Month: May 2025
May 2, 2025 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- Vast touts the gyroscopes it is building in-house to control the orientation of its Haven-1 space station
Thse gyros will only have to function for less than a year, as Haven-1 is not intended for long term use.
- Blue Origin touts its LISTER drill that flew on Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander
Released today, it says nothing about the mission itself, which occurred three months ago. Apparently Blue Origin can’t even get its PR published on time.
- Engineers continue their attempts to regain communications with Lunar Trailblazer orbiter
All contact was lost shortly after launch. They figure they have about a month left before the mission will be considered a total loss.
- On this day in 1925 Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter was born
He flew on the last Mercury mission, becoming the second American to orbit the Earth.
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- Vast touts the gyroscopes it is building in-house to control the orientation of its Haven-1 space station
Thse gyros will only have to function for less than a year, as Haven-1 is not intended for long term use.
- Blue Origin touts its LISTER drill that flew on Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander
Released today, it says nothing about the mission itself, which occurred three months ago. Apparently Blue Origin can’t even get its PR published on time.
- Engineers continue their attempts to regain communications with Lunar Trailblazer orbiter
All contact was lost shortly after launch. They figure they have about a month left before the mission will be considered a total loss.
- On this day in 1925 Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter was born
He flew on the last Mercury mission, becoming the second American to orbit the Earth.
Trump bypasses Boeing to get an newly refurbished 747 Air Force One
Apparently disgusted with Boeing’s inability to get two Boeing 747s refurbished on budget and before he leaves office in 2028, the Trump administration has now enlisted another aerospace company, L3Harris, to refurbish a 747 formerly used by the Qatar government.
The president hopes to use the refurbished plane by the fall, sources told the outlet, and is regularly checking on its progress . This aircraft will be an interim solution until the Boeing jets are delivered.
The current presidential jets — which have been in service since the George H.W. Bush administration — are nearing their end of life.
Boeing’s conduct here has been truly disgraceful. It got the $3.9 billion fixed-price contract to refurbish two of its own 747s in 2018. Yet, despite having two working 747s — a plane it designed and built — it can’t refurbish them in less than a decade, while going over budget by about $2.4 billion, money it has to lay out because of the fixed-price nature of the contract.
Hat tip to reader James Street.
Apparently disgusted with Boeing’s inability to get two Boeing 747s refurbished on budget and before he leaves office in 2028, the Trump administration has now enlisted another aerospace company, L3Harris, to refurbish a 747 formerly used by the Qatar government.
The president hopes to use the refurbished plane by the fall, sources told the outlet, and is regularly checking on its progress . This aircraft will be an interim solution until the Boeing jets are delivered.
The current presidential jets — which have been in service since the George H.W. Bush administration — are nearing their end of life.
Boeing’s conduct here has been truly disgraceful. It got the $3.9 billion fixed-price contract to refurbish two of its own 747s in 2018. Yet, despite having two working 747s — a plane it designed and built — it can’t refurbish them in less than a decade, while going over budget by about $2.4 billion, money it has to lay out because of the fixed-price nature of the contract.
Hat tip to reader James Street.
FAA okays increase in SpaceX launches from Vandenberg from 36 to 50 per year
The FAA today approved an environmental reassessment at Vandenberg Space Force Base that permits SpaceX to increase its annual launches there from 36 to 50.
The reassessment determined (not surprisingly) that there was “no significant impact” on the environment caused by the increased number of launches.
We already have more than seven decades of empirical data at spaceports in both Florida and California that rocket launches do no harm to the environment, and in fact act to significantly protect wildlife and natural resources because they require the creation of large regions where no development can take place.
The real question should be this: Why is the federal government wasting taxpayer money on these reports? They are utterly unnecessary, and only serve to hinder the freedom of Americans while spending their taxes on make work that accomplishes nothing.
The FAA today approved an environmental reassessment at Vandenberg Space Force Base that permits SpaceX to increase its annual launches there from 36 to 50.
The reassessment determined (not surprisingly) that there was “no significant impact” on the environment caused by the increased number of launches.
We already have more than seven decades of empirical data at spaceports in both Florida and California that rocket launches do no harm to the environment, and in fact act to significantly protect wildlife and natural resources because they require the creation of large regions where no development can take place.
The real question should be this: Why is the federal government wasting taxpayer money on these reports? They are utterly unnecessary, and only serve to hinder the freedom of Americans while spending their taxes on make work that accomplishes nothing.
Trump administration releases its proposed NASA budget for 2026
The Trump administration today released [pdf] its proposed federal budget for the 2026 fiscal year, calling for an overall reduction in federal spending by about 7.6%, with NASA getting a budget cut of about 24%.
A summary of the budget can be found in this NASA press release. The main bullet points are these:
- SLS and Orion will be retired after flying the two more missions. Whether those flights will be manned or not however is left vague.
- Lunar Gateway will be shut down
- The Mars Sample Return mission will be cancelled.
- The overall manned budget for interplanetary development is increased, and now includes a line item of $1 billion for “Mars-focused programs”.
- Flights to ISS are reduced (cutting a half billion from this budget) to facilitate the “transition to a more cost-effective commercial approach to human activities in space as the space station approaches the end of its life cycle.”
- Eliminates “low-priority climate monitoring satellites”, shifting the focus to getting such data from commercial sources.
- Major budget cuts are proposed for many other departments, and also include a major restructuring of NASA’s entire operation to “streamline the workforce, IT services, NASA Center operations, facility maintenance, and construction and environmental compliance activities.”
Below is a screen capture from the budget proposal detailing these cuts.
» Read more
Space Force awards twelve companies satellite development contracts worth $237 million
Capitalism in space: The Space Force yesterday announced that it has awarded twelve different aerospace companies contracts worth a total of $237 million for developing a variety of smallsat technologies to be used in future military satellite constellations.
The list of selected companies, announced May 1, includes defense and aerospace firms Lockheed Martin Corp. and General Atomics, as well as specialized space firms such as Blue Canyon Technologies, Loft Orbital Federal, Spire Global, Terran Orbital, and York Space Systems. Also named were Axient, Lynk Global, Orbit Systems, Turion Space, and the Utah State University-affiliated Space Dynamics Lab.
…Under the contract, vendors will build and integrate small satellite buses capable of carrying a variety of military experiments and sensors. These buses, often the size of a microwave or small refrigerator, serve as standardized platforms that can be customized to carry diverse payloads.
These contracts are part of the Trump administrations push to get the military to rely on the private sector for its needs. Though the private sector would general build things in the past for the Pentagon, often the design, construction, and even ownership was held entirely by the government. The companies didn’t have anything they could sell elsewhere. Now the design work is being left entirely to the companies, so that what they develop they will own, and will have the ability to market it to others.
Capitalism in space: The Space Force yesterday announced that it has awarded twelve different aerospace companies contracts worth a total of $237 million for developing a variety of smallsat technologies to be used in future military satellite constellations.
The list of selected companies, announced May 1, includes defense and aerospace firms Lockheed Martin Corp. and General Atomics, as well as specialized space firms such as Blue Canyon Technologies, Loft Orbital Federal, Spire Global, Terran Orbital, and York Space Systems. Also named were Axient, Lynk Global, Orbit Systems, Turion Space, and the Utah State University-affiliated Space Dynamics Lab.
…Under the contract, vendors will build and integrate small satellite buses capable of carrying a variety of military experiments and sensors. These buses, often the size of a microwave or small refrigerator, serve as standardized platforms that can be customized to carry diverse payloads.
These contracts are part of the Trump administrations push to get the military to rely on the private sector for its needs. Though the private sector would general build things in the past for the Pentagon, often the design, construction, and even ownership was held entirely by the government. The companies didn’t have anything they could sell elsewhere. Now the design work is being left entirely to the companies, so that what they develop they will own, and will have the ability to market it to others.
Ursa Major wins contract for hypersonic test flight of its Draper rocket engine
The rocket engine startup Ursa Major has now won a $28.5 million contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory to do a hypersonic test flight using its Draper rocket engine.
The contract, announced May 1, covers both the flight demonstration and integration of the engine into a test vehicle, with work scheduled through early 2027. The project aims to advance U.S. capabilities in hypersonic weapons, a category of defense systems that has become a top Pentagon priority amid competition with China and Russia.
The Draper engine is designed to produce 4,000 pounds of thrust and was developed by Ursa Major with U.S. Air Force funding. Its key differentiator is its use of storable, non-cryogenic propellants — specifically a kerosene and hydrogen peroxide combination — that remain liquid at ambient temperatures. This contrasts with traditional rocket engines that rely on liquid oxygen, which must be kept at ultra-low temperatures and handled with complex cooling infrastructure.
It certainly does appear that the Pentagon is ramping up its hypersonic research with a slew of contracts to many different new commercial space startups. In addition to this deal, Rocket Lab, Varda, and Stratolaunch have won contracts for similar hypersonic testing, with Rocket Lab winning the most. No wonder a new company like Radian (see previous post) is switching its focus toward this research.
The rocket engine startup Ursa Major has now won a $28.5 million contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory to do a hypersonic test flight using its Draper rocket engine.
The contract, announced May 1, covers both the flight demonstration and integration of the engine into a test vehicle, with work scheduled through early 2027. The project aims to advance U.S. capabilities in hypersonic weapons, a category of defense systems that has become a top Pentagon priority amid competition with China and Russia.
The Draper engine is designed to produce 4,000 pounds of thrust and was developed by Ursa Major with U.S. Air Force funding. Its key differentiator is its use of storable, non-cryogenic propellants — specifically a kerosene and hydrogen peroxide combination — that remain liquid at ambient temperatures. This contrasts with traditional rocket engines that rely on liquid oxygen, which must be kept at ultra-low temperatures and handled with complex cooling infrastructure.
It certainly does appear that the Pentagon is ramping up its hypersonic research with a slew of contracts to many different new commercial space startups. In addition to this deal, Rocket Lab, Varda, and Stratolaunch have won contracts for similar hypersonic testing, with Rocket Lab winning the most. No wonder a new company like Radian (see previous post) is switching its focus toward this research.
Rocket startup Radian now also building commercial reentry capsule
The rocket startup Radian Aerospace, which is attempting to build an orbital spaceplane that takes off and lands from a runway, has announced that it is also building a commercial reentry capsule that can be used for hypersonic testing.
The Seattle based company announced April 29 its intent to develop the Radian Reusable Reentry Vehicle (R3V), a spacecraft for hypersonics testing or returning payloads from space that also gives Radian flight experience in key technologies for its future Radian One spaceplane.
Livingston Holder, chief technology officer of Radian, said in an interview that the company was looking was ways to test Dur-E-Therm, the thermal protection system it is creating for Radian One. The company had recently completed tests of the system in a lab at NASA’s Glenn Research Center. “But, testing in a non-flight environment only gets you so far, so we were crafting how to test it in a more relevant environment.”
It appears the company has recognized that its spaceplane will take years to develop, and more years before it can bring in any revenue. An orbital capsule however can be developed much more quickly, and it also appears there are a lot of commercial and military customers for it.
The rocket startup Radian Aerospace, which is attempting to build an orbital spaceplane that takes off and lands from a runway, has announced that it is also building a commercial reentry capsule that can be used for hypersonic testing.
The Seattle based company announced April 29 its intent to develop the Radian Reusable Reentry Vehicle (R3V), a spacecraft for hypersonics testing or returning payloads from space that also gives Radian flight experience in key technologies for its future Radian One spaceplane.
Livingston Holder, chief technology officer of Radian, said in an interview that the company was looking was ways to test Dur-E-Therm, the thermal protection system it is creating for Radian One. The company had recently completed tests of the system in a lab at NASA’s Glenn Research Center. “But, testing in a non-flight environment only gets you so far, so we were crafting how to test it in a more relevant environment.”
It appears the company has recognized that its spaceplane will take years to develop, and more years before it can bring in any revenue. An orbital capsule however can be developed much more quickly, and it also appears there are a lot of commercial and military customers for it.
SpaceX launches 28 more Starlink satellites
SpaceX tonight successfully launched another 28 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The first stage completed its 18th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
51 SpaceX
23 China
5 Rocket Lab
5 Russia
SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 51 to 40.
SpaceX tonight successfully launched another 28 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The first stage completed its 18th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.
The leaders in the 2025 launch race:
51 SpaceX
23 China
5 Rocket Lab
5 Russia
SpaceX now leads the rest of the world in successful launches, 51 to 40.
Scorpions – Still Loving You
May 1, 2025 Quick space links
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- Claiming budget uncertainty, NASA delays by a year deadline for relatively small astrophysics mission proposals
There are budget uncertainties, but I have no doubt this decision is mostly aimed at ginning up opposition to any cuts at NASA at all. It’s an old NASA tactic: Threaten cuts in a broad indiscriminate manner to get Congress and the President to retreat from any cuts. Today’s specific decision tells me we really need a new hard-nosed administrator at NASA who won’t let lower management play these games. Whether Isaacman is that man however remains unknown.
- Rocket startup Stoke Space touts static fire tests of two of its engines, both running above 100%
The company had hoped to do its first launch this year, but that will likely slip to 2026, mostly because of environmental red tape at its launch site in Florida.
- India’s space agency touts its astronaut flying on the fourth Axiom tourist mission to ISS
Launch is now scheduled for May 29, 2025.
Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.
- Claiming budget uncertainty, NASA delays by a year deadline for relatively small astrophysics mission proposals
There are budget uncertainties, but I have no doubt this decision is mostly aimed at ginning up opposition to any cuts at NASA at all. It’s an old NASA tactic: Threaten cuts in a broad indiscriminate manner to get Congress and the President to retreat from any cuts. Today’s specific decision tells me we really need a new hard-nosed administrator at NASA who won’t let lower management play these games. Whether Isaacman is that man however remains unknown.
- Rocket startup Stoke Space touts static fire tests of two of its engines, both running above 100%
The company had hoped to do its first launch this year, but that will likely slip to 2026, mostly because of environmental red tape at its launch site in Florida.
- India’s space agency touts its astronaut flying on the fourth Axiom tourist mission to ISS
Launch is now scheduled for May 29, 2025.
Giant galactic magnetic filament disturbed by pulsar
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The false-color X-ray picture to the right, reduced and sharpened to post here, was released today by the science team for the Chandra X-ray Observatory, showing some interesting astronomical features about 26,000 light years away near the galactic center.
The press release attempts to catch the ignorant press’s interest by referring to the long white filament that crosses this image as “a bone”, implying that this is similar to a medical X-ray of a person’s bones. Hogwash. What we are looking at is a filament of energized particles forced into this long thin shape by the magnetic field lines that exist in the central regions of the Milky Way galaxy.
What makes this X-ray data of interest is shown in the inset. The pulsar appears to have disturbed that filament, pulling those energetic particles away to form a trailing cloud.
In the first composite image, the largely straight filament stretches from the top to the bottom of the vertical frame. At each end of the grey filament is a hazy grey cloud. The only color in the image is neon blue, found in a few specks which dot the blackness surrounding the structure. The blue represents X-rays seen by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.
In the annotated close-up, one such speck appears to be interacting with the structure itself. This is a fast-moving, rapidly spinning neutron star, otherwise known as a pulsar. Astronomers believe that this pulsar has struck the filament halfway down its length, distorting the magnetic field and radio signal.
As big and empty as space is, there is still enough stuff within it to cause these kinds of interactions. It just requires the luxury of endless eons, something that we as short-lived humans have trouble conceiving.
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The false-color X-ray picture to the right, reduced and sharpened to post here, was released today by the science team for the Chandra X-ray Observatory, showing some interesting astronomical features about 26,000 light years away near the galactic center.
The press release attempts to catch the ignorant press’s interest by referring to the long white filament that crosses this image as “a bone”, implying that this is similar to a medical X-ray of a person’s bones. Hogwash. What we are looking at is a filament of energized particles forced into this long thin shape by the magnetic field lines that exist in the central regions of the Milky Way galaxy.
What makes this X-ray data of interest is shown in the inset. The pulsar appears to have disturbed that filament, pulling those energetic particles away to form a trailing cloud.
In the first composite image, the largely straight filament stretches from the top to the bottom of the vertical frame. At each end of the grey filament is a hazy grey cloud. The only color in the image is neon blue, found in a few specks which dot the blackness surrounding the structure. The blue represents X-rays seen by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.
In the annotated close-up, one such speck appears to be interacting with the structure itself. This is a fast-moving, rapidly spinning neutron star, otherwise known as a pulsar. Astronomers believe that this pulsar has struck the filament halfway down its length, distorting the magnetic field and radio signal.
As big and empty as space is, there is still enough stuff within it to cause these kinds of interactions. It just requires the luxury of endless eons, something that we as short-lived humans have trouble conceiving.
A Martian river of ice
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on January 26, 2025 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The science team labeled it “Looking for Gullies” because the researchers were likely searching for such geological features on the cliff wall that runs down the right side of the picture.
What is more significant however about this picture is the glacier features in the canyon below that cliff. The downhill grade is to the southwest, and it is very evident that the canyon is filled with glacial-type debris, flowing down that grade. Along the base of the cliff the flow seems focused but squeezed, the larger blocks to the west moving slower and thus acting like a wall themselves. In between the flow moves like rapids in a narrow part of a river, albeit in slow motion.
» Read more
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on January 26, 2025 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The science team labeled it “Looking for Gullies” because the researchers were likely searching for such geological features on the cliff wall that runs down the right side of the picture.
What is more significant however about this picture is the glacier features in the canyon below that cliff. The downhill grade is to the southwest, and it is very evident that the canyon is filled with glacial-type debris, flowing down that grade. Along the base of the cliff the flow seems focused but squeezed, the larger blocks to the west moving slower and thus acting like a wall themselves. In between the flow moves like rapids in a narrow part of a river, albeit in slow motion.
» Read more
Astronomers discover a cluster of a thousand very young stars that is flying apart for unknown reasons
Astronomers using data from Gaia, which measured the precise distance and position of more than two billion stars, have discovered a very young cluster of a thousand stars that is flying apart for unknown reasons.
The cluster is about 650 light-years away in Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer, and has been nicknamed “Ophion” in honor of its resident constellation. “Ophion is filled with stars that are set to rush out across the galaxy in a totally haphazard, uncoordinated way, which is far from what we’d expect for a family so big,” said Huson in a statement. “What’s more, this will happen in a fraction of the time it’d usually take for such a large family to scatter. It’s like no other star family we’ve seen before.”
You can read the peer-reviewed paper here [pdf]. The scientists proposed several theories that might explain what disrupted this cluster so early in its history, but none are very convincing, with the data available.
Astronomers using data from Gaia, which measured the precise distance and position of more than two billion stars, have discovered a very young cluster of a thousand stars that is flying apart for unknown reasons.
The cluster is about 650 light-years away in Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer, and has been nicknamed “Ophion” in honor of its resident constellation. “Ophion is filled with stars that are set to rush out across the galaxy in a totally haphazard, uncoordinated way, which is far from what we’d expect for a family so big,” said Huson in a statement. “What’s more, this will happen in a fraction of the time it’d usually take for such a large family to scatter. It’s like no other star family we’ve seen before.”
You can read the peer-reviewed paper here [pdf]. The scientists proposed several theories that might explain what disrupted this cluster so early in its history, but none are very convincing, with the data available.
Scandal at Great Britain’s first spaceport at Cornwall airport
A local council in Cornwall has withdrawn £200K of funding from spaceport operations at the local airport — the first spaceport established in Great Britain where Virgin Orbit launched its last flight — because one council member responsible for distributing the funds was also at the same time getting a job at the spaceport without telling anyone.
The decision has come after it was revealed that the council’s then cabinet member for the economy Cllr Louis Gardner – who oversaw SPF allocation as part of his portfolio – was actually in the process of getting a top job at the Spaceport when he was part of an Economic Prosperity Board meeting on February 27. He was among members who agreed to give the space hub the £200k levelling up money. He didn’t declare an interest during the meeting.
Days later it was announced he had got the £70,000 head of future air and space role, which sees him controlling a budget which would have included the £200,001 fund previously agreed by him and other Economic Prosperity Board members. On accepting the Spaceport role he stood down from his position as the local authority’s Conservative cabinet member for the economy and will retire as a Newquay councillor on Cornwall Council at the election tomorrow (Thursday, May 1).
It appears this kerfuffle is also linked to the continuing collapse of the conservative Tory Party in Great Britain. Gardner is a Tory, and it appears his actions convinced two other Tory councilors to publicly break from that party and join Nigel Farage’s Reform party.
Before the meeting even started there was no escaping what many are calling a “scandal” when Tory rebels Cllr Steve Arthur (Perranporth) and Cllr John Conway (Launceston South) arrived wearing NASA spacesuits, much to the amusement of many of their colleagues. The councillors, who resigned from the Conservative group to start an independent non-aligned group, said they had pulled the stunt to highlight the issue.
The decision to withdraw this money however makes sense from another perspective. The spaceport has no customers, as there are literally no rocket companies in existence at present able to launch from an airport runway. Cornwall’s only customer, Virgin Orbit, went bankrupt after its one launch there failed.
Nor should anyone expect any new rocket companies to appear eager to use Cornwall. The red tape that Virgin Orbit had to clear to launch took almost a year, and that delay was part of the reason the company went belly-up. It used up its cash reserves waiting for Great Britain’s bureaucrats to fill out forms.
A local council in Cornwall has withdrawn £200K of funding from spaceport operations at the local airport — the first spaceport established in Great Britain where Virgin Orbit launched its last flight — because one council member responsible for distributing the funds was also at the same time getting a job at the spaceport without telling anyone.
The decision has come after it was revealed that the council’s then cabinet member for the economy Cllr Louis Gardner – who oversaw SPF allocation as part of his portfolio – was actually in the process of getting a top job at the Spaceport when he was part of an Economic Prosperity Board meeting on February 27. He was among members who agreed to give the space hub the £200k levelling up money. He didn’t declare an interest during the meeting.
Days later it was announced he had got the £70,000 head of future air and space role, which sees him controlling a budget which would have included the £200,001 fund previously agreed by him and other Economic Prosperity Board members. On accepting the Spaceport role he stood down from his position as the local authority’s Conservative cabinet member for the economy and will retire as a Newquay councillor on Cornwall Council at the election tomorrow (Thursday, May 1).
It appears this kerfuffle is also linked to the continuing collapse of the conservative Tory Party in Great Britain. Gardner is a Tory, and it appears his actions convinced two other Tory councilors to publicly break from that party and join Nigel Farage’s Reform party.
Before the meeting even started there was no escaping what many are calling a “scandal” when Tory rebels Cllr Steve Arthur (Perranporth) and Cllr John Conway (Launceston South) arrived wearing NASA spacesuits, much to the amusement of many of their colleagues. The councillors, who resigned from the Conservative group to start an independent non-aligned group, said they had pulled the stunt to highlight the issue.
The decision to withdraw this money however makes sense from another perspective. The spaceport has no customers, as there are literally no rocket companies in existence at present able to launch from an airport runway. Cornwall’s only customer, Virgin Orbit, went bankrupt after its one launch there failed.
Nor should anyone expect any new rocket companies to appear eager to use Cornwall. The red tape that Virgin Orbit had to clear to launch took almost a year, and that delay was part of the reason the company went belly-up. It used up its cash reserves waiting for Great Britain’s bureaucrats to fill out forms.
Startup that builds maneuverable surveillance satellites raises $260 million in private investment capital
The startup True Anomaly has raised $260 million in private investment capital in order to fully develop its Jackal maneuverable satellite, designed to travel and inspect other orbiting satellites for the military.
The Colorado-based company announced April 30 that it closed a Series C round that combines equity and debt financing. Venture firm Accel led the round, with participation from Meritech Capital and several existing backers including Eclipse, Riot Ventures, Menlo Ventures, and Narya. Stifel Bank is providing the debt portion of the raise.
Only founded in 2022, True Anomaly has already flown two test missions of Jackel. With these new funds, it plans four more flights in the next year and a half.
There are already a number of other companies building maneuverable satellites. Most however are focused on providing tug services for commercial satellites or for finding and removing space junk. True Anomaly is instead targeting the military as its customer, which appears a smart move because no one else has, up to now.
The startup True Anomaly has raised $260 million in private investment capital in order to fully develop its Jackal maneuverable satellite, designed to travel and inspect other orbiting satellites for the military.
The Colorado-based company announced April 30 that it closed a Series C round that combines equity and debt financing. Venture firm Accel led the round, with participation from Meritech Capital and several existing backers including Eclipse, Riot Ventures, Menlo Ventures, and Narya. Stifel Bank is providing the debt portion of the raise.
Only founded in 2022, True Anomaly has already flown two test missions of Jackel. With these new funds, it plans four more flights in the next year and a half.
There are already a number of other companies building maneuverable satellites. Most however are focused on providing tug services for commercial satellites or for finding and removing space junk. True Anomaly is instead targeting the military as its customer, which appears a smart move because no one else has, up to now.
April 29, 2025 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast
Embedded below the fold in two parts.
To listen to all of John Batchelor’s podcasts, go here.
» Read more
Embedded below the fold in two parts.
To listen to all of John Batchelor’s podcasts, go here.
» Read more