Space

TechCrunch Space: $paceX

Welcome back to TechCrunch Space. This is an uncommonly SpaceX-heavy issue. Apologies (or you're welcome).

Leaked SpaceX documents show company forbids employees to sell stock if it deems they’ve misbehaved

SpaceX requires employees to agree to some unusual terms related to their stock awards, which have a chilling effect on staff, according to sources and internal documents viewed by TechCrunch. That in

SpaceX makes significant progress with third Starship orbital test flight

SpaceX is continuing to make progress on the development of Starship, the largest rocket ever built, with the third test flight Thursday accomplishing considerably more than the previous two tests. Th

Aethero wants to become the space industry’s Intel or Nvidia

Satellite sensors collect an incredible amount of raw data, but on-orbit compute limitations mean that operators have little way to process this data in space. Aethero, a startup founded 13 months ago

SpaceX aiming to launch massive Starship for the third time early Thursday

SpaceX will attempt to send the massive Starship rocket to orbit for the third time early Thursday morning after U.S. regulators gave the green light for launch. The company is aiming to complete the

TechCrunch Space: RIP $ASTR

Hello and welcome back to TechCrunch Space. Happy South by Southwest week for all who celebrate. On to the news.

Astra is the space industry’s first SPAC bust of 2024

Astra Space, the launch company that went public in 2021 at a $2.1 billion valuation, is going private again after months of burning cash and failing to secure alternate investment. The company announ

SpaceX eyes March 14 for next Starship test flight

SpaceX is aiming to launch its massive Starship rocket for the third time as soon as March 14, the company confirmed in a social media post Wednesday. SpaceX is still awaiting regulatory approval from

a16z-backed Apex Space’s first satellite ‘healthy’ on orbit

Apex Space just moved one step closer to its goal of upending satellite bus manufacturing, with the startup announcing on Tuesday that its first vehicle is healthy on orbit. The company launched its f

Satellite servicing tech startup, led by former head of Ukraine’s space agency, lands $4M

Kurs Orbital, a startup founded by Ukrainian space industry veterans, has closed a new tranche of funding to accelerate the commercialization of its satellite servicing technology. The two-year-old co

TechCrunch Space: Good night, Odysseus

Hello and welcome back to TechCrunch Space. SpaceX is launching its Transporter-10 rideshare mission today. These are always really fun to track because they carry dozens of payloads, including from m

Australian space startup Esper wants to build hyperspectral sats for cheap

Australian remote sensing startup Esper wants to capture hyperspectral imagery from space at a fraction of the price of its competitors. The company, which will launch its first demonstration satellit

Intuitive Machines’ first moon lander also broke ground with safer, cheaper rocket-style propulsion

Intuitive Machines’ first lunar lander officially lost power today after spending seven days on the moon. The lander made history for being the first American hardware to reach the lunar surface sin

Rocket Lab has ‘misrepresented’ Neutron launch readiness, congressional memo says

An internal congressional memo viewed by TechCrunch casts strong doubt on Rocket Lab’s claim that its Neutron rocket will be ready for launch in time to meet a crucial contract deadline from the Spa

India lays foundations for a new spaceport dedicated to smaller launches

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has received the go-ahead to construct a new spaceport in Tamil Nadu, with which it aims to help private players launch small rockets in space with less f

Intuitive Machines faces early end to moon mission after lander tips over

Intuitive Machines’ first moon mission will come to a premature end due to the spacecraft landing on its side, which altered how the solar panels are positioned in relation to the sun, the company s

FAA completes investigation into SpaceX’s second fiery Starship test

The Federal Aviation Administration has concluded its review of SpaceX’s investigation of the second Starship launch in November, with the regulator saying Monday that it accepted the “root causes

Historic spacecraft landing double-header from Varda, Intuitive Machines

Hello and welcome back to TechCrunch Space. My stomach is still in knots from the Intuitive Machines landing livestream. I think it’s fair to say that the words of Tim Crain, Intuitive Machines&

Quick thinking and a stroke of luck averted a moon lander disaster for Intuitive Machines

Intuitive Machines’ spacecraft touched down yesterday on the lunar surface . . . sideways. CEO Steve Altemus confirmed during a press conference Friday that, while it wasn’t a perfect

Intuitive Machines makes history by landing the first commercial spacecraft on the moon

Intuitive Machines has landed a spacecraft on the lunar surface, in a historic first for a private company. Flight controllers confirmed the landing at 5:23 p.m. CST, though the exact condition of the
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