Space

Plenty of companies want to operate in space, but few have or need the expertise to do so. They want an eye in the sky but not a satellite company. Muon Space is one of several startups looking to put others into space but with a special expertise in Earth observation and building the full stack fr

Hello and welcome back to Max Q. Happy belated 10th birthday to the Mars Curiosity rover! We <3 you. In this issue: Astra changes strategy in the wake of launch failures SpaceX launches South Korean lunar mission News from Zenno Astronautics, Blue Origin and more Astra changes strategy and dit

The maiden flight of India's Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) ended in failure when the rocket failed to insert its payloads into the target orbit. India Space Research Organization (ISRO), the country's space agency, confirmed on Twitter that the satellites “are no longer usable”

Chalk one up for the American broomsticks. Northrop Grumman has announced that it will partner with startup Firefly Aerospace to build an all-American version of its workhorse Antares rocket, which currently flies with Russian-built RD-181 engines. Due to the continuing war in Ukraine, Russia halte

Astra CEO Chris Kemp told investors Thursday that the company will be no longer launch payloads with its current lightweight vehicle, Rocket 3, and will instead re-manifest all launches on a considerably larger rocket that's still under development. It's a big change for the company, which

South Korea is headed for the moon. Last night, the country launched its first-ever lunar mission — in fact, its first-ever mission beyond low Earth orbit. Formerly called the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), the mission, managed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), is now name

Hello and welcome back to Max Q. Last week was the week of ambitious timelines. In this issue: A modest profile of one of the foremost experts of space propulsion Deep dive into the history of NASA’s Landsat News from Masten Space, Swarm and more P.S. Applications are closing soon for Start

It’s been nearly a year since satellite Internet-of-Things connectivity provider Swarm was acquired by SpaceX, and Swarm co-founder and CEO Sara Spangelo (now senior director of Satellite Engineering at SpaceX) is ready to talk about what Swarm’s been up to in that time. SpaceX is not k

Masten Space Systems began the process of filing for bankruptcy on Thursday, telling a Delaware court that it owed millions in liabilities to companies including SpaceX, Astrobotic, NuSpace and others. Masten Space, a startup founded in 2004, had ambitions to send a lander to the moon as early as n

NASA’s Landsat satellites have consistently made history in Earth observation since the project’s first launch in 1972, with this year marking 50 years of innovation and science. Its influence may surprise you, as will its continued relevance in the face of a fast-growing commercial ima

The European space scene is about five to 10 years behind America's, Hélène Huby explained in a recent interview. She's certainly qualified to make such an assessment: Huby spent much of her career at major European aerospace company Airbus, where one of her roles was VP of the European S

Tom Mueller is a self-described race car guy. Upon retiring from his role as CTO of Propulsion at SpaceX in November 2020, he “mostly wanted to go racing and ride dirt bikes and travel,” he said in a recent interview. Mueller, who is 61, was putting behind him a storied career: While at Spa

Two major players in the European satellite space are merging in a $3.4 billion all-share transaction, a move that is widely seen as a challenge to Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Rumors emerged earlier this week that France’s Eutelsat was gearing up to buy its British rival OneWeb, and the duo hav

Amazon appears to have identified another market to launch its fast and affordable internet service, Project Kuiper: India. Job listings show the American e-commerce group is looking to hire managers in India to launch the internet service, for which the company plans to use low Earth orbit satelli