Moonshot #19
Looks like we won't get a Vulcan launch for Christmas, Ursa Major closes on $138 million, and the Space Force X-37B space plane launch gets pushed to a new window tonight.
Hello Continuum readers and Celestial Citizens,
Welcome back to Moonshot where we will give a bi-weekly rundown of all the private sector space news. If you haven’t already, consider becoming a paid subscriber ($6/month) so you can get past that pesky paywall and read the full Moonshot post!
ULA – Bah humbug, the promise of our Vulcan Christmas gift is already slipping from our grasp after ULA announced a likely launch delay on Sunday. ULA chief executive Tory Bruno cited the failure to complete “a FULL WDR,” or Wet Dress Rehearsal as the reason behind the push. The mission would not only help certify ULA’s Vulcan rocket for future National Security missions, but it is also responsible for delivering Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander to orbit. While some suspected the Christmas Eve promise from ULA – who is no stranger to delays – customer Astrobotic began a hopeful series of social media posts to countdown to the launch. Sadly, Astrobotic and the rest of us will likely have to wait until the next launch window on January 8th.
Ursa Major – Perhaps smelling the potential defense dollars, investors dove in on the Series D and D-1 rounds of propulsion startup Ursa Major, allowing the Colorado company to close $138 million. The engine manufacturers cited the reason for the extension of the initial Series D as a need to accelerate multiple programs to meet a high demand, including a new solid rocket motor program announced only weeks ago. And the company has shown that they know how to scale; they’ve accelerated production of their Hadley engine to a cadence of one engine per week and have qualified the engine for space launch and hypersonic missions.
Intelsat – At an event on November 30th, Intelsat demonstrated their new multifaceted antennae on the rooftop of a Jeep Wrangler. The flat panel antenna is “multifaceted” because it can not only access Intelsat satellites camped out in geostationary orbit (GEO), but also low Earth orbit (LEO) Starlink satellites. With these “multi-orbit” services, Intelsat can provide its customers with connection access that surpasses what their 58-satellite GEO fleet can offer on its own, and this is attractive to both commercial and government markets. In fact, Intelsat has a similar partnership in the works with Eutelsat OneWeb, which will aim to service commercial airlines. As of now, the Intelsat-Starlink antenna can only be sold to the U.S. Department of Defense, and its design is geared to withstand the elements of combat that military vehicles might encounter. A shining example of all that’s possible when we work together, Intelsat hasn’t stopped with Starlink and Eutelsat OneWeb; the company is also in talks regarding a future Project Kuiper collaboration. In the words of the company’s director of business development Ray Lindenmayer, “We are big into multi-orbit.”
Blue Origin – In a moment where aerospace manufacturer Blue Origin is feeling the heat – with their BE-4 engine set to power ULA’s Vulcan launch in the next month – the company’s tea couldn’t be hotter. At the end of November, former program manager Greg Stoker filed a formal complaint with the Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging that months of voicing of workplace safety, ethical and legal concerns led to his wrongful termination in October. Let us harken back, shall we – to the storied Vulcan upper stage explosion in March, which Blue Origin caught on camera but then removed from its servers (allegedly) at the request of ULA. Test failures happen – that’s the point of them, after all – but why the secrecy? According to Stoker’s complaint, sweeping issues under the rug seems to be regular practice at Blue Origin, particularly under former CEO Bob Smith. The complaint not only recalls numerous occasions of safety sacrificed for the sake of speed, but also breaches of contract made to uphold an imagery of success. According to the former manager, Smith prevented Stoker from disclosing BE-4 engine development delays to client ULA, which of course evaded their contractual terms not to mention putting their client’s project at risk. While we can expect to see Stoker referred to as a “disgruntled employee” in the coming months, we also have to see this news as a return to our regularly scheduled programming: the fast-and-loose approach is dangerous. Point blank period.
SpaceX – As celebrated in Continuum last week, SpaceX served up some satellite victories to multiple nations last week with a Falcon 9 rideshare mission. The successful launch deployed the first Irish satellite as well as the first military spy satellite for South Korea, commissioned by the country’s Agency for Defense Development. However, the spy satellite wasn’t the sneakiest SpaceX news this period – as a Falcon Heavy rocket has been tasked with launching a Space Force X-37B space plane containing classified payload(s) into orbit. Originally scheduled to take off from Kennedy Space Center on Sunday, December 10th, weather pushed the launch one day to December 11th, and then trouble with ground equipment pushed it another day. You can webcast it tonight just after 11:00 PM Eastern Time, if all goes to plan.
Amini – Announced on November 30th, Kenya-based startup Amini raised $4 million towards their first climate-focused satellite set to launch in 2025. This win comes after a $2 million seed funding round in May. Currently applying their analytics software to data publicly available from ESA and NASA satellites, Amini hopes that with its own constellation, it can offer even more precise measurements of drought, flood, soil and crop patterns. The company serves customers such as agricultural insurers, although with greater precision they hope to also target corporations seeking data on their business’s carbon footprint.
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