In-space transportation startup Impulse Space has raised $300 million in a Series C funding round to expand vehicle production and develop electric propulsion technologies, the company said on Monday. The round was led by new investor Linse Capital, with additional participation from DFJ Growth and existing backers. The fundraising, described by the company as a “preemptive raise,” comes less than a year after Impulse secured $150 million in Series B funding to support its first Helios mission, planned for 2026. “It was not our plan to go out and raise anything this half of the year,” said Eric Romo, president…
Author: Samuel White
Chinese private launch firm Landspace successfully placed six satellites into orbit on May 17, marking the fifth flight of its methane-fueled Zhuque-2 rocket and continuing a sharp uptick in China’s orbital activity this year. The Zhuque-2E lifted off at 12:12 a.m. Eastern (0412 UTC) from a dedicated commercial pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. The rocket carried six Tianyi satellites for commercial manufacturer Spacety, designed for a range of remote sensing and scientific purposes, including synthetic aperture radar (SAR), optical imagery, and space environment research. Among the payloads were Tianyi-42 for C-band SAR imaging, Tianyi-29 and…
Boeing reported a loss of $523 million in 2024 for its CST-100 Starliner program, bringing the total charges for the commercial crew vehicle to over $2 billion. The company disclosed the losses in its 10-K annual filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on February 3, attributing the financial setbacks to “schedule delays, higher testing and certification costs, as well as higher costs for post-certification missions.” This recent charge marks the largest single-year loss Boeing has recorded for Starliner, surpassing the $489 million loss the company reported in 2019. The 2024 charge includes a $125 million loss in the…
Firefly Aerospace achieved a successful mission by deploying eight cubesats into orbit aboard its Alpha rocket, marking the rocket’s return to flight since encountering an upper stage malfunction over six months ago. The Alpha rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 12:04 a.m. Eastern on July 4, following a brief delay due to ground equipment issues earlier in the week. The rocket began deploying its payload of eight cubesats approximately 35 minutes after the shutdown of its upper stage, with the deployment process expected to last about 11 minutes, according to Firefly’s provided timeline. “After expected…
MinoSpace, also known as Beijing Weina Star Technology Co., Ltd., announced on June 24 that it has secured more than $137 million in funding, positioning itself as a prominent player in China’s commercial space sector. The funding round was led by Wuxi Economic Development Zone Shangxian Industry Investment Fund, managed by SIP Oriza PE Fund Management, with support from Liangxi Science and Technology Innovation Industry Fund and existing shareholder Qingdao Huizhu Anfulan. Gao Enyu, founder and chairman of MinoSpace, highlighted the strategic importance of the funding, stating, “The funding will ensure the successful implementation of major national and commercial missions…
Europe must enhance its capital allocation strategies for the space industry to capitalize on burgeoning early-stage investments, cautioned Bogdan Gogulan, CEO of Luxembourg-based private equity firm NewSpace Capital. Recent findings from the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) reveal that Europe averaged 96 investment deals annually for space companies over the past three years, trailing slightly behind the United States at 114 deals. However, the disparity in investment volume is stark, with the U.S. averaging 6.3 billion euros ($6.8 billion) compared to Europe’s 1.4 billion euros, largely driven by larger growth-stage funding rounds. Gogulan highlighted concerns about Europe’s fragmented market structure,…
Planet Labs, renowned for its daily Earth imagery via small satellites, is intensifying its focus on leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to transform vast image data into actionable intelligence, despite cautioning against overhyping AI’s capabilities. Troy Toman, Senior Vice President of Product and Software Engineering at Planet, emphasized the company’s evolution in understanding customer needs beyond mere imagery during an event near Washington, D.C., on June 12 aimed at U.S. government clients. “While capturing the entire planet every 24 hours is undeniably cool, customers don’t just want pictures—they crave actionable intelligence,” Toman stated, reflecting on Planet’s strategic shift over the years.…