Max Q: Firefly Aerospace is making moves
In this issue: Firefly’s making moves with summer launches and a new acquisition; Layoffs at Ursa Major; News from NASA and more.
Read more
Author: Aria Alamalhodaei
Firefly buys Spaceflight Inc. to boost on-orbit services
Firefly Aerospace has acquired launch and in-space transportation service provider Spaceflight Inc., in a bid to expand its on-orbit capabilities for customers. Firefly did not disclose the terms of the deal but a company spokesperson confirmed that the transaction has closed. The spokesperson added that the entire Spaceflight team, including CEO Tiphane Louradour, will be […]
Read more
Layoffs hit rocket engine maker Ursa Major
At least five people have been laid off from rocket engine startup Ursa Major, with one person citing budgetary constraints as the reason for being let go, according to posts on LinkedIn. Ursa Major did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s inquiry into the layoffs, or the number of people affected. According to LinkedIn, 292 people […]
Read more
NASA spends $45M to seed tech from hundreds of space businesses
Hundreds of small aerospace businesses will receive grant funding from NASA to accelerate their technologies, as part of a wider government program to seed cutting-edge American enterprises. A total of 249 small businesses and 39 research institutions received Phase I grants under the space agency’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer […]
Read more
Nuview’s lidar satellites hit $15M in funding with Leonardo DiCaprio among investors
Nuview, a startup that wants to map the entire landmass of Earth on an annual basis using space-based light detection and ranging (lidar) technology, has raised $15 million so far, TechCrunch has exclusively learned. That capital includes a $3 million seed round and an in-progress Series A, of which $12 million has closed so far, […]
Read more
Firefly targets August for NASA CubeSat launch
Firefly Aerospace is now targeting August to launch a batch of CubeSats for NASA, rather than July, in what is shaping up to be a busy summer for the small launch company. Firefly disclosed the new launch window in recent filing with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. The company did not provide more details as […]
Read more
Max Q: Another day, another delay
In this issue: Pixxel’s new investor; Mission delays for Boeing, Rocket Lab; News from SpaceX and more
Read more
SpaceX launches cargo resupply mission to ISS, carrying solar panels, blueberries
SpaceX continues to make reuse look routine. Shortly before noon ET today, the company launched another cargo resupply capsule to astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) using rocket components that have visited space many times before. The Falcon 9 booster that lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida this morning (and landed […]
Read more
NASA, Boeing delay the first crewed flight test of the Starliner capsule…again
Boeing and NASA said Thursday that the first crewed flight test of the Starliner capsule would be further delayed due to a new crop of technical issues with the spacecraft. The first crewed mission was scheduled to fly two NASA astronauts on July 21 after being pushed back from an earlier April launch date. Officials […]
Read more
Rocket Lab’s private mission to Venus slips to 2025
Rocket Lab’s mission to Venus, which was originally scheduled to launch last month, is “not imminent,” a spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch. That means the mission will likely move ahead no earlier than January 2025, the only publicly stated back-up window for launch. “Our focus right now is on delivering customer missions as a priority,” the […]
Read more