Kendra R Chamberlain, Author at The Enterprise Orbit

The world’s first privately-funded lunar lander to launch by end of 2018

SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) announced the country’s first uncrewed lunar mission will launch from Cape Canaveral in December 2018. SpaceIL is an Israeli-based nonprofit start-up and alum of the Google Lunar XPRIZE. If successful, the start-up will become the first participant in the Google Lunar XPRIZE to reach the Moon. It will also be the world’s first privately-funded lunar mission to reach the Moon. SpaceIL, which was founded

Competing visions emerge as mission extension services come to fruition

Advancements in robotics has opened up new opportunities in satellite servicing and mission extension. Companies Orbital ATK and SSL have both developed mission extension vehicles and services in hopes of tapping into the market. Michael Gabor, SSL’s advanced programs director, describes mission extension services as “a game changer.” “It’s going to revolutionize how we treat the space domain, more than any of these other things do,” he said at the

DLR explores human-machine relations using AI on the ISS

The “floating brain” has arrived on the ISS. This new experiment is a mobile and autonomous assistance system using IBM’s Watson AI technology, and the first AI-powered robot crew member aboard the ISS. CIMON – which stands for Crew Interactive Mobile Companion – is a 3D-printed flying robot about the size of a medicine ball and weighing 5 kg. The hardware was developed by Airbus in partnership with German space

Phase Four simplifies electric propulsion for mass manufacturing

In-space propulsion systems are getting a reboot. Spacecraft propulsion company Phase Four has built an electric radio frequency (RF) propulsion thruster that is easy to mass manufacture and doesn’t erode over time. The company recently announced a deal with small sat manufacturer Astro Digital, which will be using Phase Four thrusters on its Landmapper and Corvus satellites. Astro Digital will also act as a reseller for Phase Four propulsion on some

Big rocket builders are skeptical small launchers will find customers

As the pool of small launch vehicles grows, larger launch providers continue to express skepticism about whether the new crop of small vehicle startups will have enough customers to sustain them and their business models. Small launch vehicles promise to further reduce barriers of entry to space for non-traditional customers by offering dedicated launches for lighter payloads at lower price points. But incumbent providers SpaceX, ULA and others – which

Stofiel Aerospace aims to unleash mobile, on-demand access to space

Stofiel Aerospace is a little company hoping to bring big innovations to the small launch market. The company, which was founded in 2015 by Air Force veteran and aerospace engineer Brian Stofiel, is building a small launch “rockoon” system, called the Boreas Launch System, which the company says will offer flexible, low-cost, and on-demand access to space. The system is still in the early phases of development, but the company

Asteroid Institute taps York Space for low-cost asteroid tracking

The B612 Foundation’s Asteroid Institute has partnered with York Space Systems for the possible development of a low-cost, space-based asteroid tracking system. The B612 Foundation is a non-profit dedicated to asteroid-impact risk mitigation. Last year, the foundation launched the Asteroid Institute, a scientific and technical body focused on collaboration with major universities and research centers around the globe in asteroid tracking. The Asteroid Institute is tasked with creating a “dynamic

Success of commercial platforms unlikely without government help

The findings of the recent report indicate it will be very unlikely that a commercial space station will succeed without some level of on-going government support. In 2017, NASA commissioned a study from the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI), under the direction of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, about the feasibility of a commercial LEO platform. Portions of the report were recently made public as part of

US space policy landscape is about to change dramatically

U.S. space policy and regulation is in the midst of a massive evolution, as the Trump administration continues to reorganize aspects of space governance away from the centralized regime that dominated the last century, and in favor of private enterprise and the burgeoning commercial space sector. The recent commotion around NASA’s Resource Prospector mission is case in point: Months after president Trump directed NASA to return to the Moon, members

Is there a business model for orbital debris?

Orbital debris capture and removal systems will prove crucial to the future of commercial LEO development, but the question remains as to whether there’s money to be made from it. The problem is growing to epic proportions, as launch increases has placed thousands of new satellites into LEO over the past few years. The increasing amounts of space debris “is going to be an ongoing issue that drives a lot