Moonshot #23

Northrop warns of layoffs, New Glenn rock(et)s the runway, and SpaceX hopes third time's the (lucky) charm for a targeted March 14th test launch.

The New Glenn rocket got a showy entrance into Cape Canaveral at the end of February, where it will undergo testing. Credit: Blue Origin

Northrop Grumman – Despite its jovial name, Northrop Grumman’s California-based “Space Park” facility is not a fun place to be at the minute, as the company recently issued a warning of imminent layoffs. California law requires employers of Northrop Grumman’s size to notify employees of layoffs – or in their more passive aggressive corporate lingo, “workforce reductions” – by way of a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN). While we do not yet know an exact timeline or number yet, some predict 1,000 employees could be impacted at the approximately 7,000-person campus. It’s a sad moment for the historic Redondo Beach site – which has been open since 1961 – and a somewhat surprising one, as executives recently reported a 14% increase in sales for last year during a Q4 earnings call. That said, the firm did just experience a substantial military satellite contract cancellation, and has taken a charge on their lunar Gateway contract with NASA. We’ll stay tuned to see how this, eh, reduction plays out.

Blue Origin – Bezos’ behemoth New Glenn got to rock(et) the runway to the Blue Origin launch pad at Cape Canaveral a couple weeks ago, an exciting reveal of the vehicle’s progress. To be clear, we shouldn’t expect a New Glenn launch any time soon. What was rolled out to the pad is a bit of a Franken-rocket, composed partially of demonstration pieces, which the company will use to conduct testing before rolling the rocket back to its garage to complete its preparations. Still, Blue Origin chief executive Dave Limp is “very confident” there’ll be a launch this year. And that doesn’t seem off base, as two of Blue’s BE-4 engines were successfully used in the Vulcan launch in January. For comparison, the New Glenn will use seven of these engines. While a launch date for this heavy-hitter has been (and continues to be) long-awaited, the company feels strongly that their patient and prolonged preparations will yield successful results. Clearly, they’re making a point here to differentiate from their archenemy competitor, SpaceX. 

SpaceX – Speak of the de– uh, dedicated launch firm, SpaceX inches closer to its next Starship test flight, now that the FAA has concluded its standard evaluation of November's integrated demonstration. In fact, Starship could launch as soon as this week. Currently targeting March 14th for its third test, the company has outlined slightly adjusted expectations for this demo, including a new flightpath allowing for in-space engine burns, followed by a splashdown in the Indian Ocean. Impressively, the March 14th launch won’t be the only big SpaceX launch this month, as the company also completed a Crew-8 launch to the International Space Station on the 3rd, as well as its tenth Transporter rideshare mission on the 4th. Transporter-10 took off from Vandenberg on Monday with a whopping 53 payloads, some of which we’ll highlight later in this newsletter, and Orbital Index also has a stellar overview. Of course, SpaceX never misses an opportunity to throw up more Starlink satellites; the company actually took advantage of the Crew-8 weather delays to sneak in a satellite delivery on leap day, followed by another batch launched on March 4th – the same day of the Transporter-10 launch – from Cape Canaveral. But all of these Starlink satellites will not distract from a select few, which two House Democrats are investigating for alleged use by Russian forces amidst the nation’s invasion in Ukraine. While Musk has denied any direct sales of Starlink terminals to Russia, the question remains about satellite guardrails – or lack thereof – allowing for communication interception. Perhaps this is another situation of accidental damage, like the accidental environmental ”whoopsie” in Boca Chica during Starship’s first launch. The firm does seem to know how to wriggle out of responsibility, though, as seen with a recent “land swap” with Texas State Parks. We’re just left wondering: where is the line of what’s forgivable in the learning process, when actual lives are at stake? 

Astra – We’re back with an update on Astra, whose founders proposed to take the company private back in November, facing troubled financial waters in the aftermath of going public and experiencing multiple rocket failures. A March 1st filing made clear that the board was reviewing a revised proposal from CEO Chris Kemp and CTO Adam London, one that is two-thirds lower than their original offer from the fall. It’s unclear as to whether or not the board will accept this lower price, as according to the recent filing there is still “no assurances” as to the founders actually securing the cash to buy. Unfortunately, the other option is Chapter 7 bankruptcy, or liquidation. 

Viasat – As part of a Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) program – which focuses on integration of commercial communication satellites with military vehicles – Viasat has accepted a contract with Northrop Grumman to supply military users with “high-bandwidth satellite internet connectivity” from its geostationary satellites. Essentially, Northrop Grumman will integrate a ViaSat-3 modem in the satellite terminals that they are developing for military testing under the Defense Experimentation Using Commercial Space Internet (DEUCSI) program. It’s another show of confidence from Viasat, despite their F1 satellite’s hampered state. And to that we say, may the force be with you. 

Canada’s MDA is expanding its production facilities, including constructing this nifty gymnastics ball pit  anechoic near field test chamber for satellite antenna testing. Credit: MDA

MDA – Canada-based MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates, better known as MDA, is moving into mass-production mode. After its big break in 2022 on an Apple-funded LEO constellation – managed by Globalstar to supply iPhone users with emergency connectivity even in no-signal areas – the company was quick to follow up with a massive 2.1 billion CAD ($1.6 billion USD) deal with Telesat for nearly 200 Lightspeed satellites, as well as a contract with an undisclosed client for 36 non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellites in 2023. With all this newfound popularity, MDA is upgrading its production facilities in Montreal to soon be able to churn out two satellites a day. That production cadence – which would fairly quickly exceed the spacecraft quotas needed for their three massive deals – portrays the confidence that MDA has in locking down more business in the coming years. And yes girlies, that’s what we call manifesting.