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☆ Bezos's Blue Origin names former Amazon executive as CEO -internal email
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsSept 25 (Reuters) - The chief executive officer of Jeff Bezos's space company Blue Origin, Bob Smith, will step down at the end of the year to be replaced by former Amazon executive Dave Limp, who ran products such as Kindle, according to emails seen by Reuters. Limp, a former senior vice president at Amazon who led the company's consumer devices unit, will become Blue Origin's CEO on Dec. 4, an email from Bezos, Blue Origin's founder, said. "Jeff and I have been discussing my plan for months," Smith told employees in an email sent Monday. He added he would remain with the company until Jan. 2 "to ensure a smooth transition with the new CEO." Limp, a more than 13-year veteran of Amazon, had overseen some of Amazon's well-known consumer devices, such as Echo products.

Persons: Jeff Bezos, Blue, Bob Smith, Bezos, Joe Skipper, Jeff Bezos's, Dave Limp, Jeff, Smith, Limp, Elon, New Glenn, Joey Roulette, Pooja Desai, Sonali Paul Organizations: Billionaire, Blue Origin's, REUTERS, Amazon, Reuters, Blue, SpaceX's, NASA, Honeywell Aerospace, SpaceX, Boeing, Lockheed, United Launch Alliance, Thomson Locations: Van Horn , Texas, U.S, New

☆ Sierra Space raising nearly $300 million from Japanese consortium at $5 billion valuation
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Sierra Space, the subsidiary of private aerospace contractor Sierra Nevada Corporation, is finalizing a raise of nearly $300 million, CNBC has learned. Sierra Space expects to announce the raise as soon as this week, those people said. Two years ago, Sierra Space raised $1.4 billion at a $4.5 billion valuation from investors including General Atlantic, BlackRock, AE Industrial Partners, Coatue and Moore Strategic Ventures. The fresh funds come as Sierra Space focuses on getting its Dream Chaser spaceplane flying. Sierra Space is also one of several companies working on a private space station.

Persons: MUFG Organizations: Space, Sierra Nevada Corporation, CNBC, Sierra, Tokio Marine, Citigroup, General Atlantic, Partners, Coatue, Moore Strategic Ventures, NASA Space Shuttle, United, Vulcan Locations: Tokio, BlackRock

Limp joins Blue Origin at a key phase of the company's multiple space projects. Earlier this year Blue Origin won a $3.4 billion NASA contract to build a lunar lander for the agency's astronauts. However, Blue Origin has since hired aggressively. Read Bezos' message to Blue Origin employees on Monday:I'm excited to share that Dave Limp will join Blue starting December 4th as CEO, replacing Bob, who has elected to step aside on January 2. JeffRead Smith's message to Blue Origin employees:Team Blue, It's been about six years since I joined Blue Origin.

Persons: Limp, Shepard, Smith, Panos Panay, Bezos, Alexa, Limp's, Andy Jassy, Jeff Bezos, Blue, Bob Smith, Origin's, Glenn, –, Read, Dave Limp, Bob, I'd, we've, We've, I've, Dave, Jeff Read, It's, Jeff, I'm, Ferociter, Dave Limp's Organizations: Amazon, Alexa, CNBC, NASA, Blue Origin, Bloomberg, Microsoft, Billionaire, Blue Origin's, Origin, Honeywell, Shepard, Pentagon, U.S . Space Force, Elon, SpaceX, Blue, Amazon Devices, Services, Apple Locations: Van Horn , Texas, U.S, Alabama, Florida, California , Arizona, Colorado, Kent

☆ Blue Origin: Longtime Amazon executive to take over Jeff Bezos’ rocket company
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Jeff Bezos’ space tourism and rocket company is replacing its chief executive officer with a longtime Amazon executive. The current Blue Origin CEO, Bob Smith — a former Honeywell executive who took over the role in 2017 — will step down and make way for Dave Limp, the senior vice president of devices and services at Amazon, a spokesperson for Blue Origin said in a statement Monday. In the statement, Blue Origin said that Limp is “a proven innovator with a customer-first mindset. Blue Origin has several other high-profile projects in the works. Blue Origin struggled to deliver the BE-4 engines, encountering months of delays.

Persons: Jeff Bezos, Bob Smith —, Dave Limp, Limp, Smith, ” Limp’s, Shepard, New Shepard, Glenn, Lockheed Martin, ULA, Artemis — Organizations: CNN, Amazon, Honeywell, Blue Origin, SpaceX, Vulcan, United Launch Alliance, Lockheed, Boeing, Blue, NASA, Origin

☆ Capsule with NASA's first asteroid sample heads for Utah touchdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The robotic spacecraft OSIRIS-REx is scheduled to release the gumdrop-shaped capsule, transporting about a cup of gravelly asteroid material, at 6:42 a.m. EDT (1042 GMT) for a final descent to Earth, climaxing a seven-year voyage. The spacecraft departed Bennu in May 2021 for a 1.2-billion-mile (1.9-billion-km) cruise back to Earth, including two orbits around the sun. The Bennu sample is estimated at 250 grams (8.8 ounces), far surpassing the 5 grams of material carried back from Ryugu in 2020 or the tiny specimen delivered from asteroid Itokawa in 2010. Scientists hope the integrity of the capsule and inner cannister bearing the asteroid material will be maintained through re-entry and landing, keeping the sample pristine and free of any terrestrial contamination. The main portion of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, meanwhile, is expected to sail on to explore yet another near-Earth asteroid, named Apophis.

Persons: Joel Kowsky, REx, climaxing, NASA's, Steve Gorman, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: United Launch Alliance, V, Cape Canaveral Air Force, NASA, Handout, Reuters, University of Arizona, Empire, NASA's Johnson Space Center, Thomson Locations: Florida, U.S, Utah, Salt Lake City, military's, Ryugu, Houston, Los Angeles

☆ NASA's first asteroid sample on track for Sunday parachute landing in Utah
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Acquire Licensing Rights Read moreLOS ANGELES, Sept 23 (Reuters) - A NASA space capsule carrying a sample of rocky material plucked from the surface of an asteroid three years ago hurtled toward Earth this weekend headed for a fiery plunge through the atmosphere and a parachute landing in the Utah desert on Sunday. OSIRIS-REx collected its specimen from Bennu, a carbon-rich asteroid discovered in 1999 and classified as a "near-Earth object" because it passes relatively close to our planet every six years. The Bennu sample is estimated at 250 grams (8.8 ounces), far surpassing the amount of material carried back from asteroid Ryugu in 2020 and asteroid Itokawa in 2010. The main portion of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, meanwhile, is expected to sail on to explore yet another near-Earth asteroid. Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles, Editing by Rosalba O'BrienOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: REx, Sandra Freund, Lockheed Martin, Dante Lauretta, NASA's, Steve Gorman, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: United Launch Alliance, V, Cape Canaveral Air Force, NASA, Lockheed, University of Arizona, Empire, NASA's Johnson Space Center, Thomson Locations: Florida, U.S, ANGELES, Utah, military's, Salt Lake City, Tucson, Houston, Los Angeles

☆ Bezos snubbed Musk's SpaceX for huge satellite launch contract, Amazon shareholder says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

An Amazon shareholder lawsuit says the company snubbed SpaceX for valuable satellite launch contracts because of Jeff Bezos' personal rivalry with Elon Musk , who has taunted his fellow billionaire's space ambitions for years. Last year, Amazon announced what it called the biggest rocket deal in the commercial space industry's history, signing launch contracts with United Launch Alliance (ULA), Arianespace, and Bezos' Blue Origin. Blue Origin has yet to provide a statement in response to CNBC's request for comment on the lawsuit. In January 2022, the suit says Bezos' team told the Amazon audit committee that two contracts had been fully negotiated with Blue Origin and ULA. "Bezos, it must be assumed, could not swallow his pride to seek his bitter rival's help to launch Amazon's satellites," the suit adds.

Persons: Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Bezos, –, Andy Jassy, Eisenhofer, Origin's, ULA Organizations: SpaceX, Tesla, Origin, Cleveland Bakers, Teamsters Pension Fund, Amazon, Elon, United Launch, CNBC, CB, Blue, FCC, Foods Locations: Delaware, New York

☆ Hurricane Idalia chases Florida residents from the Gulf Coast as forecasters warn of storm surge
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

The result could be a big blow to a state still dealing with lingering damage from last year's Hurricane Ian. She had a message for the almost 900 residents who were under mandatory orders to evacuate the island near the coast of the Big Bend region. More than a dozen state troopers went door to door warning residents that storm surge could rise as high as 15 feet (4.5 meters). At 2 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Idalia was about 240 miles (390 kilometers) south-southwest of Tampa, with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph (150 kph), the National Hurricane Center said. Idalia's initial squalls were being felt in the Florida Keys and the southwestern coast of Florida on Tuesday afternoon, including at Clearwater Beach.

Persons: Idalia, Ian, Sue Colson, Colson, Andy Bair, Hurricane Hermine, Bair, we're, Ron DeSantis, Brian Kemp, Russell Guess, Brian McNoldy, McNoldy Organizations: National Weather Service, Cedar Key, City, National Hurricane Center, Florida Keys, Clearwater Beach . Workers, Carolinas, . Georgia Gov, National Guard, Cunningham Tree Service, University of Florida, MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa Bay, Busch Gardens, United Launch Alliance, Atmospheric Administration, University of Miami Locations: Coast, Gulf, Mexico, Florida, Tallahassee, Bend, Cedar, Tarpon Springs, Tampa, Clearwater Beach, Georgia, Valdosta , Georgia, Cuba, Pinar del Rio, Hawaii, Canada, Greece, California, Vermont, Gainesville

☆ ‘Lunar Codex’ aims to bring human art to the moon
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Nicknamed “Moon Museum,” it was attached to a leg of the spacecraft and then left on the moon with it. Called the Lunar Codex, it will be split across three launches planned over the next 18 months. The artworks that make up the Lunar Codex will be miniaturized in nickel NanoFiche. Peralta originally intended the Lunar Codex to include only his own works, such as "Sonnets from the Labrador," but reconceived the project as a global endeavor during the pandemic. Jack Burns, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Colorado Boulder, thinks the Lunar Codex is a cool concept.

Persons: —, Andy Warhol, Samuel Peralta —, ” Peralta, Peralta, I’ve, ”, “, Isaac Asimov's, Samuel Peralta, Mazzy, Olesya Dzhurayeva, Connie Karleta, Samuel Peralta “, Daniela De Paulis, ” Paulis, Jack Burns, “ I’m, Carl Sagan, Timothy Ferris, Bach, Beethoven …, Chuck Berry, Ferris, ” Ferris, ‘ Kilroy Organizations: CNN, NASA, “, SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, Virgin, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Colorado Locations: Canadian, North America, Ukrainian, Kyiv, Russia, American, Netherlands, Labrador, University of Colorado Boulder

☆ Amazon switches rockets for first test satellites to avoid launch delay
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The logo of Amazon is seen at the company logistics center in Lauwin-Planque, northern France, November 15, 2022. Amazon last year announced plans to launch the satellite pair aboard the first flight of ULA's new Vulcan rocket, moving them off previously planned rockets from launch startup ABL Space to avoid delays in ABL's rocket development. But delays with Vulcan have prompted Amazon to again switch rides as the e-commerce giant faces a 2026 regulatory deadline to deploy half of the 3,200 satellites planned for its Kuiper internet network. ULA in 2021 stopped selling the Atlas V and has 19 more missions to fly before the rocket retires, ULA spokeswoman Jessica Rye said. It was unclear whether the Atlas V launch planned for September counts as one of the nine that Amazon previously procured.

Persons: Pascal, James Watkins, ULA, Jessica Rye, Joey Roulette, Leslie Adler, Aurora Ellis Organizations: REUTERS, Amazon.com Inc, Boeing, Lockheed, United Launch, Amazon, Vulcan, Elon Musk's SpaceX, Atlas V, NASA, Atlas, Thomson Locations: Lauwin, France, U.S, ULA

☆ Amazon switches rockets for first test satellites to expedite launch
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

An artist's rendering of the Project Kuiper satellite processing facility in Florida. Amazon.com Inc plans to launch its first pair of prototype internet satellites late next month on a different rocket than previously planned, a spokesman said on Monday, again switching rides for the spacecraft to avoid mounting rocket delays. The company will launch the two satellites, the first in Amazon's Kuiper program to offer internet globally from space, aboard a dedicated Atlas V rocket from the Boeing -Lockheed , joint venture United Launch Alliance, spokesman James Watkins said. Amazon last year announced plans to launch the satellite pair aboard the first flight of ULA's new Vulcan rocket, moving them off previously planned rockets from launch startup ABL Space to avoid delays in ABL's rocket development. But delays with Vulcan have prompted Amazon to again switch rides.

Persons: James Watkins, ULA Organizations: Inc, Boeing, Lockheed, United Launch Alliance, Amazon, Vulcan Locations: Florida

☆ Amazon switches rockets for first test satellites for sooner launch
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The logo of Amazon is seen at the company logistics center in Lauwin-Planque, northern France, November 15, 2022. The company will launch the two satellites, the first in Amazon's Kuiper program to offer internet globally from space, aboard a dedicated Atlas V rocket from the Boeing-Lockheed (BA.N), (LMT.N) joint venture United Launch Alliance, spokesman James Watkins said. Amazon last year announced plans to launch the satellite pair aboard the first flight of ULA's new Vulcan rocket, moving them off previously planned rockets from launch startup ABL Space to avoid delays in ABL's rocket development. But delays with Vulcan have prompted Amazon to again switch rides. Reporting by Joey Roulette; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Pascal, James Watkins, ULA, Joey Roulette, Leslie Adler Organizations: REUTERS, Amazon.com Inc, Boeing, Lockheed, United Launch Alliance, Amazon, Vulcan, Thomson Locations: Lauwin, France

The Vulcan rocket for the Cert-1 mission stands at SLC-41 during testing in Cape Canaveral, Florida, May 12, 2023. United Launch Alliance still plans to fly its heavy-lift Vulcan rocket by late 2023 — despite suffering a mishap earlier this year after an engine exploded during testing. CNBC previously reported that one of Blue Origin's BE-4 engines, ordered for ULA's second Vulcan rocket launch, detonated last month. United Launch Alliance, the joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing , is one of two key launch partners for the satellite project, in addition to Jeff Bezos-backed Blue Origin. Once United Launch Alliance successfully conducts its first two Vulcan missions, the U.S. Space Force will consider clearing the heavy rocket for national security launches.

Persons: —, Origin's, ULA, Tory Bruno, Bruno, Lockheed Martin, Jeff Bezos, Morgan Brennan, Vulcan Organizations: Cert, SLC, United Launch Alliance, CNBC, Vulcan, Kennedy Space Center, Lockheed, Boeing, U.S . Space Force, SpaceX, National Reconnaissance Organization, Space Force Locations: Cape Canaveral , Florida, U.S, ULA, China

☆ Amazon builds $120 million satellite processing hub in Florida
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, July 21 (Reuters) - Amazon (AMZN.O) is building a $120 million processing facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for its thousands of planned Kuiper internet satellites, the company and state officials said Friday. The Kuiper internet network, which will largely compete with Starlink from Elon Musk’s SpaceX, is expected to complement Amazon’s web services powerhouse. The Florida facility will employ 50 staff and be a last stop for Amazon's Kuiper satellites before they go to space, after being manufactured at the Kuiper project's primary plant in Redmond, Washington. The company has bagged 77 heavy-lift rocket launch contracts, potentially worth billions of dollars combined, mostly from the Boeing-Lockheed joint venture United Launch Alliance and Jeff Bezos's space company Blue Origin. Anna Farrar, a spokeswoman for Space Florida, a state-funded entity to attract space businesses to Florida, said Amazon is eligible to receive funds under a state grant for transportation-related projects but "has not received any funding to date."

Persons: Steve Metayer, Jeff Bezos's, Anna Farrar, Joey Roulette, Deepa Babington Organizations: Kennedy Space Center, Amazon, Starlink, Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Kuiper Production, Boeing, Lockheed, United Launch Alliance, Origin, Space, Thomson Locations: Florida, Redmond , Washington, Space Florida

☆ Amazon to build $120 million facility in Florida to prep Kuiper internet satellites for launch
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Amazon will invest $120 million to build a satellite processing facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as the company prepares to launch the first satellites for its Project Kuiper internet network, the tech giant announced Friday. The facility will be built at the Launch and Landing Facility that was once where NASA landed Space Shuttle missions. The LLF is now leased and operated by Space Florida, which serves as the state's space economy development arm. "I am thrilled that Amazon is the first major tenant to locate [at the LLF]," Frank DiBello, CEO of Space Florida, told CNBC. We'll be processing our first production satellites through this facility in early 2025," Steve Metayer, Amazon's vice president of Kuiper production operations, told CNBC.

Persons: Frank DiBello, Jeff Bezos, Steve Metayer Organizations: Amazon, Kennedy Space Center, NASA, Space Shuttle, Space, CNBC, United Launch Alliance Locations: Florida, Space Florida

☆ Rocket Lab's stock has doubled this year — and Deutsche Bank sees it climbing even higher
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Rocket Lab's stock has been on a tear, more than doubling this year. Deutsche has a buy rating on Rocket Lab and a $10 price target that is nearly 28% above Tuesday's close of $7.83 a share. Rocket Lab's stock is up 107% year to date. Deutsche expects Rocket Lab's revenue and profitability to continue to climb, thanks to more launches by its Electron rocket. Additionally, Yu highlighted Rocket Lab's recent purchase of former Virgin Orbit assets — bought at an 80% discount in an auction.

Persons: Edison Yu, Yu, —, – CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Deutsche Bank, Rocket, Deutsche, Space, Electron, Apple, SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, Virgin Orbit

☆ Investing in Space: Why Blue Origin's engine explosion matters
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

CNBC's Investing in Space newsletter offers a view into the business of space exploration and privatization, delivered straight to your inbox. Let's get into that, especially in light of the recently unveiled explosion of a BE-4 rocket engine during Blue Origin's testing in Texas. The engine was bound for the second launch of its customer United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket. It's worth understanding the three main phases of rocket engine testing: Development, qualification and acceptance. I don't report on every rocket engine that blows up.

Persons: CNBC's Michael Sheetz, Let's, ULA, Tory Bruno, Bruno, Vulcan, ULA's, it's Organizations: Cert, U.S . Space Force, SpaceX, Space Force, Vulcan Locations: Texas, U.S

☆ Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket engine explodes during testing
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A test of a BE-4 engine at Blue Origin's Launch Site One facility in West Texas, Aug. 2, 2019. A Blue Origin rocket engine exploded during testing last month, CNBC has learned, a destructive setback with potential ramifications for the company's customers as well as its own rocket. "No personnel were injured, and we are currently assessing root cause," Blue Origin said, adding that "we already have proximate cause and are working on remedial actions." Blue Origin also said it will be able to "continue testing" engines in West Texas. "We will be able to meet our engine delivery commitments this year and stay ahead of our customer's launch needs," Blue Origin added.

Persons: Jeff Bezos, ULA, Lockheed Martin Organizations: CNBC, United, Alliance, Vulcan, Boeing, Lockheed, Elon, SpaceX Locations: West Texas, ULA

☆ Investing in Space: Bankers and insiders say M&A action is heating up
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Michael Sheetz | In Michaeljsheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

CNBC's Investing in Space newsletter offers a view into the business of space exploration and privatization, delivered straight to your inbox. CNBC's Michael Sheetz reports and curates the latest news, investor updates and exclusive interviews on the most important companies reaching new heights. The space sector has seen a variety of mergers and acquisitions since the start of the year, but the deal-making is only heating up. Meanwhile, one financier told me even Boeing is exploring options for its space business, and "everything's on the table." The markets and underlying technologies of space companies are often very different, and the reasons why one company sells or fails are often just as different from that of another.

Persons: CNBC's Michael Sheetz, Lockheed Martin, Boeing —, ULA, you've Organizations: CNBC, United, Alliance, Lockheed, Boeing, Ball Aerospace

☆ Investing in Space: Relativity CEO bets on bigger rockets, A.I. capabilities
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Morgan Brennan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

While it didn't reach space, the most powerful rocket ever built marked a milestone and shined a light on a broader industry trend: building bigger rockets. Take Relativity Space, a CNBC Disruptor 50 company valued at more than $4 billion, that has emerged as the posterchild of the trend. Even Rocket Lab is busy developing a more powerful rocket than its current small launch-focused Electron. CNBC's weekly "Manifest Space" podcast focuses on the billionaires and brains behind the ever-expanding opportunities beyond our atmosphere. In "Manifest Space," sit back, relax and prepare for liftoff.

☆ SpaceX wins approval to add fifth U.S. rocket launch site
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, April 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. Space Force said on Monday that Elon Musk's SpaceX was granted approval to lease a second rocket launch complex at a military base in California, setting the space company up for its fifth launch site in the United States. Under the lease, SpaceX will launch its workhorse Falcon rockets from Space Launch Complex-6 at Vandenberg Space Force Base, a military launch site north of Los Angeles where the space company operates another launchpad. A Monday night Space Force statement said a letter of support for the decision was signed on Friday by Space Launch Delta 30 commander Col. The new launch site, vacated last year by the Boeing-Lockheed joint venture United Launch Alliance, gives SpaceX more room to handle an increasingly busy launch schedule for commercial, government and internal satellite launches. SpaceX's grant of Space Launch Complex-6 comes as rocket companies prepare to compete for the Pentagon's Phase 3 National Security Space Launch program, a watershed military launch procurement effort expected to begin in the next year or so.

☆ Space Force chief says U.S. is facing a 'new era' of threats beyond Earth
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Morgan Brennan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Chance Saltzman took the stage for his keynote at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, this week, his message was simple: The U.S. is in a new era of space activity. "The threats that we face to our on-orbit capabilities from our strategic competitors has grown substantially," Saltzman, the U.S. Space Force's second-ever chief of space operations, said in a CNBC interview after the speech. Case in point: the Space Force's recently announced procurement strategy for more launch services. With business to be awarded next year, the National Security Space Launch Phase 3 is estimated to run into the billions of dollars and is expected to draw bids from the likes of Rocket Lab , Relativity Space and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, among others. While still just a fraction of the country's overall defense budget, the Space Force's $30 billion request for fiscal 2024 represents a 15% increase from this year's enacted levels.

☆ Analysis: Rocket startups face adapt-or-die moment amid investment drought
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Venture investment in space startups has dropped 50% year-over-year in 2022 to $21.9 billion, according to VC firm Space Capital. Astra Space (ASTR.O), which ditched its small Rocket 3.3 for a planned, larger Rocket 4 in the next few years, has struggled to bring its stock price above $1, facing delisting threats from Nasdaq. Despite the startups' struggles, launch demand has soared after sanctions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine cut off access to Russian rockets. Recent failures with Europe's Arianespace's Vega-C rocket have added to demand in the U.S., outstripping the number of available rockets. Private plans to deploy mega-constellations, vast swarms of satellites in low-Earth orbit, have also given launch startups hope for future demand.

☆ Boeing delays Starliner's first astronaut launch by 3 months because of parachutes and paperwork
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Boeing has postponed the launch of its spaceship taxi, Starliner, until at least July. A NASA manager said the data from Starliner's parachute system needed reviewing. Fitting the date in among the busy launch schedule on the East coast was also a factor, he said. However, a review of Starliner's parachute system needed to be extended into May, he said. Stich said there were no issues or concerns with the parachutes and Starliner was in good shape.

☆ NASA delays Boeing Starliner's debut crewed voyage
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Starliner's debut crewed mission, which will carry commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams, to the International Space Station will be a crucial moment for Boeing's space unit. The delay comes as Boeing and NASA performed extra testing on several areas of the spacecraft. "Boeing has conducted more than a dozen Starliner battery thermal runaway tests, stressing the battery cells beyond their intended limit. Federal procurement data shows NASA has agreed to pay Boeing at least $24.8 million for the upgrade of that system. NASA and Boeing's aim to have the valves redesigned for future missions initiated a dispute with Boeing's propulsion system supplier.

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