NASA and Boeing provided an update on the beleaguered Starliner capsule Tuesday, confirming that the earliest the spacecraft will fly will be sometime during the first half of next year. Starliner was grounded in August, after an issue with the oxidizer valves was discovered roughly four and a half hours before launch. The launch was […]
Space Perspective raises $40M Series A for stratospheric balloon rides
The successful commercial launches of Blue Origin, SpaceX and Virgin Galactic have officially ushered in a new era of space tourism. But unlike these companies, which are planning on taking people to space using rockets or spaceplanes, two-year-old startup Space Perspective is taking a different tack. Instead of going to space on a rocket, which […]
Steve Wozniak and Alex Fielding’s startup Privateer aims to be the Google Maps of space
A number of startups have emerged aimed at cleaning up low Earth orbit, which is currently crowded with millions of pieces of space junk – including anything from broken satellites, to rocket fragments, to debris from vehicle stages or space missions. While the task of cleaning up LEO is an important one, there’s one problem, […]
Max Q: Relativity Space hits a key milestone and NASA takes aim at asteroids — literally
Hello and welcome back to Max Q. I hope everyone is enjoying lower temperatures and all the other seasonal delights that autumn brings. Here in Austin, where I live, the daily high is still in the 90s, but the nights and mornings are blessedly cool. I’ll take it. Tips, opinions, criticism, thoughts? Email me at […]
GM has started shipping replacement battery modules for recalled Chevy Bolt EVs
General Motors has started shipping to dealers replacement battery modules for recalled Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles after delays caused by shutdowns at multiple manufacturing plants as a result of the widespread shortage of semiconductors. The two battery assembly facilities, in Holland and Hazel Park, Michigan, resumed production at the end of September. At that time, […]
The UAE aims to launch a probe to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter in 2028
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Space Agency will be sending a probe to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, with the aim of ultimately landing on an asteroid in the early 2030s, in a mission that will surely be a major boost for the country’s private sector space companies. The mission will launch in […]
Lidar developer Ouster agrees to buy Sense Photonics as it takes aim at the auto industry
Ouster, a lidar company that went public this year via a SPAC merger, said it would acquire solid-state lidar startup Sense Photonics in an all-stock deal that was valued at around $68 million at close of markets on Monday. Once the acquisition is complete, Ouster said it would establish a new business arm, Ouster Automotive, […]
Rendered.ai raises $6M on the promise of ending data scarcity
The availability of data can paralyze a company and its effort to bring software-centric products and services to market. To solve this issue, two-year-old data startup Rendered.ai is generating synthetic data for the satellite, medical, robotics and automotive industries. At its most broad, synthetic data is manufactured rather than gathered from the real world. “When […]
Max Q: Blue Origin puts safety in the backseat, workers claim
Hello, readers: Welcome back to Max Q. First, an introduction: I’m Aria Alamalhodaei, the resident space and transportation reporter here at TechCrunch. I’ll be taking over the Max Q newsletter from Darrell Etherington for the next few months. Tips, opinions, criticism, thoughts? Email me at aria.techcrunch@gmail.com or find me on Twitter at @breadfrom. Bezos’ labor […]
Qualcomm acquires Veoneer for $4.5 billion, canceling its agreement with Magna
Qualcomm scored the purchase of Swedish automotive tech company Veoneer, nudging out Magna International with a higher bid. Qualcomm and investment group SSW Partners said Monday they would acquire Veoneer for $37 per share in an all-cash transaction. At closing, SSW said it would sell Veoneer’s Arriver tech — an advanced driver assistance system stack […]