Category Archives: NewSpace

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 13-16 Nov 2020

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ispace Japan Expands USA Presence, Aims For CLPS Awards With Draper-led Team

Moon Exploration Company ispace, Fueled By US$125M+ Funding, Opens Location In Denver CO; 1st Generation Lander Hakuto-R Set For 2022 / 2023 Missions Has ~30-kg Payload Capacity, Design Of New Heavier Class Lander Meeting CLPS / Artemis Requirements To Be Overseen By USA Lander Program Director Kursten O’Neill (L) And CEO Kyle Acierno (R), Production To Be Contracted To General Atomics; ispace Has Grand Vision Of “One Earth-Moon Ecosystem” Actualized Through Mission Sequence In Which “Swarms Of Rovers” Facilitate Human Activity On Lunar Surface

Credits: ispace

Friday / 23 Oct 2020

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Astrobotic Opens State Of The Art HQ Ahead Of 2021 Moon Landing

Astrobotic, A Private NewSpace Enterprise With Carnegie Mellon Origins, Has New Home Located In Historic Manchester Neighborhood Of Pittsburgh; Renovation Of 4,366-m2 Former Post Office Reportedly 1/3 Complete, Containing Space For Fabrication, Laboratories, Administration; Further Construction To Include Drone / Rover Testing Areas; US$79.5M Peregrine Mission Launching July 2021 To Lacus Mortis Area (44.96°N, 25.62°E) Of Moon Will Be Controlled From 1016 North Lincoln Ave, As Will 2 Moon South Pole Missions: $5.6M MoonRanger Rover (Carried By XL-1 Masten Lander Dec 2022) And $199.5M Griffin (To Deliver VIPER 2023)

Credits: Astrobotic, CMU

Tuesday / 13 Oct 2020

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Public-Private Lunar Technology Development Focus Of LSIC Virtual Fall Meeting

Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative, In Collaboration With Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory And Arizona State University Interplanetary Initiative, Hosts Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium 14 -15 Oct Online; NASA Administrator Bridenstine (L) To Give Keynote Address Wednesday At 11:45 EDT In Which Artemis 2024 Updates And Next Batch Of ‘Tipping Point’ Industry Partners For Development Of Sustainable Lunar Exploration Technology Are To Be Announced; Award Topics Include Cryogenic Fluid Management, Lunar Surface Power / Distribution And Propulsion; Private Partners Expected To Contribute ≥ 25% Of Program Costs

Also Pictured: LSII Lead Niki Werkheiser, STMD Administrator Jim Reuter; Credits: NASA, ASU, JHU, LSII

Friday / 26 June 2020

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India To Strengthen Its NewSpace Industry Through IN-SPACe Dept, May Accelerate Cislunar Startups

 Indian Space Promotion & Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe),To Be Established Within 3-6 Months And Regulate / Support Local Industry Partners To Provide Services For ISRO, A Regime Proven By USA / NASA Most Recently Through Commercial Crew, CLPS And Artemis Program; India Estimated To Work With ~150 Private Companies Currently, NASA >375; With Human Spaceflight And Chandryaan-3 Plans On Horizon, Groups Including Team Indus & Earth2Orbit Could Reap Benefits And Advance India Lunar, Deep Space Programs Via Low-Cost, Sustainable Methods

Pictured: ISRO Chairman K Sivan, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Atomic Energy and Space Jitendra Singh

Credits: ISRO, Team Indus, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Press Information Bureau, USA DoD

Friday / 17 April 2020

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Cislunar Navigation And Reconnaissance Technologies Advanced By USAF Contract Awards

Xplore Of Seattle WA Granted US$50k Via AFWERX To Draft Situational Positioning Technology Concepts Similar To Terrestrial GPS, In Press Release Founder Lisa Rich Says Xplore Will “Rapidly Advance Space Domain Awareness Now That Cislunar Space Operations Is A Focal Point”; Rhea Space Activity Of Washington DC And Saber Astronautics Of Sydney, AUS / Boulder CO Also To Receive $50k For Earth-Based Data Gathering Interface “Space Cockpit” With Remote Controls; Establishment Of Cislunar Infrastructure To Benefit National / Civilian Space Agencies And Commercial / Independent Enterprise

Credits: Xplore, Rhea, Advanced Space, CAPS, KUNC, NASA

Friday / 31 January 2020

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Nanoracks And Xplore Announce Plan To ‘Commercialize Deep Space’ Starting With Lunar Orbit In 2021

Provider Of ISS Research, Cubesat Launch And Microgravity Services Since 2009, Nanoracks Of Houston To Partner With Xplore, A Seattle-Based Enterprise Founded By Lisa Rich of Hemisphere Ventures, Developer Of A Spacecraft Suitable For Conveyance To Moon; ‘Xcraft’ Is To Offer Payload Capacity Of 30 – 70 Kg Within 50U Volume, Parameters Which May Be Sufficient For Small Landers In Addition To Orbital Cubesat Instrumentation; Nanoracks Will Contribute Customer Services Including Payload Integration For Moon ‘Xpeditions’ Scheduled For Late 2021; Xplore Has Also Reached Agreements With Celestis Memorial Spaceflight And Arch Mission Foundation

Credits: NASA, Xplore, Nanoracks

Tuesday / 19 November 2019

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Peregrine Lander To Carry Lunar Rovers In 2021

Astrobotic, One Of Nine NASA Commercial Lunar Services Providers, Aims To Place Peregrine Lander On Moon In 2021; First USA Lunar Landing In 49 Years Will Be Launched On Upcoming United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur Booster; Astrobotic Receives US$2M Tipping Point Award To Develop Small CubeRover; UK-Based Spacebit, Founded By Pavlo Tanasyuk, Plans To Send 10-cm Tall 4-Legged Rover Capable Of Exploring Lunar Caves; NASA Announces Additional CLPS Providers Blue Origin, Ceres Robotics, Sierra Nevada Aerospace, SpaceX, And Tyvak In Monday Teleconference

Credits: Astrobotic, Spacebit, ULA

Tuesday / 24 Sep 2019

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Bigelow BA-330 Habitat Undergoing 2-Week Test By NASA Engineers And Astronauts

Inflatable Module Tested For Use In Lunar Orbit At Bigelow Headquarters In Las Vegas; BA-330 Is One Of Six Habitat Demonstration Projects Funded By NASA NextSTEP-2 Program Including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Sierra Nevada and Nanoracks; CEO Robert Bigelow, Who Has Made The Moon A Goal Since 1998, Exploring Bringing Private Citizens To ISS And Planning Lunar Orbit Space Station With United Launch Alliance; Inflatable Modules Could Be Used In Orbit, On The Lunar Surface Or On Mars

Credits: Bigelow Aerospace

Tuesday / 17 Sep 2019

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Masten Space Systems Testing Technology For Future Lunar Landers

Masten Space Systems Testing Lunar Surface Navigation System On Xodiac Rocket In Mojave, California; System Developed By Draper Aerospace Will Provide Real-Time Mapping Of Lunar Surface With Images Laid Over Satellite Maps; NASA Safe Precise Landing Integrated Capabilities Evolution (SPLICE) Project Seeks To Improve Upon The Primitive Apollo Landing Computers; Terrain Navigation Systems Will Aid Future Human Lunar Landings Starting In 2024; Founder Dave Masten Developing XL-1 Lander To Carry 100-kg Payload To Lunar Surface

Credits: Masten Space Systems

Friday / 2 Aug 2019

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New USA Commercial Lunar Lander Provider Contracts Could Be Awarded Before Oct 2019

As Announced By NASA Solicitation 80JSC019R0013, New Contracts For Lunar Landers Capable Of Delivering >10kg Payloads To Lunar Surface By 31 Dec 2023 Planned To Be Awarded To Begin 15 Oct 2019 And Possibly Extend Through 28 Nov 2028; RFP Responses Due By 29 Aug 2019; Urgency To Support Artemis Human Moon South Pole Landing By 2024, This Opportunity Will Add New Contractor(s) To Existing CLPS Contracts Which Are Now Held By Astrobotic ($79.5M) And Intuitive Machines ($77.2M), After Orbit Beyond Withdraws From Its $97M Contract

Credits: International Lunar Observatory Association, Astrobotic, Moon Express