Space

Launch startup ABL Space Systems has landed a $60 million contract to build out its “responsive launch” operational capacity, as part of the U.S. Space Force and U.S. Air Force Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) program. The new funding, which equally matches government funding with private i

It’s been nearly six months since Blue Origin’s 23rd suborbital launch experienced an anomaly, and the company has finally released the results of its investigation. The good news is the escape function worked great! But there was definitely a nozzle problem. The September flight, NS-23

Relativity Space achieved a massively important milestone just before 11:30 PM ET on Wednesday, with the first ever flight of its 3D-printed rocket technology. Its Terran 1 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral in Florida, successfully clearing the pad and launch structure, and achieving ‘Max Q

The U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) has awarded five-year study contracts to six space companies that provide hyperspectral satellite imagery — BlackSky, Orbital Sidekick, Pixxel, Planet, Xplore and HyperSat — as the agency seeks to expand its remote sensing capabilities. The

Hello and welcome back to Max Q! In this issue: An “operational pause” at Virgin Orbit Behold: New moon suits! News from Project Kuiper and more At Virgin Orbit, it never should've come to a staff furlough CNBC broke the bombshell news that Virgin Orbit was pausing operations for

Last night, CNBC broke the bombshell news that Virgin Orbit was pausing operations for at least a week while it looked for funding to support the business. As part of that pause, company executives reportedly told staff in an all-hands meeting that they were being furloughed — and that it would b

The FCC has officially proposed, and voted unanimously to move forward with, a framework under which satellites can communicate directly with smartphones in a structured and useful way. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, circulated earlier this month and formally voted on today, is essentially a co

Virgin Orbit is halting all operations for a week to save money while it “conducts discussions with potential funding sources and explores strategic opportunities,” the company announced in an SEC filing. The company has been struggling financially and a recent launch failure clearly ex

Amazon’s Project Kuiper has been working on building a competitor to SpaceX’s Starlink low-Earth orbit-based satellite internet for years, but it’s on the verge of launching its first actual prototype satellites, and today it unveiled what customers can expect in terms of terminal

SpaceX and T-Mobile will begin testing a new service to bring satellite connectivity to cell phones this year, a SpaceX executive said. The news, first reported by CNBC, suggests that we may be close to a future where cellular “dead zones” are a thing of the past. SpaceX and T-Mobile announced

Hello and welcome back to Max Q! In this issue: Relativity scrubs first Terran 1 launch attempt Claims of age discrimination in hiring at Blue Origin News from Starfish Space and more One scrub, one abort during Relativity’s launch attempts of Terran 1 Relativity Space called off the first

Relativity Space called off the first launch attempt of the Terran 1 rocket a little over a half hour before the close of the launch window, joining every other space company in history in not launching their vehicle on the first attempt. The company has a backup launch window tomorrow, though it&#

In the present moment, if a critical component on a satellite malfunctions or it runs out of fuel, satellite operators have no choice but to consider that asset caput. Starfish Space is one of a handful of companies that wants to change that. The four-year-old company is developing a satellite serv

Two separate lawsuits have been filed against Blue Origin alleging discriminatory hiring practices based on age, technewss has learned. The first suit was filed last summer by a former Blue Origin engineer who participated on company interview panels, and who claims that he was instructed by his s