Hello and welcome back to Max Q, your very favorite space news digest. A ton happened this week — launches, financing deals, contract awards, etc., etc. — so let’s dive in. Send thoughts, tips, feedback to aria.techcrunch@gmail.com. Don’t forget to sign up to get the free newsletter version of Max Q delivered to your inbox. […]
Voyager Space Holdings to acquire majority stake in Space Micro
Voyager Space Holdings is continuing its trend of snapping up space companies by moving to acquire a majority stake in Space Micro, a manufacturer of orbital communications and digital subsystems for satellites. This is Voyager’s sixth acquisition since its founding in October 2019, as the company seeks to become a full-service space firm offering everything […]
Astra moves full steam ahead after successful orbital launch, looks to test Rocket 4.0 next year
Rocket startup-turned-public company Astra Space is flying high Monday morning, with stock prices increasing as much as 42% since markets opened thanks to the company’s first successful orbital flight late Saturday evening. But now the real work begins, as the company seeks to commence commercial operations and roll out new rocket versions for flight testing […]
SpaceX aims to conduct first orbital flight of Starship in January, Musk says
SpaceX has been advancing the development of Starship, the largest ultra-super-heavy reusable launch system ever designed in history, at a jaw-dropping pace — and CEO Elon Musk is “comfortable” it will reach orbit sometime next year. Musk made the comments — which often veered into the philosophical — at the National Academies’ first virtual joint […]
Northrop Grumman leads team to design an astronaut transportation vehicle for the lunar surface
Aerospace prime Northrop Grumman is leading a team that includes AVL, Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost and Michelin to design a vehicle to transport Artemis astronauts around the moon. The Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) will be key to exploration of the lunar south pole region, an area that no human has ever visited. Northrop will lead […]
Rocket Lab acquires Planetary Systems Corporation in cash and stock deal
Rocket Lab is continuing its acquisition strategy, this time with a cash and stock deal with Planetary Systems Corporation (PSC). The news was announced ahead of the company’s third-quarter earnings. Rocket Lab said it would purchase the company for $42 million in cash, plus 1,720,841 in shares of common stock, with the potential for additional […]
HawkEye 360 raises $145M to scale space-based radio frequency data and analytics
The biggest players in the Earth observation industry use imaging satellites to deliver intelligence and analytics, but startup HawkEye 360 is taking a different tack. The company monitors radio frequency (RF) signals, like those emitted by marine radios or emergency beacons, on the premise that invisible electromagnetic spectrum is as ripe for information as the […]
Satellite manufacturer Terran Orbital to go public in $1.58B SPAC merger
Terran Orbital, a leading manufacturer of small satellites, is going public in a merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Tailwind Two Acquisition Corp. The deal has a post-transaction enterprise value of $1.58 billion and will furnish the company with around $470 million. Of those funds, $345 million will come from Tailwind Two’s contribution, plus […]
Max Q: Nanoracks, Voyager and Lockheed Martin plan commercial space station
Hello and welcome back to Max Q. The era of commercial space stations is here. Read on for news from Nanoracks, Voyager and Lockheed Martin on their plans to launch a space station in 2027, plus news on SpaceX’s Starship. Tips, opinions, criticism, thoughts? Email me at aria.techcrunch@gmail.com or find me on Twitter at @breadfrom. […]
Promus Ventures closes €120 million ($139 million) space fund amid investment boom
Chicago-based Promus Ventures has closed a €120 million ($139 million) space fund, dubbed Orbital Ventures, focused on early-stage space companies. The new fund, which will be based in Luxembourg, grew out of a mix of public and private investment. The European Investment Fund, the financing arm of the European Union’s European Investment Bank Group, committed […]