Commercial space Archives - The Enterprise Orbit

Space Impulse launches industry-first B2B marketplace for global supply chain

Startup Space Impulse has launched a B2B marketplace platform that it says will help to lower costs and accelerate times to orbit by streamlining supply chain integration. The platform uses blockchain technology and smart contracts to address some of the challenges of complex sourcing, procurement, and fulfillment processes that are characteristic of the slow-moving space industry. [caption id="attachment_2057" align="alignright" width="265"] Rabi Boundi, CEO of Space Impulse. Source: Space Impulse[/caption] Space

Mu Space founder to launch $100m Venture Fund for other New Space startups

Mu Space Corp founder James Yenbamroong will establish a global venture fund for commercial space companies in 2019. Yenbamroong’s satellite company mu Space will seed the fund with an initial $100 million. Mu Space develops satellite communication technologies aimed at the IoT and smart city markets. It plans to launch its own satellite in 2020 aboard Blue Origin’s New Glenn. In July 2018, mu Space launched its first payload into

CubeRover sets up robotic rover shop in Luxembourg

CubeRover, the robotic rover company spun off from Astrobotic earlier this year, is opening up an office in Luxembourg. CubeRover offers a small-scale standardized planetary rover platform that the company hopes will revolutionize mobile robotic access on the Moon. The company was one of three recently announced to be opening business in Luxembourg. The new headquarters will act as a one-stop shop for its customers and as a hub for

Is there commercial demand for space beyond LEO?

Lockheed Martin is gauging interest in flying commercial payloads aboard its Orion spacecraft. The company is collecting submissions for possible payloads and conducting a market analysis to see what, if any demand there is for access to cislunar space among commercial entities. Lockheed Martin has partnered with NanoRacks to perform the study, which will serve as a first step towards “fostering a thriving commercial marketplace beyond low-Earth orbit,” the company

Two commercial companies sign MOU for future space mining missions

Lunar payload services firm Moon Express has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Deltion Innovations for collaboration on future lunar missions using in-situ resource utilization. The agreement is very likely the first such agreement between two commercial companies for future ISRU missions in space. “This is a very important milestone for Deltion,” CEO Dale Boucher said in a statement. “This is an opportunity to provide a more balanced suite

Accion Systems raises $3m with Boeing, GettyLab

Propulsion startup Accion Systems has raised another $3 million, led be Boeing’s investment arm HorizonX Ventures, with participation from GettyLab. Boeing said the company’s miniature TILE in-space propulsion system is poised to “transform satellite capabilities in and beyond Earth’s orbit.” Accion Systems, which was founded in 2014 by two MIT graduates, has developed what it calls a tiled ionic liquid electrospray (TILE) in-space propulsion system. The tiny thrusters are no

Satellite makers are optimizing production processes amid GEO downturn

Satellite makers are wrestling with new manufacturing techniques and market segments to ease the pressure felt by declines in the legacy GEO satellite markets. “We’re trying to establish a business case for building satellites in a market that is constantly changing,” said SES’s Bryan Benedict, speaking earlier this year on a panel on the satellite market. “We have a big challenge ahead of us on how do we combine the

Luxembourg Space Agency is open for business

Luxembourg’s Grand Duchy announced three new commercial space companies are opening up offices in the country, as it continues to pursue leadership in commercial space. In-space manufacturing firm Made In Space, planetary rover production company CubeRover and satellite imagery and analytics firm Hydrosat are opening up offices in Luxembourg. The announcement comes just a week after the formation of the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA), charged with promoting further economic development

Update: SpaceIL pushes lunar lander launch to early 2019

Israel-based SpaceIL has secured a ride to space. The organization, which designed a lunar lander as part of the Google Lunar XPRIZE, will ride as a secondary payload on a SpaceX Falcon 9 sometime in early 2019, according to rideshare logistics firm Spaceflight. Spaceflight announced last week it will begin offering rideshare services to geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) every 12-18 months, “or as customer demand requires.” The first such flight

Luxembourg space agency will chase New Space business, not research

The Luxembourg Grand Duchy government has formed the country’s first space agency, as it continues to pursue leadership in commercial space. The newly formed Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA) has been charged with promoting further economic development of the country’s nascent space industry by attracting businesses, offering innovative financial solutions and establishing research infrastructure. https://twitter.com/LuxSpaceAgency/status/1040158260492476416 Marc Serres, former head of space affairs at the Ministry of the Economy and VP of