Rocket Lab reimagines rocket design with its Neutron launch vehicle

Rocket Lab finally pulled the cover off its Neutron rocket, a medium-lift vehicle that CEO Peter Beck calls “a rocket of 2050,” as the company looks to take a greater share of the launch market currently dominated by SpaceX. This is the first major update on the project from the company since Neutron was announced […]

Max Q: Elon Musk talks Starship, envisions first orbital launch in January 2022

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. […]

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 […]

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. […]

Current and former employees raise major safety concerns, allegations of sexual harassment at Blue Origin

Jeff Bezos just can’t get away from labor issues. The beleaguered billionaire, who has faced repeated and persistent criticism over working conditions at the company he formerly led, Amazon, is now facing allegations of a hostile work environment at his space company Blue Origin. An essay jointly composed by 21 current and former employees paints […]

Virgin Galactic is clear to fly again following FAA’s ‘mishap investigation’ of Branson flight

The Federal Aviation Administration has closed its “mishap investigation” into the July 11 flight of Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson and three others, the space tourism company’s first dedicated passenger trip. Future flights will reserve a greater volume of airspace and the company promises better communication, but other than that the company is clear to […]

Starfish Space raises $7M for in-orbit servicing space tug

Satellite servicing company Starfish Space has closed $7 million in funding to accelerate the development of a space tug vehicle that can extend the life of spacecraft and get rid of orbital debris. Servicing satellites used to be nigh impossible, due to the extreme costs associated with going to orbit. Essentially, once a spacecraft was […]

Rocket Lab’s order backlog tops $141M as the company inks five-launch deal with Kinéis

It was a busy first half of the year for U.S.-New Zealand company Rocket Lab, which posted earnings for the first six months of 2021 on Wednesday – the first such reporting since the company went public last month. Rocket Lab reported revenues for the six-month period of $29.5 million. Its order backlog also grew […]

Firefly launches its first rocket, but loses the launch craft in mid-flight explosion

Firefly launched its first rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, and on board it carried a number of payloads with an intended destination of low Earth orbit. The rocket took off as planned, and seemed to be doing fairly well during the initial portion of the launch, before experiencing “an anomaly” that clearly […]