Space

Starlink adds a 1TB monthly soft cap for residential users • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 4, 2022Posted in Space, starlink, starlink data cap, starlink throttlingNo Comments

SpaceX’s Starlink internet has included unlimited bandwidth since launch, and while the service will technically continue to provide that to customers, users who exceed 1TB of data use in a single month will now be throttled once they reach that threshold. Starlink sent out an email to users across the U.S. and Canada on Friday outlining the new so-called “Fair Use” policy, which describes how residential users will start out each month with ‘Priority Access,’ and then continue to receive coverage with ‘Basic Access’ for the remainder of the monthly billing period if they cross that 1TB threshold. Basic Access means that you get “deprioritized” in terms of use, meaning they’ll get slower speeds than Priority Access customers when there’s heavy use on the network. Starlink also notes that data used between off-peak times, specifically between 11pm and 7am, won’t be counted towards that 1TB monthly Priority bucket. The company is also introduced data use monitoring via user account pages so people can track how close they are to the soft cap. Third-party network analytics firm Ookla noted that Starlink’s media speeds decreased in every country where it is currently available during the past year. Ookla cites user growth and the primary reason behind the overall decline. Starlink is clearly looking to improve the situation by limiting high-volume users, which it says represents under 10% of its current subscriber base.

NASA’s Chief Technologist at ZebethMedia event • Los Angeles • Dec 6

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 4, 2022Posted in Space, TC Sessions: Space 2022No Comments

ZebethMedia Sessions: Space returns on December 6, and among our distinguished guests is Dr. Carolyn Mercer, chief technologist for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, who will share the agency’s tech and science ambitions and priorities in the Artemis era. Mercer is a NASA veteran and started as a research engineer at Glenn before ascending through the ranks to her current role. As the “focal point” for new tech and capabilities in all the forms of science and research that the agency uses and funds, she has a powerful bird’s-eye (or orbital) view of its operations. Of course with a new focus on lunar exploration and habitation, as well as increased reliance on commercial partners, NASA is in the middle of a complex evolution. How do government projects and commercial enterprises safely and securely share knowledge? What is the role of an expert agency in the growing private space economy? And how does it all serve humankind’s knowledge of the cosmos? With experience in scientific, engineering, and leadership roles, Mercer can speak to the power of NASA-led technological advancement in both space exploration and everyday life. Join us December 6 to hear where the agency is placing its bets and investing its considerable resources. You won’t find a better atmosphere for networking with hundreds of engineers, founders, students, investors, executives, and military and government officials in the house. Use our event app to find people you want to connect with, schedule 1:1 meetings, and explore potential opportunities for collaboration, partnerships, investment and more. TC Sessions: Space takes place on December 6 in Los Angeles, but your chance to buy your early-bird pass and save disappears end of day today Friday, November 4 at 11:59 p.m. (PDT). We can’t wait to see you in LA! Is your company interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at TC Sessions: Space? Contact our sponsorship sales team by filling out this form.

Space in Los Angeles • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 4, 2022Posted in SpaceNo Comments

ZebethMedia Sessions: Space is back! Happening December 6 — our third dedicated space event. This is a live, in-person event featuring the most influential people in the space industry, across public, private and defense. 2022 was a year that saw the commercial space industry undergo a lot of change, including significant consolidation, as well as new entrants in the orbital private launch category and a renewed focus on public-private partnerships in the realm of national defense. It was a year of expansion in some cases, including for Rocket Lab, which opened its first launch site on U.S. soil — and of contraction in others, including in the realm of venture spending on the sector. We also saw dramatic changes to international relations, threatening even our longstanding cooperation with Russia on orbital science. As macroeconomic conditions look poised to worsen in the immediate and near future, and international tensions show no signs of necessarily easing, the question of how these large-scale challenges will impact innovation and investment in the private space sector are top of mind. We plan to examine how startups are coping, what opportunities they’re seeing in the market and where the defense industry needs them to step up and supplement the security and safety of Earth as well as space. We’re thrilled to be hosting Rocket Lab CEO and founder Peter Beck; Frank Calvelli, assistant secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisitions; Amela Wilson, CEO of Nanoracks and many more. In addition to the firesides and panel discussions on the main stage, the event will also include networking, startup exhibits and the chance to connect with attendees from around the world. It’s a packed day already, but we’ve got some extra surprises in store, so keep an eye on the website over the coming weeks for more great speakers and sessions we’re adding.

Watch Rocket Lab attempt a mid-air Electron rocket booster recovery live • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 4, 2022Posted in Electron, peter beck, Rocket Lab, SpaceNo Comments

Rocket Lab will try to catch a spent Electron rocket booster mid-air using a helicopter in a few hours, a technique that could be central to driving down rocket production costs and increasing launch cadence. The mission will take place just five months after Rocket Lab conducted its first (partly) successful attempt, during which a helicopter managed to catch the booster, but then dropped it shortly after. The launch will take place from Pad B at the company’s launch site on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula. The mission, dubbed “Catch Me If You Can,” will carry a single science research satellite for the Swedish National Space Agency, provided by OHB Sweden, to sun synchronous orbit. Rocket Lab will have a 75-minute window to conduct the launch, which opens at 1:15 PM EST. The stream at the top of this story will start around 20 minutes before that. The company’s approach to recovery is a bit different than that of SpaceX. Falcon 9 boosters return to Earth by vertically landing on a pad – it looks like a launch in reverse. Instead, Rocket Lab is equipping its first stage with a parachute. That parachute will slow the booster’s descent, and a waiting helicopter will track the booster’s return before using a capture hook to grip the parachute line. From there, the helicopter will carry the booster straight back to Rocket Lab’s production complex. “Our first helicopter catch only a few months ago proved we can do what we set out to do with Electron, and we’re eager to get the helicopter back out there and advance our rocket reusability even further by bringing back a dry stage for the first time,” Beck said. Let’s see if they can do it.

Rocket Lab will attempt to catch an Electron rocket booster with a helicopter again • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 3, 2022Posted in Electron, peter beck, Rocket Lab, SpaceNo Comments

Rocket Lab is gearing up for a second attempt to catch a rocket booster mid-air using a helicopter, a technique the company is hoping to perfect after a partially successful recovery earlier this year. The mission, playfully dubbed “Catch Me If You Can,” is scheduled to take place no earlier than November 4 from the company’s launch site on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula. The 75-minute launch window opens at 1:15 PM EST. It will be the 32nd Electron launch to date. The company aims to carry a single science research satellite for the Swedish National Space Agency, provided by OHB Sweden, to sun synchronous orbit. The Mesopheric Airglow/Aerosol Tomography and Spectroscopy satellite will be used to study atmospheric waves and their relationship to wind and weather patterns in different parts of the atmosphere. Catching a rocket booster mid-air is no small feat — even with the parachute that the booster releases to slow its descent to Earth. During the first helicopter recovery attempt on May 2, the Sikorsky S-92 helicopter did manage to grab hold of the parachute line around 6,500 feet above the ocean, but released it almost immediately. The pilot offloaded the booster after noticing “different load characteristics” than had been experienced during testing, a Rocket Lab spokesperson said at the time. Like other recovery attempts, the booster was dropped into the sea and recovered via boat. Once again, Rocket Lab will be deploying its Sikorsky S-92 helicopter shortly before launch. The S-92, built by Connecticut-based Sikorsky Aircraft, is capable of lifting 5,000 kilograms, a capacity that’s more than sufficient for the 1,000-kilogram Electron booster. Rocket Lab outfitted the helicopter with a capture hook, extended range fuel tanks and other features to ensure that the three-person crew — a pilot, co-pilot and rocket spotter — are set up for success. “Our first helicopter catch only a few months ago proved we can do what we set out to do with Electron, and we’re eager to get the helicopter back out there and advance our rocket reusability even further by bringing back a dry stage for the first time,” Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck said in a statement. Rocket Lab, which was founded in 2006, has taken a relatively iterative testing approach. It conducted two missions, in November 2020 and May 2021, where the booster was equipped with a parachute (no helicopter present) and the company gathered data on its descent. The company also used booster simulators and studied boosters fished out of the ocean to better understand their condition upon returning to Earth. Beck has said that reusability is key to increasing launch cadence and reducing vehicle manufacturing costs. The heavier-lift Neutron rocket, which is still under development, is also being designed for reusability.

Less than 24 hours until early bird prices vanish for TC Sessions: Space • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 3, 2022Posted in Space, tc sessions space, TC Sessions: Space 2022No Comments

“Space…the final frontier.” Those familiar words have likely fueled the imaginations of the very people currently forging the future of humanity in space. Don’t miss your opportunity to meet, learn from and connect with them at TC Sessions: Space 2022, which blasts off on December 6 in Los Angeles. Note: Building space startups is serious business, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little pun fun along the way. Here’s another opportunity you don’t want to miss, and the countdown clock is ticking on this one. Our special early bird price — $149 — remains in play for less than T-minus 24 hours. Buy your pass before the early bird leaves orbit on Friday, November 4 at precisely 11:59 pm (PTD), and you’ll save more than $300. In a classic “but wait, there’s more” moment, you can take advantage of early bird pricing on an Early Stage Exhibitor Package, too. It’s the perfect way to place your space-related startup in front of the industry’s leading movers, shakers and decision makers — and save $200. Quantities are limited, and the same November 4 deadline applies. Space may be the final frontier, but advances in manned space travel and colonization, communications, earth observation data, manufacturing — and even war — are expanding its boundaries further by the day. TC Sessions: Space will help you keep your fingers on the pulse of those advances and help you drive your business forward. What can you expect? In a word, plenty. Plenty of top experts — spanning public, private and defense sectors — speaking from the main stage. Interviews with founders and CEOs like Rocket Labs’ Peter Beck, The Aerospace Corporation’s Steve Isakowitz and Slingshot Aerospace’s Melanie Stricklan. Conversations with investors like Playground Global’s Jory Bell and Root Ventures’ Emily Henriksson. And, of course, plenty of startup exhibits. You won’t find a better atmosphere for networking with hundreds of engineers, founders, students, investors, executives, military and government officials in the house. Use our event app to find people you want to connect with, schedule 1:1 meetings and explore potential opportunities for collaboration, partnerships, investment and more. TC Sessions: Space takes place on December 6 in Los Angeles, but your chance to buy your early bird pass and save disappears into the Neutral Zone on Friday November 4 at 11:59 pm (PDT). We can’t wait to see you in L.A! Is your company interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at TC Sessions: Space? Contact our sponsorship sales team by filling out this form.

Satellite startup Constellr wins backing to build out its water-monitoring platform • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 3, 2022Posted in Satellites, Space, StartupsNo Comments

We are living in the era of so-called microsatellites, which are equipped with thermal cameras and other regalia to, for instance, alert farmers before crops are damaged, predict droughts, and aid in the juggling of supply chains. Climate change is making less land available for agricultural food production, leading to strict regulations on the use of water and fertilizer. Wasted water now costs €220Bn a year, according to some estimates, and is expected to reach a staggering €2Tn by the end of the decade. To tackle this, the Germany-based Constellr satellite startup has now raised $10M in seed funding, co-led by Lakestar and VSquared, with participation from early and new supporters FTTF, IQT, Amathaon Capital, Natural Ventures, EIT Food, OHB Venture Capital, Next Humanity, and Seraphim. This space-based water monitoring system checks the Earth’s surface temperature and, soon, also it’s chemical composition. The platform will also look at water availability across the globe, daily. Constellr will use the cash to develop its first two satellites, which take measurements beyond the infrared wavelengths (8-14 microns) to calculate surface temperature and thus measure water distribution. The investment shows there is ongoing investment in space infrastructure coming out of Germany. Lakestar and Vsquared are also investors in space startup Isar Aerospace, showing that Europe is keeping pace with geographies like the US and China in an era when space sovereignty is more important than ever.

Lockheed Martin increases its bet on satellite manufacturer Terran Orbital with $100 million investment • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 1, 2022Posted in Hardware, Lockheed Martin, Space, terran orbitalNo Comments

Aerospace giant Lockheed Martin is deepening its investment in satellite manufacturer Terran Orbital with a $100 million investment and a cooperation agreement for the development and sale of smallsats through 2035. Terran also announced that it will now build its massive, $300 million space vehicle manufacturing facility in Irvine, California, not Florida as originally planned. CEO Marc Bell told press that the company decided to move the facility to California, where Terran Orbital already has a substantial footprint, because it could move into the facilities faster than in Florida. It’s a big loss for Space Florida, the state’s economic development agency focused on aerospace, which was going to provide the conduit financing for the facility. Boca Raton, Florida-based Terran Orbital is a contract manufacturer, designing and building satellites for the U.S. government and commercial customers. Bell estimated to ZebethMedia in an interview last year that around 95% of the company’s work is related to the Department of Defense and NASA. Lockheed Martin made its first investment in Terran back in 2017; the following year, it led a $36 million investment round. The new funds from Lockheed will go toward acquiring additional assembly space and increasing satellite module production, Terran said in a statement. The smallsat manufacturer also said it planned on expanding its offerings to include a synthetic aperture radar satellite product line and satellite components and subassemblies, like reaction wheels and star trackers. The company was originally planning to launch and operate its own SAR satellite constellation, called PredaSAR, but it decided to pivot from those plans and offer the technology as a product instead. Terran said the conflict in Ukraine showed the need for advanced satellite imagery. Terran Orbital is one of a handful of space ventures that have gone public via a merger with a special purpose acquisition vehicle, or SPAC. The company’s stock price saw a brief price jump with the news about the deal with Lockheed, closing on October 31 at $2.62 a share. Like other companies post-SPAC merger, Terran’s stock value has plummeted since its public market debut: it’s currently down around 72% year to date.

SpaceX successfully launches Falcon Heavy for the fourth time ever • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on November 1, 2022Posted in falcon heavy, Space, SpaceXNo Comments

SpaceX has launched its Falcon Heavy rocket on a mission for the U.S. Space Force. This is the fourth ever launch of the company’s heavy payload launch vehicle, which first flew in 2018. Today’s launch also marks SpaceX’s 50th in 2022. The payload for today’s launch includes two U.S. space force satellites, including one used for “various prototype missions” in geosynchronous orbit, and another whose nature and purpose is classified for national defence purposes. While SpaceX uses Falcon Heavy a lot less frequently than its Falcon 9 rocket (Heavy’s last launch was in 2019), it has a solid track record across its four flights. The Falcon Heavy uses three boosters for added thrust and lift capacity vs. Falcon 9’s single core. The mission also included a successful landing of both the side boosters on land, marking the 150th and 151st successful landing of SpaceX’s orbital rockets. The center core was not recovered, since it was set in expendable mode to use the max amount of fuel to get the payload to its target orbit. Image Credits: SpaceX

Max Q: Halloween special • ZebethMedia

By zebethcontrolPosted on October 31, 2022Posted in Max Q, SpaceNo Comments

Hello and welcome back to Max Q. Happy Halloween folks. Hope you’re having a very spooky day. By the way… We are counting down to TC’s Space event in December! Learn more here. In this issue: The satellite bus bottleneck Starlink for GPS? News from BryceTech, Quantum Space and more Apex Space, a startup that aims to transform satellite bus manufacturing, emerged from stealth Monday with a $7.5 million seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz. The Los Angeles-based company has set its sights on the satellite bus — the part of the spacecraft that hosts the payload — which it says is the “new bottleneck” hitting the space industry. Apex’s two co-founders, Ian Cinnamon and Maximilian Benassi, said in a blog post that they independently observed core changes to the industry that convinced them that a new satellite bus manufacturing solution was needed. Cinnamon, a technology startup founder whose company, Synapse Technology, was acquired by Palantir in 2020, said he saw payload customers being “held back” by the long and costly process associated with building custom satellite buses. Benassi, an engineer whose career includes a six-year tenure at SpaceX and nearly a year-and-a-half at Astra, observed changes to launch economics that make mass manufacturing — rather than the bespoke engineering process that’s characterized satellite buses thus far — more sensible. “Given this transformative change, we must begin to think about spacecraft differently and adapt to the new market conditions,” the pair said. “We cannot just build spacecraft. We must manufacture them at scale.” Image credit: Apex Space With some 3,000 satellites in orbit, the Starlink constellation is easily the largest in history and of course presents an immense opportunity for global connectivity. But its signals could also be analyzed and used as an alternative to traditional GPS, a new paper claims, with or without SpaceX’s blessing. It would be a public service and wouldn’t cost SpaceX much of anything to implement, but it’s also a valuable service that no business in its right mind (especially one that just committed to a deeply unprofitable connectivity deal in Ukraine) would just implement and provide for free. That said, it may be that the genie is out of the bottle — the data in the paper “illuminates the path” to this use, and someone might find a way to make it work no matter what anyone says. Image Credits: Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket / Getty Images TC’s Darrell Etherington did a nice roundup of our coverage of Musk’s purchase of Twitter, a months-long saga that came to an abrupt and tumultuous end last week. The CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, it’s hard to imagine how Musk will find the time to dedicate to managing the social media site, but he dove in head first by firing top executives, including former CEO Parag Agrawal. In the coming weeks, Twitter will delist from the NYSE (ending an approximately nine-year tenure as a public company) and become a private company under Musk’s X Holdings I, Inc. This is only the beginning. Speculation is running wild, but only time will tell how Twitter will transform under Musk’s formidable leadership. Elon Musk carries a sink into Twitter HQ. Image Credits: Elon Musk / Twitter More news from TC and beyond Amazon will build a 172,000-square-foot facility outside Seattle dedicated to making satellites for its Project Kuiper satellite internet initiative. (Amazon) Array Labs, a YC ’22 alum that wants to create a 3D map of the world, closed a $5 million seed round led by Seraphim Space and Agya Ventures. (YC) Boeing incurred another $195 million charge for costs related to the Starliner capsule, bringing the total losses to nearly $900 million, the company reported in its third-quarter financial results. (Boeing) BryceTech released its quarterly report on launch and satellites, finding once again that SpaceX leads for number of launches and number of spacecraft launched to orbit. (BryceTech) Firefly Aerospace is adding former NASA Administrator James Bridenstine to its advisory board. Bridenstine was NASA administrator from 2018 to 2021, during which the agency launched the Artemis moon exploration program and set up the Commercial Lunar Payload Services Program. (Firefly) NanoAvionics is now Kongsberg NanoAvionics, after the company was acquired by Norwegian technology conglomerate Kongsberg. In addition to the name change, the company said it will be increasing production capacity at its facilities in Lithuania to focus on “serial manufacturing of satellite buses.” (Kongsberg NanoAvionics) NASA generates economic returns three times the size of its annual budget, according to a new report published by…NASA. (CNBC) Orbit Fab has lined up a new investor, 8090 Industries, in its quest to build “gas stations” in space. (Orbit Fab) The Polaris Program’s first mission has slipped from late this year to March 2023, and that date could slip even further. Polaris is backed by billionaire Jared Isaacman, who flew on the Inspiration4 mission to the ISS. (SpaceNews) Privateer, the orbital debris tracking startup founded by Alex Fielding, Steve Wozniak and Moriba Jah, is inviting amateur astronomers to help it collect space junk data through a new partnership with consumer telescope manufacturer Celestron. (Spacewatch) Quantum Space will launch its first cislunar pathfinder mission in late 2024. The mission will collect space domain and space situational awareness data. (SpaceNews) Relativity Space unveiled the fourth generation of its Stargate 3D printer, which the company says has improved print speeds, improved print capacity through a horizontal printing structure, and other updates. These printers will be put to work for Relativity’s heavy-lift Terran R rocket. (Relativity) Russia suggested a military strike against Western satellites supporting Ukraine could be fair game in times of war, highlighting the precarious and uncharted territory of war in space. (Reuters) Sierra Space and IBM signed an MOU to collaborate on developing next-gen tech for Sierra’s space vehicles and infrastructure, like the private space station Orbital Reef. (Sierra) SpaceX is now NASA’s second-largest vendor, behind Caltech, which operates the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. That second spot used to be held by Boeing. (Irene Klotz) Starlink opened preorders for a new piece of hardware equipped for use on vehicles in motion, like moving