Payload

Our focus is on the business and policy aspects of the space sector. We release Payload, a daily newsletter every weekday at 9am ET, along with the Pathfinder podcast. Additionally, we offer Parallax, a weekly newsletter dedicated to science in the space industry.

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Articles

Space Force Partners on Rocketry Challenge

4 days ago | payloadspace.com | Jacqueline Feldscher

Every year in May, students from around the country gather in a field in the exurbs of the nation’s capital to launch rockets from a field. This year, for the first time, they did so with the support of the Space Force. The competition: More than 100,000 middle and high school students have participated in the American Rocketry Challenge, an annual competition hosted by AIA. This year’s engineering challenge?
Rocket Lab Snags IR Sensor-Maker In $275M Deal

1 week ago | payloadspace.com | Tim Fernholz

Rocket Lab ($RKLB) announced its purchase of Geost, an AZ-based company that builds electro-optical and IR sensor payloads for satellites. Rocket Lab will pay private equity firm ATL Partners $275M for Geost, divided between $125M in cash and $150M in Rocket Lab stock. It may pay up to $50M more based on the business’ earnings.
Spire Emerges Anew After Nine Months Of Uncertainty

1 week ago | payloadspace.com | Tim Fernholz

Publicly traded EO company Spire ($SPIR) has gone through the wringer—but CEO Theresa Condor says the company has reached the point of a “new unveiling.”“That was a nine-month period of two very disruptive, externally driven things—that were not so much about pure business execution—that really were a major distraction,” Condor told Payload in an exclusive interview.
Starship’s Ninth Test Flight Ends in Vehicle Loss

1 week ago | payloadspace.com | Jack Kuhr

For the third flight in a row, SpaceX’s Starship upper stage exploded yesterday after losing control during its ninth test flight. The launch began on a high note, with SpaceX successfully flying Starship atop a previously used *and caught* booster—marking a key milestone for its fully reusable goals. But after that, the anomalies started racking up:Starship’s booster ended in ka-boom over water shortly after it initiated its landing burn during a steeper-than-usual angle of descent.
Apex Unveils Larger Satellite Bus, Dubbed Comet

1 week ago | payloadspace.com | Jacqueline Feldscher

Spacecraft manufacturing startup Apex announced today that it is beefing up its product line with Comet, its largest satellite bus to date. Bus stats: Comet has a flat design that allows it to stack flat for launch, allowing more sats to ride on each rocket.
UN Releases Space Debris Primer

1 week ago | payloadspace.com | Jacqueline Feldscher

Decades ago, the UN was already thinking about the risks and liability concerns raised by debris falling out of orbit. Now, as falling space debris becomes a more common occurrence, the UN’s Office for Outer Space Affairs is reminding nations that it has a process for dealing with it. Quick reads: This month, the UN released a four-page booklet, titled “When the Sky Falls,” that succinctly lays out what countries should do if debris falls in their territory.
EnduroSat Raises €43M to Scale Production, Boost US Presence

1 week ago | payloadspace.com | Jacqueline Feldscher

Bulgarian space startup EnduroSat has raised €43M ($48.8M) to ramp up production of a new, bigger ESPA-class sat. Founders Fund led the round, which also included participation from CEECAT Capital and Morphosis Capital. Past investors in EnduroSat, an end-to-end satellite services company founded in 2015, also joined the round. Bigger is better: The new funding will allow the startup to scale production of its Gen3 ESPA-class satellites.
Payload Talks NASA Budget With Rep. George Whitesides

2 weeks ago | payloadspace.com | Tim Fernholz

Amid the White House’s chaotic push to reorient space policy around the private sector, Rep. George Whitesides (D-CA) is at the center of the conversation. The former CEO of Virgin Galactic and NASA chief of staff is starting his first term in the House with prominent positions in civil and national security space policymaking. He is serving as vice-ranking member of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee and a member of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee.
Astrolight Raises €2.8M For Laser Comms Tech

2 weeks ago | payloadspace.com | Jacqueline Feldscher

Lithuanian space startup Astrolight closed a €2.8M ($3.2M) seed round to build a laser comms network to link Earth and orbit. Balnord led the round, which was announced on Thursday. It also included participation from the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark, Coinvest Capital, 3NGLS, and Rita Sakus.
PiLogic Raises $4M Seed Round For Faster Inference

2 weeks ago | payloadspace.com | Tim Fernholz

Pushing computer reasoning into space isn’t easy—AI needs powerful processors and lots of training data, and it still isn’t reliable enough for mission-critical operations. PiLogic, a California startup, is offering another answer: Novel computational techniques that allow reasoning software to be efficient and accurate enough for orbital deployment. The company’s first products will be software models for tracking space debris and diagnosing satellite malfunctions.