19 posts tagged ‘Space’
New ship, new year: SpaceX to deploy model Starlink satellites on next Starship launch
TechCrunch,
SpaceX is significantly upping the ante of its Starship test flight program, with the next rocket launch expected to demonstrate payload deployment for the first time. The payload in question will be 10 Starlink “simulators” that will be similar in size and weight to the next-gen satellites SpaceX plans to use Starship to deploy in […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Huge metallic ring fell from sky and crashed into Kenyan village
Boing Boing,
The Kenya Space Agency (KSA) has confirmed that huge metallic ring fell from the sky on Tuesday, landing in the tiny Mukuku village. Around eight feet in diameter, the 1,000 pound ring was "red-hot" when it landed. The object's provenance is unknown. — Read the rest The post Huge metallic ring fell from sky and crashed into Kenyan village appeared first on Boing Boing.
Internal SpaceX documents show the sweet stock deals offered to investors like a16z, Gigafund
Like many highly valued startups, SpaceX sometimes allows its employees to cash out some of their shares by selling to company-authorized outside investors. TechCrunch has gotten a peek at an internal SpaceX document about such a tender offer from May 2022. Musk posted on X last month that SpaceX holds such sales for employees about […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Japan’s SLIM mission makes historic moon landing, but its time is running out
Japan’s long-planned Smart Lander for Investigating Moon has successfully touched down on the lunar surface, making the nation the fifth in history to do so. But all is not well for SLIM, which may have a limited lease on life due to trouble with its solar cells. In a press conference following the early-morning (local […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
X-59 ‘Quiet supersonic’ jet from NASA and Lockheed finally rolls out
NASA and Lockheed Martin have finally taken the wraps off of the X-59, a “quiet supersonic” aircraft that may shape the future of both military and civilian air travel. The X-59 has been under development at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works for years, following a $248 million grant from NASA in 2018. That was just the […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Goodbye mysterious military space plane, and good luck – wherever you’re going
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket launched a secretive military spaceplane to orbit last night after weeks of delays, though scant details about the mission have been released to the public. The Falcon Heavy lifted off on the clandestine mission at 8:07 PM Eastern from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The U.S. Space Force’s X-37B space plane, a […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
True Anomaly raises $100M to scale space security tech
True Anomaly has closed $100 million in new funding, a strong signal that the appetite for startups operating at the intersection of space and defense is far from abating. The new round was led by Riot Ventures, with participation from Eclipse, ACME Capital, Menlo Ventures, Narya, 645 Ventures, Rocketship.vc, Champion Hill Ventures and FiveNine Ventures. […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Bezos’ Blue Origin aiming to make long-awaited return to launch next week
Blue Origin is aiming to finally conclude a more than 15-month pause in operations of its New Shepard suborbital rocket, with the company announcing today that it will fly an uncrewed mission as early as December 18. The company confirmed the launch on its social media account following a Bloomberg report of an internal email […] © 2023 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.