Darrell Etherington
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The Latest from Darrell Etherington
Astranis raises $90 million for its next-gen satellite broadband internet service
YC-backed Astranis has raised $90 million of new combined debt and equity funding in a Series B round led Venrock, with a sizeable contribution by existing investor (and lead of their 2018 round) Andr
Blue Canyon Technologies chosen by Made In Space for orbital manufacturing demo mission
On-orbit manufacturing startup Made In Space has tapped Colorado’s Blue Canyon Technologies (BCT) to help support its Archinaut One demonstration mission contracted by NASA, which is currently s
Orbital debris startup Astroscale chosen by JAXA for its first space junk removal mission
Japanese orbital debris removal technology startup Astroscale is going to be working with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on the agency’s first mission to remove some of the junk t
Spaceflight Industries to sell its satellite rideshare launch business to Japan’s Mitsui & Co. and Yamasa
Spaceflight Industries, owner of both Spaceflight, Inc. and BlackSky, is selling the Spaceflight, Inc. portion of its business to Japanese industrial corporation Mitsui & Co. and Yamasa . The pair
SpaceX hires ex-NASA human spaceflight expert and shows off Crew Dragon set to carry astronauts
SpaceX is gearing up for its historic first human spaceflight, with a crewed demonstration mission of its Crew Dragon spacecraft tentatively set for May 7 (though that date is flexible right now). The
Solid rocket fuel startup Adranos raises $1 million to scale up manufacturing
Indiana-based rocket fuel startup Adranos has raised $1 million, after closing an oversubscribed round led by Archibald Cox Jr., chairman of private investment firm Sextant Group. The funding will be
SpaceX’s first astronaut mission could take off in May
SpaceX is getting very close to its goal of flying actual astronauts aboard its Crew Dragon spacecraft. After a successful in-flight abort (IFA) test in January, it had basically crossed off all the m
2021 NASA budget request includes $3.3B for human lunar landers, $430M for Moon resource development
The Trump White House today issued its fiscal 2021 budget request, and it included a 12% increase in requested funding to NASA’s coffers, as expected. That puts the total request for NASA at $25
Max Q: A SpaceX spin-out sounds great
Max Q is a new weekly newsletter all about space. Sign up here to receive it weekly on Sundays in your inbox. Two rocket launches were set to take off Sunday, including one from Wallops Island in Virg
NASA and ESA’s Solar Orbiter begins its nearly two-year journey to the Sun
After years of development, an exciting new scientific research spacecraft has launched on its journey to study our solar system’s central player: the Sun. The Solar Orbiter, developed jointly b
Original Content podcast: Netflix’s Taylor Swift documentary feels like a guarded self-portrait
“Miss Americana,” a new Netflix documentary about Taylor Swift, is worth watching if you go in with the right expectations. At least, that’s according to two out of three hosts of th
Watch two rocket launches live, including a Space Station supply flight and a mission to study the Sun
UPDATE: NASA and Northrop Grumman scrubbed the Cygnus resupply mission for the ISS due to a technical issue, and it’s now set for a backup launch window of February 13. There are two launches ha
NASA confirms two Boeing Starliner issues would’ve led to spacecraft loss without intervention
NASA and Boeing are sharing more details about the issues that were encountered during the Boeing CST-100 Starliner crew spacecraft uncrewed demo mission in December, and their progress on investigati
Trump said to propose roughly $3 billion NASA budget boost for 2021
President Donald Trump is set to request a budget of $25.6 billion for NASA for its fiscal 2021 operating year, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. It’s looking for nearly $3 billion mor
NASA panel recommends Boeing software process reviews after revealing second Starliner issue
NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) is recommending that Boeing’s software testing processes undergo a review, following the discovery of another problem with the on-board system
NASA seeks Moon rover concepts from industry
NASA is looking for input from industry — including vehicle makers and tech companies not necessarily already in the space business — as to what future lunar rovers should look like. This
SpaceX ‘likely to spin out’ and pursue an IPO for Starlink satellite internet business
SpaceX looks likely to take its burgeoning Starlink business and spin it out, seeking to bring that satellite internet project to public markets via an IPO. That’s according to SpaceX COO and Pr
Watch OneWeb launch 34 satellites for its broadband constellation live
One of the various companies looking to deploy a globe-spanning broadband internet satellite constellation is adding 34 satellites to its existing operations in space. OneWeb will launch that many sat
Why Astra built a space startup and rocket factory in Silicon Valley
There’s a new launch startup in the mix called Astra, which has been operating in semi-stealth mode for the past three years, building its rockets just a stone’s throw from the heart of st
Alphabet’s Loon and SoftBank’s HAPSMobile turn solar-powered drones into flying cell towers
Alphabet-owned Loon, the company that had been focused on delivering internet communications to remote areas via stratospheric balloons, has completed development work on a new payload for partner HAP