private spaceflight
Imagine building some of the most sophisticated hardware-driven technologies in the world — spacecraft, drones or autonomous vehicles. Then imagine being unable to easily share your data to different teams,…
U.K.-based launch company Skyrora hit a new milestone in the development of its Skyrora XL rocket with the completion of a static fire test of the second stage. The single…
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The Exploration Company is developing a brand new reusable orbital spacecraft
The European space scene is about five to 10 years behind America’s, Hélène Huby explained in a recent interview. She’s certainly qualified to make such an assessment: Huby spent much of her career at major European aerospace company Airbus, where one of her roles was VP of the European Service…
Hi folks, welcome back to Max Q. This week we have news on rockets both small (Astra’s Rocket 3.3) and very, very large (NASA’s Space Launch System). Plus further fallout…
Just like that, they came back. The Inspiration4 crew made a triumphant splashdown on Saturday evening off the east coast of Florida, marking the close of the first completely private,…
Astra’s last test launch went better than expected, nearly achieving orbit — kind of a stretch goal for that specific mission. The company at the time said that it would…
More details are beginning to emerge on Houston-based Axiom Space’s ambitious project to build and operate the world’s first commercial space station. Thales Alenia Space, a European aerospace manufacturer, will…
Masten Space Systems, a startup that’s aiming to send a lander to the moon in 2023, will develop a lunar navigation and positioning system not unlike GPS here on Earth.…
NASA said Friday it was seeking proposals from commercial companies for two new private crewed missions to the International Space Station. The first mission would likely take place between fall…
SpaceX is going to be providing more rides to the International Space Station for private astronauts, on top of the previously announced mission set to take place as early as…
Max Q is a weekly newsletter from TechCrunch all about space. Sign up here to receive it weekly on Mondays in your inbox. This week actually includes two, since I…
Blue Origin is taking a novel approach to selling the first available private spaceflight seat on its New Shepard rocket, with an auction that will award the spot to the…
Discovery’s new reality show ‘Who Wants to Be an Astronaut?’ will pick one winner to go to space
Discovery has ordered a new reality show, to air in 2022, which will be an eight-episode competition series where competitors will vie for a chance to take a trip to…
SpaceX’s inaugural moon-tour private astronaut is heading to the International Space Station first
SpaceX private spaceflight ambitions got a big boost in 2018 when Japanese entrepreneur and billionaire Yusaku Maezawa announced he’d be taking a trip aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon on a…
As private companies like Axiom Space, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic and SpaceX prepare to ferry private customers to the stars, a whole new market is opening up to train affluent…
Voyager Space Holdings has added X.O. Markets, the parent of commercial space service venture Nanoracks, to its growing catalogue of space companies. The agreement was first announced last December. This…
Axiom Space and NASA detail first fully private human launch to the Space Station, set for January 2022
Houston-based startup Axiom Space and NASA unveiled more details Monday about the forthcoming Axiom Mission 1 (AX-1), the first fully private human mission to the International Space Station. The Axiom…
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is offering up one seat on the inaugural flight of its suborbital rocket New Shepard, set to take place July 20 — but instead of a…
SpaceX has another successful human space launch to its credit, after a good takeoff and orbital delivery of its Crew Dragon spacecraft on Friday morning. The Dragon took off aboard…
Watch SpaceX launch its second crew of Space Station astronauts on a flight-proven Falcon 9 live
SpaceX is set to launch its second operational commercial crew mission to the International Space Station for NASA, with a liftoff time of 5:49 AM EDT (2:49 AM PDT) on…
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket to deliver an Astrobotic lander and NASA water-hunting rover to the moon in 2023
SpaceX is set to send a payload to the moon in 2023, using its larger (and infrequently used) Falcon Heavy launch vehicle. The mission will fly a lander built by…
Relativity Space already has a significant volume of launch contracts on the books — more pre-sales for its Terran 1 rocket than any other launch vehicle in history, in fact,…
The first commercial lunar landers are set to start making their trips to the moon as early as this year, and now another one has a confirmed ride booked: Intuitive…
Voyager Space Holdings continues to build up its portfolio of strategic space service offerings with the acquisition of a majority stake in X.O. Markets, the parent company of Nanoracks. Nanoracks…
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Despite economic downturn, space startup funding defies gravity
“We don’t shy away from taking risks,” said Spacefund’s Meagan Crawford.
‘Gas stations in space’ startup Orbit Fab extends seed round to $6M with strategic investor Munich Re Ventures
Orbit Fab CDO Jeremy Schiel shows off the company’s satellite coupling system on stage at TC Disrupt 2019. On-orbit servicing startup Orbit Fab, which bills itself as the company focused…
TC Sessions: Space is happening this December 16 and 17 — our first-ever dedicated space event. This is a live, virtual two-day conference featuring the most important people in the…
NASA and Boeing are looking to March 29, 2021 as the earliest possible date for their Orbital Flight Test 2 (OFT-2), a key qualifying demonstration mission in their ongoing Commercial…
Space manufacturing startup Varda, incubated at Founders Fund, emerges with $9 million in funding
From a young age, Will Bruey, the co-founder and chief executive of Varda Space Industries, was fascinated with space and running his own business. So when the former SpaceX engineer…
SpaceX is launching a new spacecraft during its 21st Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission for the International Space Station this morning. The launch is set to take off at 11:17…
