Focus: In-Space Services

NASA has awarded Redwire $5.9 million to complete the design of FabLab, an in-space manufacturing system. FabLab is designed to be tested onboard the International Space Station (ISS) and advance in-space manufacturing ahead of Artemis missions to the Moon and Mars.  FabLab is a multi-material 3D printer that will allow future NASA crews in deep...

Arkisys has won a new contract from the U.S. Space Force, the company announced March. 20. It has won a Direct-to-Phase II SBIR contract by SpaceWERX, the innovation arm of the U.S. Space Force. SpaceWERX is a component of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). Led by Arkisys, this newly funded project will demonstrate building...

A research organization in the Netherlands reached a deal to deploy its laser communications technology on a future Sidus Space satellite for a tech demonstration mission.  The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, known as TNO, will deliver its HemiCAT miniature laser communications terminal to Sidus Space to integrate, deploy, and operate on a LizzieSat...

Impulse Space, an in-space transportation company founded by SpaceX founding member Tom Mueller, recently announced its first orbital mission, LEO Express-1, is booked for a slot on SpaceX’s Transporter-9 rideshare mission set for the fourth quarter of this year.  LEO Express-1 will test the company’s orbital service vehicle, named Mira. The vehicle will uses high-thrust...

Spaceflight has signed a deal with Canada’s Maritime Launch Services to launch up to five of its Sherpa orbital transfer vehicles (OTVs) from missions from its Nova Scotia spaceport beginning in 2025.  Maritime Launch is developing a Spaceport Nova Scotia, a spaceport near Canso in Nova Scotia. The company will operate the launch Cyclone-4M medium-class...

Astroscale’s upcoming ELSA-M debris capture mission will use Addvalue and Inmarsat’s data relay service to communicate during the mission, the companies announced this month.  IDRS is the inter-satellite data relay system offered by Addvalue, powered by Inmarsat’s satellite network. It works by having an Addvalue terminal on a client’s satellite in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO), and...

Astroscale and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are looking to jointly create a new satellite refueling service, the two organizations announced Dec. 7. The activities will be done under the JAXA Space Innovation through Partnership and Co-creation (J-SPARC) office. The aim is to explore concepts for a fuel delivery service for one year. The...

Arkisys is teaming up with Precious Payload to make launching payloads in Low-Earth Orbit more accessible. The companies announced Nov. 15 that Precious Payload will market upcoming hosted payload slots on Arkisys’ Port, a new orbital business platform in development. The companies said this collaboration will smooth the onboarding process for customers. Precious Payload has...

LEOcloud is partnering with Axiom Space to develop and deliver space-based cloud services. The two companies announced the deal, Nov. 15. LEOcloud will deliver its Space Edge cloud edge computing to Axiom Space, which is looking to develop one of the world’s first commercial space stations. LEOcloud’s Space Edge infrastructure as a service aims to enable...

Thales Alenia Space has won a new contract from the European Commission to lead a new feasibility study for data centers in orbit, as part of the Horizon Europe research program. The company announced, Nov. 14 that it would take the lead in the ASCEND (Advanced Space Cloud for European Net zero emission and Data...