeed Raymond as chief of the U.S. Space Force

President Biden has nominated Lieutenant General B. Chance Saltzman to lead Space Force as the Chief of Space Operations if confirmed. If confirmed, Saltzman will succeed General John “Jay” Raymond who is retiring. 

Sierra Space establishes national security advisory group

Sierra Space has created an 8-person National Security Advisory Group, chaired by James F. Geurts, to advise them on national security threats and technology trends. The advisory group includes William M. Fraser III, Lori Garver, Susan Gordon, David E. Hamilton, Jr., Paul Selva, William “Mac” Thornberry, Stephen W. Wilson.

The space economy grew at fastest rate in years to $469 billion in 2021, report says

Space Foundation CEO, Tom Zelibor, told CNBC that the space economy is expected to continue growing this year despite a slowdown in US markets and the economy. Government and commercial spending has remained strong this year with 75 rocket launches having already flown this year.

Massive Long March 5B booster predicted to reenter on July 31

The uncontrolled reentry of the core stage of the rocket used to launch the new Chinese space station module will happen sometime this weekend and there is almost no ability to say when and where it will reenter and what parts may make it to the ground. 

Other Space News

• A draft Senate appropriations bill would add more than $2 billion to military space programs.

• China launched a new module for its space station Sunday, along with a rocket stage that will make another uncontrolled reentry.

• NASA and ESA have modified their plans to return samples from Mars, replacing a rover and its lander with two small helicopters.

• The Senate passed a semiconductor manufacturing bill Wednesday that includes a NASA authorization act.

• Rocket Lab will supply solar cells to missile-warning satellites Lockheed Martin is building for the Space Force.

• ISRO says it's earned $279 million from launching foreign satellites.

• The launch of South Korea's first lunar mission is slipping slightly.

• Orbit Fab, a space refueling startup, says it will buy lunar regolith and donate it to a trust.

Starbridge Weekly Space Update for 7/22/2022

Portfolio Company News

Lynk

Lynk's co-investment deal listed below is likely to become unavailable at any point within the next week. This is based on some very recent events that we cannot discuss publicly so if you are interested, please contact us immediately. 

Axiom

Axiom Space and Hungary Sign MOU To Expand Relationship in Space

Axiom and Hungary signed an MOU to further Hungary’s astronaut program which aims to send a Hungarian astronaut to the ISS through Axiom’s commercial astronaut mission.

General Space News 

NASA authorization included in CHIPS Act

The new version of the CHIPS Act includes a long awaited NASA Authorization bill. The Senate Commerce Committee released text for their bill to support domestic manufacturing of semiconductors through their Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) Act. Starbridge portfolio company, Lucid Circuit, benefits from the larger CHIPS Act bill. While the NASA Authorization isn’t expected to survive the reconciliation with the House, the language does indicate the Senate’s frustration with NASA on program management for Artemis and strongly states that NASA’s human spaceflight focus is Mars and there is little support for doing anything permanently on the Moon. 

Impulse and Relativity announce a proposal for a joint Mars landing mission

The two companies jointly announced that they are working on a robotic Mars lander that they anticipate launching in 2024. Impulse will be building the lander, cruise stage, and entry capsule. Relativity will launch the spacecraft.

NASA sets late August and early September launch dates for Artemis 1

NASA announced their target launch dates of Aug 2nd, Sept 2nd, and Sept 5th for their Artemis I mission on an uncrewed test flight of the Orion Spacecraft and the first launch of the SLS. The increasingly controversial SLS program is facing multi-billion dollar cost overruns, a slower and slower launch cadence, and the threat that commercial vehicles will quickly outstrip its capabilities. While some of this is due to how NASA operates internally, it is also being driven by a Congress that seems much more concerned about how many flights per year over what timeframe SLS will fly rather than any concern about where or why. 

Millennium Space reveals results of DARPA’s ‘Red-Eye’ smallsat experiment

Millennium Space launched 3 small satellites back in 2019 and 2020 funded by DARPA to demonstrate capabilities such as on-board data processing, inter-satellite communications, and software-defined radios called the Red-Eye experiment. Millennium CEO, Jason Kim, told reporters that they discovered the ability to control the orbital spacing of the 3-satellite constellation using atmospheric drag management techniques without the use of a propulsion system. 

China could shift to fully reusable super heavy-launcher in wake of Starship

New plans for a reusable two-stage and three-stage launcher were recently presented and differ dramatically from previous versions of China’s Long March 9 rocket that were previously presented last year. The new concepts are more in line with SpaceX, Blue Origin, and ULA in switching their fuel to methane-liquid oxygen as well. China's government approved the development of a Long March 9 super heavy lift launcher last year which was to be operational by 2030, their new concept looks to be ready by 2035 instead. 

Other Space News 

• A Falcon 9 launch has been rescheduled for no earlier than today after a rare last-minute scrub Thursday.

• Mattel has signed an agreement with SpaceX to produce SpaceX-themed toys.

• NASA and Roscosmos finalized a seat barter agreement that will allow the agencies to fly people on each others' spacecraft in September. 

• A SpaceX cargo Dragon spacecraft docked with the International Space Station Saturday. 

• A Chinese cargo spacecraft undocked from the country's space station Saturday night. 

• China is preparing for the launch its Wentian lab mobile this weekend.

• DirecTV says a 5G plan by rival Dish Network would degrade satellite TV reception. 

• Northrop Grumman has selected Solstar Space to provide a wifi network on a module for NASA's lunar Gateway. 

• Raytheon is acquiring Northern Space and Security (NORSS), a space domain awareness startup. 

• The United States and the United Kingdom are working to strengthen their partnership in space-related security efforts. 

• A private astronaut who flew on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft last year is going to work for Blue Origin.

• NASA awarded a contract to SpaceX Tuesday for the launch of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

• Microsoft is expanding its relationships with space companies through the Azure Space Partner Community. 

• The company that owns the land intended for a Georgia spaceport says it no longer plans to sell the property.

• NASA's safety advisers warned Thursday that the agency's plans to transition from the International Space Station to commercial stations are on a "precarious trajectory." 

Starbridge Weekly Space Update for 7/15/2022

The Southern Ring nebula from the Webb telescope’s NIRCam instrument

Portfolio Company News

GeoOptics

GeoOptics, PlanetIQ and Spire to supply NOAA with space weather data

The 3 companies will provide NOAA with Radio Occultation datasets concerning the Earth’s ionosphere to determine the impact that these commercial datasets will have on existing and future space weather models and applications.

Axiom

NASA is considering sending scientists to the ISS on short-duration private astronaut missions.

This has been one of Axiom’s proposals to NASA to increase the scientific outpost of the ISS. Bringing the actual scientist doing the research up to the Station to do the initial setup and calibration of the equipment greatly improves the success rate because of their ability to troubleshoot problems. Astronauts unfamiliar with the research can only follow a strict set of instructions. When a problem occurs the failure rate becomes very high because the person who knows how to fix the problem is not on Station.  

Umbra

NRO has released a request for proposals from commercial providers of space-based radio frequency (RF) data.

This is an additional DoD market for many SAR companies, Umbra included.

General Space News

The Kremlin has fired Dmitry Rogozin as head of the Russian space agency 

In the above released announcement from the Kremlin, long time and controversial Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin was removed from his post to be replaced by Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov. Borisov has a much more military background. Rumors abound concerning Rogozin's future which ranges from being the Governor of the Donbas region in Ukraine to being a high-level role in Putin's inner circle. Given Rogozin's history of encouraging fantastic rumors about himself and Roscosmos, none of the current crop of rumors seem credible. 

NASA sees JWST success helping win agency support and funding

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is garnering more support for NASA after the release of its first "deep field" image that revealed galaxies from the early universe.

Defense Innovation Unit selects contractors to build hybrid space network

DIU awarded contracts to Anduril, Aalyria Technologies, Atlas Space Operations, and Enveil to demonstrate a hybrid architecture to share data across commercial, civil, and military satellites. Demonstrations on orbit are planned within 2 years.

Northrop Grumman gets $22 million Space Force contract to build small-satellite carrier bus

Space Force awarded Northrop Grumman $22M to build a Rapid On-Orbit Space Technology Evaluation Ring (ROOSTER) to carry multiple small payloads to demonstrate on-orbit refueling in GEO.

Russia threatens ISS European robotic arm after ExoMars termination

ESA announced on July 12th that they formally decided to terminate cooperation with Russia on the ExoMars mission which then prompted the head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, to threaten to halt the use of the European robotic arm on the ISS.

Video of SpaceX Booster 7 Experiencing an Explosion

Latest reports from SpaceX indicate the explosion was external to the engine and due to an incorrect venting of liquid oxygen as seen just before the explosion. 

One of the companies NASA has awarded contracts for commercial lunar lander missions is reportedly in financial distress.

Going personal here from Michael Mealling: My start in the space business began with the founding team at Masten Space in 2004. Raising money and building hardware back then was FAR more difficult than it is now. We had many failures and successes. We did things before SpaceX did and may have even inspired them. My hopes are with the team that they can recover. I know the company has gone through multiple similar cycles over the years.

Other Space News

• China is preparing to launch the next module for its space station in a little more than a week.

• Virgin Galactic will assemble a new line of suborbital spaceplanes at a factory in a suburb of Phoenix.

• The House passed its version of a defense authorization act Thursday.

• A former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff worries that the Space Force has not "cracked the code" on faster acquisitions. 

• A Japanese startup will test a robotic arm on the International Space Station next year. 

• India's space agency ISRO opened a new space situational awareness center.

• The European Space Agency launched the first Vega-C rocket this morning.

• A new report suggests the recent increase in U.S. military space funding may be short lived.

• OneWeb says it shares SpaceX's concerns that 5G services could interfere with satellite signals. 

• China is planning a mission to test asteroid deflection technologies.

• Earth observation companies are changing how their satellites are tasked by customers.

• NASA says it is "pretty close" to finalizing a seat barter agreement with Roscosmos to enable crew swaps on spacecraft launching to the ISS in September.

• The executive secretary of the National Space Council expects the Office of Space Commerce to start developing soon an architecture for space traffic management.

Starbridge Weekly Space Update for 7/11/2022

Editorial Comment 

Late last week Payload Space’s morning newsletter had this to say about the sector and the impact of SPACs: 

At first, some saw the SPAC market as a harbinger of new space startups and their investors having “made it.” SPACs created liquidity for a sector that historically did not have clear exit opportunities.

Instead, the reverse merger phenomenon created poor incentive mechanisms that allowed for misguided behavior between management teams and financial institutions. And we now see a clear bifurcation between traditional aerospace and the new space model. 

We have seen this commentary repeated many times and, in our opinion, it makes an erroneous assumption that the market of SPAC-ed space companies is somehow a valid proxy for the entire commercial space sector when it is not even a valid statistical sample 

 Using an estimate from Space Fund’s reality rating index, the number of ‘going concerns’ in the sector is somewhere near 120+ (launch, in-space servicing, in-space transport, human spaceflight, earth observation, etc) while the number of SPAC-ed space companies is 15 depending on who you include. In our opinion, the performance of the various space-specific SPACs is not indicative of the sector and especially of the health of companies who were offered SPACs and correctly turned them down. 

There are numerous media outlets attempting to generate clicks from a doom and gloom story when the reality is indeed different. Yes, financial markets are currently challenged on nearly every front, but businesses with customers and validated business models are continuing to execute. There are tangible effects on private markets but those appear to be a reluctance to invest without clear knowledge of the near-term future (e.g. fed policy, inflation numbers, GDP reports, etc). But at their core, each deal is still justifiable from a basic market demand and profitability perspective. Hence our rejection of Payload’s assertion that the end of the world is nigh. 

Portfolio Company News 

Virginia Venture Partners invests in Lynk Global

Virginia Venture Partners, the equity investment program of Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC), today announced an investment in Lynk. Falls Church, Va.-based Lynk provides satellite broadband connectivity from directly to customers’ existing standard mobile phones; even in the most isolated areas, with no need to purchase a new device. Lynk will provide universal connectivity everywhere in Virginia, and the rest of the world, including the most rural areas.

Lynk wins the Mercedes-Benz car2space Challenge – SatNews

Lynk won over applicants from around the globe for its innovative technology connecting cars to the company’s growing constellation of satellite cell towers in space. Lynk received this award in Berlin, Germany, at the INNOspace Masters Conference and Awards Ceremony. This is a great example of how global Lynk’s market is. The company has been executing on a strong cadence of signed contracts with mobile network operators (MNOs) from around the world. 

Lynk Global says it's still looking for a ride for a satellite kicked off a SpaceX rideshare mission. 

Issues related to SpaceX abruptly severing its rideshare relationship with Spaceflight Services are still affecting companies such as Lynk who were caught rideless unless they are willing to pay a 7x higher price. 

General Space News

NASA will offer a sneak preview of the first James Webb Space Telescope images late today, thanks to the White House.

The first images from the James Webb Space Telescope are being released this week with the first images later this afternoon at a White House event. The rest of the images will be released on Tuesday.

Norway's Kongsberg will acquire a majority stake in NanoAvionics

This deal seems to have been prompted by the new CFO at AST offloading AST’s assets for cash and Kongsberg picking up a reasonable deal on NanoAvionics. 

NASA criticized Russia for using the ISS to promote its invasion of Ukraine.

Russia’s behavior with respect to the ISS is increasing the pressure all of the ISS partners are feeling from the incongruity between their space policy and foreign policy. There is a mythology around cooperation in space being the one bright spot where adversaries can cooperate but at some point, that fig leaf wears thin and begins to reveal the truth. 

A lunar cubesat is communicating again with controllers.

The CAPESTONE mission to examine the near-rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon continues to demonstrate, despite some temporary comms problems, that the Moon is well within the reach of many commercial and non-profit organizations. Maybe your college can sponsor its own Lunar lander team? 

Dish Network says SpaceX's claims that 5G services would interfere with its Starlink constellation are false.

The fight over spectrum continues…

Other Space News

• OneWeb signed a contract with Relativity Space to launch some of its second-generation satellites.

• Kepler Communications will use D-Orbit's orbital transfer vehicle for the next two satellites in its low-data-rate constellation.

• House appropriators reduced much of a proposed budget increase for the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation.

• The FCC approved plans by SpaceX to offer Starlink services to moving vehicles.

• India's space agency is putting the brakes on both its human spaceflight and lunar exploration programs.

• The NASA-funded CAPSTONE cubesat is on its way to the moon after deployment from Rocket Lab's Lunar Photon Monday.

• L3Harris is making a strategic investment in laser communications company Mynaric.

• Several Chinese companies are preparing for test flights of new rockets from China's Jiuquan spaceport.

• South Korea's first lunar orbiter is on its way to the United States for launch next month.

• India will now allow private ownership of imaging satellites.

• A slate of candidates backed by Aerojet Rocketdyne's CEO won election to the company's board over a rival set backed by its former executive chairman.