astronaut
In 2021, space investors watched stars form in real time
"Carl Sagan had it right, with Voyager and the pale blue dot: If you're anywhere else in the known universe, Earth is the most interesting place to study and be part of."
Mavrck raises $120M to scale its influencer marketing platform
The rise and impact of influencers has been one of the biggest forces in how the modern online social landscape has evolved in recent times. Now, a company that’s tapping into that influencer ju
Suing your way to the stars
Hello friends, and welcome back to Week in Review! I’m back from a very fun and rehabilitative couple weeks away from my phone, my Twitter account and the news cycle. That said, I actually reall
Virgin Galactic and Richard Branson celebrate launch of first passengers into space
Virgin Galactic has successfully taken its first passengers to space, including its billionaire founder Richard Branson. The event, at Spaceport America in New Mexico, was a field day for press and em
Max Q — China’s space station gets a staff
Max Q is a weekly newsletter from TechCrunch all about space. Sign up here to receive it weekly on Mondays in your inbox. This week, China started staffing up its own space station, and Rocket Lab got
Discovery’s new reality show ‘Who Wants to Be an Astronaut?’ will pick one winner to go to space
Discovery has ordered a new reality show, to air in 2022, which will be an eight-episode competition series where competitors will vie for a chance to take a trip to the International Space Station on
SpaceX’s inaugural moon-tour private astronaut is heading to the International Space Station first
SpaceX private spaceflight ambitions got a big boost in 2018 when Japanese entrepreneur and billionaire Yusaku Maezawa announced he’d be taking a trip aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon on a round-trip
SpaceX successfully launches astronauts with a re-used Dragon spacecraft for the first time
SpaceX has another successful human space launch to its credit, after a good takeoff and orbital delivery of its Crew Dragon spacecraft on Friday morning. The Dragon took off aboard a Falcon 9 rocket
SpaceX wins NASA contract to develop human landing system for returning to the moon
The winner of NASA’s Human Landing System (HLS) contract award is SpaceX, which bid $2.9 billion for the privilege of developing the means by which NASA astronauts will return to the lunar surfa
Blue Origin launches and lands New Shepard rocket in key prep flight for human passengers
Blue Origin has launched its New Shepard rocket for the second time this year, and the 15th time overall. The mission profile saw the reusable spacecraft fly to suborbital space, and then return for a
Virgin Galactic debuts its first third-generation spaceship, ‘VSS Imagine’
Commercial human spaceflight company Virgin Galactic has unveiled the first-ever Spaceship III, the third major iteration of its spacecraft design. The first in this new series is called “VSS (V
NASA will use Fitbits to help prevent spread of COVID-19 to astronauts and employees
NASA will provide 1,000 of its employees, including 150 astronauts, with Fitbit devices in a pilot program designed to see if they can help supplement efforts to keep these mission-critical personnel
SpaceX is aiming to fly the first all-civilian human space mission by the end of 2021
SpaceX has announced its first all-civilian private spaceflight mission, a high-priced galactic tourism launch that it hopes to fly by the fourth quarter of 2021. The mission, which will use SpaceX
Prime Movers Lab raises $245 million for second fund to invest in early stage science startups
After revealing its first fund just last year, a $100 million pool of investment capital dedicated to early stage startups focusing on sustainable food development, clean energy, health innovation and
NASA’s Kathy Lueders discusses the Artemis moon landing 2024 target and team selection
NASA’s head of human spaceflight Kathy Lueders joined us on stage at TechCrunch Sessions: Space, where she spoke to scientist and Netflix host Emily Calandrelli about her work at the agency —
Boeing and NASA target December for second try at uncrewed orbital demonstration flight
NASA and Boeing have provided some updates around their Commercial Crew plans, which aim to get Boeing’s CST-100 spacecraft certified for regular human flight. The CST-100 and Boeing’s Com
SpaceX and NASA target September for first operational astronaut crew launch
SpaceX and NASA are aiming to launch the first official operational mission of the SpaceX Crew Dragon human-rated spacecraft sometime in September, the agency revealed via a media update this week. Th
Watch SpaceX launch its latest batch of Starlink satellites, including one with a sun visor
SpaceX just executed its most important and historic launch ever this past weekend, flying NASA astronauts for the first time. On Wednesday, it’s set to follow that up with a less significant Fa
SpaceX’s astronaut launch marks the dawn of the commercial human spaceflight industry
SpaceX on Saturday launched two NASA astronauts aboard its Crew Dragon spacecraft, and the accomplishment is a tremendous one for both the company and the U.S. space agency. At a fundamental level, it
NASA astronauts successfully pilot SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft manually for the first time
NASA astronauts Doug Hurley took over manual control of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft on Saturday, shortly after the vehicle’s historic first launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida. Crew Drag