Moonshot #32

Muon’s $56.7M boost, Rocket Lab's latest launch is a hoot, Astroscale goes full Wall-E, and everything else happening in the commercial space industry.

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!

Rocket Lab livestreamed its Electron launch for Synspective, a Japanese firm working towards an SAR constellation. Credit: Rocket Lab

Owl For One – Rocket Lab launched its Owl For One, One For Owl mission on Friday August 2nd, after poor weather conditions delayed the flight from the end of July. Its precious payload was a pair of SAR satellites for Synspective, a Japanese firm, which will contribute to an in-progress Earth-observation constellation dubbed StriX. This was the fifth Electron launch for Synspective’s constellation, and ultimately 16 launches are anticipated to complete the architecture. This was also the ninth Electron launch for Rocket Lab this year. As ever, the launch provider did not disappoint with a mission title, this one inspired by the genus of owls for which the constellation is named.

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This edition of Moonshot is brought to you by the Space Resources program at the Colorado School of Mines.

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Muon Space – Muon Space just snagged $56.7 million in their latest fundraising round to supercharge their satellite platform and simultaneously inked a deal with defense bigwig Sierra Nevada Corp. This California-based startup takes the DIY out of space missions, letting customers like Hydrosat and Earth Fire Alliance hitch a ride on their custom-built satellites. With over $100 million in contracts this year, including $60 million for ten secretive remote-sensing satellites, Muon's star is definitely on the rise. The Series B round, headlined by Activate Capital and friends, brings their total funding to a stellar $91 million. First stop: 2025, with the launch of the Vindlér constellation's first satellite. Beam us up, Muon!

ABL Space Systems – During a preparatory static fire test of its RS-1 rocket, ABL Space Systems regrettably sustained “irrevocable” damage to the vehicle. The loss, reportedly caused by residual fire on the launchpad, throws a real wrench in the company’s plans to launch the RS-1 from the Pacific Spaceport Complex in the near future. The prospective launch would be only the second attempt from the firm, after its first did not make orbit in January 2023. Now, an investigation of the fire will establish the steps that ABL will have to take to get back on track. Should it pull through these early challenges, the RS-1 would theoretically have the capacity to deliver nearly 3,000 pounds of payload to orbit at a cost of roughly $12 million per flight. 

A timelapse of a defunct upper stage, stuck in space for 15 years, captured by autonomous RPO spacecraft ADRAS-J. Credit: Astroscale

Astroscale – Like the Wall-E of today’s space, Astroscale’s ADRAS-J completed its intended flyaround of a hunk of space debris in July. The recent maneuvers marked a successful recovery from an altitude anomaly which triggered an abort a few weeks earlier. Moreover, the spacecraft’s independent inspection of a free-floating H-IIA upper stage – defunct for over 15 years – is not only promising for space sustainability but also for rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) in general. Most RPO feats thus far have been crewed operations, or involved targets designed to receive the spacecraft approaching them. Astroscale’s mission, on the other hand, autonomously surveyed an unwieldy rocket body with no receiving aids, no reflectors, and little predictability. With new analysis from ADRAS-J, Astroscale – with JAXA funding behind it – will attempt to dock and steer the upper stage to a safe reentry, one step giant leap towards a cleaner LEO. 

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This edition of Moonshot is supported by the Open Lunar Foundation. Open Lunar's work sets precedents, creates pathways, and builds projects that enable a peaceful, cooperative lunar presence. Learn more about Open Lunar's work by joining their upcoming events.

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Leonardo, Airbus & Thales – If you can’t beat them, join– into one massive supergroup? Italian firm Leonardo is reportedly in talks with French aerospace corporations Airbus and Thales Alenia Space regarding a “possible alliance.” Following a half-year earnings release, Leonardo’s CEO expressed that a combined approach could shape a stronger European space organization, with the chops to compete against U.S. and Chinese heavyweights. These talks of consolidation are undoubtedly related to the dominance of Elon Musk’s Starlink constellation; they also come as European satellite makers grapple with daunting charges, such as Airbus’ recent 1.5 billion hit.