commercial spaceflight
Bezos and crew host a giddy press conference after Blue Origin’s inaugural crewed launch
Jeff Bezos was so triumphant he was practically glowing at a press conference following the Blue Origin’s first crewed mission to space, 21 years after he founded the company in…
Blue Origin’s New Shepard carries Jeff Bezos and three crew members to space and back
Blue Origin successfully completed its first crewed launch Tuesday, sending four human passengers to space – including the company’s founder, Jeff Bezos. The result of billions of dollars of investment,…
Satellite imagery startup Satellogic to go public via SPAC valuing the company at $850M
The space SPAC frenzy might have died down, but it isn’t over: Earth observation startup Satellogic is the latest to go public via a merger with CF Acquisition Corp. V,…
Watch Virgin Orbit’s first rocket launch live stream
Virgin Orbit is set to launch a payload that includes satellites it’s delivering for tis first commercial customers. The launch is set to happen sometime within a launch window that…
NASA seeking proposals for two new private astronaut missions to ISS
NASA said Friday it was seeking proposals from commercial companies for two new private crewed missions to the International Space Station. The first mission would likely take place between fall…
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Relativity Space launches its valuation to $4.2B with $650M in new funding
3D-printed rocket startup Relativity Space has raised a $650 million Series E, bringing its total raised to more than $1.2 billion. Relativity’s post-money valuation now stands at $4.2 billion, a source familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. The round was led by Fidelity Management & Research Company, with participation from new investors with funds and…
Rocket Lab cleared by the FAA to resume launches after mission failure last month
Rocket Lab has already received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to resume its launch activities, following a failure during the second-stage burn of its 20th Electron rocket mission…
SpaceX’s first ocean spaceport is being built and will host launches next year
SpaceX is already underway on building its first floating spaceport platform, and the plan is for it to start hosting launches as early as next year. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk…
Firefly Aerospace’s lunar lander will fly to the moon on a SpaceX Falcon 9 in 2023
Firefly Aerospace may be developing rockets of its own, but it’s also simultaneously building Blue Ghost, its first lunar lander. Blue Ghost will hop a ride with a rocket from…
Rocket Lab’s 20th Electron launch ends in failure with the loss of its payload
Rocket Lab flew its 20th Electron mission on Saturday morning, but the launch ran into a significant issue just after its second-stage engine ignited. The engine appeared to shut down…
Orbite offers a five-star ‘space camp’ for would-be space travelers
As private companies like Axiom Space, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic and SpaceX prepare to ferry private customers to the stars, a whole new market is opening up to train affluent…
Voyager Space Holdings sets it sights on space stations with majority stake in Nanoracks
Voyager Space Holdings has added X.O. Markets, the parent of commercial space service venture Nanoracks, to its growing catalogue of space companies. The agreement was first announced last December. This…
Axiom Space and NASA detail first fully private human launch to the Space Station, set for January 2022
Houston-based startup Axiom Space and NASA unveiled more details Monday about the forthcoming Axiom Mission 1 (AX-1), the first fully private human mission to the International Space Station. The Axiom…
You can bid for a seat on Blue Origin’s first human spaceflight on July 20
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is offering up one seat on the inaugural flight of its suborbital rocket New Shepard, set to take place July 20 — but instead of a…
Firefly Aerospace raises $75M Series A at a $1B+ valuation, plus $100M in secondary sale
Firefly Aerospace has raised a total of $175 million, across a $75 million Series A round that valued the company north of $1 billion, and a $100 million secondary transaction…
Blue Origin will start selling tickets for New Shepard space tourism flights on May 5
Blue Origin seems very close to flying paying customers on its New Shepard sub-orbital rocket, having conducted a dress rehearsal of astronaut loading and unloading on its latest mission. Today,…
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…
SpaceX is outfitting its Dragon spacecraft with an observation dome for space tourists
SpaceX is set to make a change to its Crew Dragon spacecraft for its forthcoming history-making all-civilian launch, currently set for September 15. That Dragon will replace its International Space…
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…
Skyroot successfully test fires India’s first privately-made solid rocket stage
Rocket launch startup Skyroot is closing out 2020 with a key milestone in the development program for their Vikram-I launch vehicle: A successful test firing of a solid rocket propulsion…
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule are now officially certified for human spaceflight by NASA
SpaceX and NASA have completed the multi-year certification program for the Falcon 9 and Dragon spacecraft launch system, the first-ever human-rated commercial space system to be developed. The final stage…
FAA streamlines commercial launch rules to keep the rockets flying
The FAA has published its updated rules for commercial space launches and reentries, streamlining and modernizing the large and complicated set of regulations. With rockets launching in greater numbers and…
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 Commercial Crew…
SpaceX reveals plans for a Texas spaceport resort in new job ad
SpaceX has big plans for its Boca Chica, Texas site – where it’s currently building and testing Starship, the company’s next-generation passenger and cargo spacecraft. A new job posting spotted…
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Take a first look inside Virgin Galactic’s spacecraft for private astronauts
As part of its continued preparations to begin its commercial passenger spaceflight operations, Virgin Galactic has revealed the final design of the interior cabin of its VSS Unity spacecraft. The company unveiled the interiors during a virtual event today, and offered members of the press (myself included) a special tour of the interior in VR.…
More new space consolidation as Voyager Space Holdings acquires Pioneer Astronautics
It’s beginning to be a sign of the times: smaller or younger space companies getting acquired by larger entities. Today, the company being acquired is Pioneer Astronautics, which has been…
Virgin Galactic to buy seats on rockets and train private astronauts for Space Station trips
Space tourism company Virgin Galactic has just revealed a novel extension of their business mode, through a new agreement signed with NASA enabled by the Space Act Agreement. The arrangement…
Interstellar Technologies’ privately developed MOMO-5 rocket falls short of reaching space
Private launch companies seeking to lower the cost of reaching space continue to develop new vehicles, and the latest to attempt a trip to space is Interstellar Technologies (IST), a…
During the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) 23rd annual Commercial Space Transportation Conference in Washington, D.C., one panel focused on the changing regulatory environment when it comes to private launch activities,…
Welcome back for the first Max Q of 2020! As should be expected, the holiday and New Year’s weeks didn’t produce all that much news in the space industry —…
