Finance

SatixFy Communications named David Ripstein, formerly of GreenRoad Technologies and Radcom to lead the company as CEO. Ripstein succeeds industry veteran Yoel Gat, former CEO and co-chairman, who died in April.  Ripstein has served as CEO of telematics company GreenRoad Technologies since 2017, where he directed the development of digital telematics products and a global...

Japanese space robot company GITAI is expanding to the United States with a U.S. subsidiary and new office in Los Angeles. The company announced the new headquarters in Torrance, California, on Wednesday. It will be used for engineering, manufacturing, and business development of work robots in the United States space industry. GITAI, founded in Tokyo,...

Impulse Space, an in-space transportation services startup launched in 2021 by SpaceX founding member Tom Mueller, has secured $10 million in funding from Lux Capital. This brings Impulse Space’s recent funding total to $30 million after it raised $20 million in a seed funding round led by Founders Fund. “With funding from Lux Capital, Impulse...

BlackSky Technology has named its new CFO. The geospatial intelligence company announced June 16 that it promoted Chief Development Officer Henry Dubois, a veteran of the satellite imagery industry, to the position of CFO, effective June 10. Dubois joined BlackSky in August 2021 to lead the company’s growth and corporate development initiatives after having served...

Anokiwave has appointed Ryan Jennings as its new vice president of satcom and systems, the company announced June 16. Anokiwave is a fabless semiconductor company providing highly integrated millimeter-wave silicon ICs to enable large scale commercialization of phased array active antennas for 5G, satellite communications, and aerospace and defense markets. Jennings will be responsible for...

Elon Musk last week told SpaceX employees the company isn’t likely to take its Starlink satellite internet business public until 2025 or later, CNBC has learned, extending the estimated timeline for an initial public offering yet again. “I’m not sure exactly when that [IPO] is, but maybe it will be like — I don’t know,...

Sony Group Corporation announced Friday that it is launching a new company focused on optical communications in space. The new venture, Sony Space Communications Corporation (SSC), is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America.  The new company comes out of research that Sony Group has conducted on optical communications systems at Sony Computer Science Laboratories...

Inmarsat recently released a financial update showing encouraging signs aviation, maritime, and government market. Inmarsat is not publicly traded and normally does not release financial results, but this release comes as the company is in the midst of a deal to be acquired by Viasat. Aviation in particular was strong, showing nearly 50% growth in...

NASA is awarding nearly $50 million total in awards to small businesses and research institutions to support space technology, the agency announced May 26. The funds are part of Phase I of the agency’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program.  The investments are spread out over 39 states and...

Satellite IoT network operator Astrocast announced a deal to acquire Hiber on Monday. Hiber, based in the Netherlands, provides IoT services using satellite connectivity. Astrocast cited a number of reasons for the deal, including expanding its distribution strategy by establishing a direct-to-end user sales channel. It also accelerates Astrocast’s original equipment manufacturer (OEM) strategy by...