Space Times

Space Times

The space industry is as vast and evolving as the environment it occupies, and we are here to help you navigate it! Every week we talk about advances in space technology and business, and we want to share our opinions and insights with you. Paul Mayer and Harrison Lambert met a decade ago working as aerospace engineers at Maxar. Since then, Harrison has spent that time working on space systems for a variety of applications, and Paul has become a venture capitalist helping grow nascent space companies. Now we want to share the next decades with you, discussing all the exciting times in space! spacetimespod.substack.com

  1. 3d ago

    Weekly Recap #47 + Space Capital Interview

    This week we had the privelege of interviewing Justus Kilian, Partner at Space Capital, hear an excerpt in the podcast, and subscribe to be notified when the full video drops later this week! Main Topics Launch * Kepler selected Rocket Lab’s Neutron for their first dedicated launch. [source] * Rocket Lab established a German presence with Rocket Lab Germany. [source] * Rocket Lab unveiled the GHOST Deployable Launch System. [source] * Astra announced plans to raise $250M. [source] * Gitai announced their expansion into solid rocket motors from space robotics. [source] * Chinese iSpace announced the kickoff of their Series E Raise. [source] Comms * Aalyria and ALL.SPACE announced their partnership to bring Hydra MAX terminals into operational deployment for USG hybrid architectures. [source] * Astrolight and ATMOS announced partnership to demonstrate laser link capability from a satellite to a return capsule. [source] * Firefly’s SciTec awarded a $94M USSF contract for ground radar digitization. [source] * Cesium Astro acquired Jariet Technologies for mmWave RF System-on-a-Chip semiconductors. [source] * Intuitive Machines won a $600M contract for 3 GEO satellites. [source] Defense * Impulse selected for Victus SALO Phase III using their Mira spacecraft for rapid orbital responsivity. [source] * Astranis unveiled their Perceptor GEO platform for space domain awareness. [source] * The DIU and SDA have awarded initial Deorbit-as-a-Service contracts to Katalyst, D-Orbit Space, and Firefly. [source] * USSF awarded 5 companies $60M for multi-vendor satellite data network tests: Amazon LEO, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Rocket Lab, and York Space Systems. [source] * Space Kinetic won a $50M OTA from the USSF for space maneuverability and architecture technology. [source] Business Moves * Gravitalab entered liquidation. [source] * Blackstar Orbital announced their intent to SPAC at $380M. [source] * Open Cosmos Atlantic won an ESA ERS-EO contract potentially worth €25M. [source] * Galaxeye acquired StarOps for spacecraft engineering skillset. [source] Tech Advances * Matsing detailed a new manufacturing technology to improve satellite antenna performance. [source] Get full access to Space Times at spacetimespod.substack.com/subscribe

    Weekly Recap #47 + Space Capital Interview

  2. Aug 10

    Weekly Recap #46 - Rocket Strikes the Moon

    Main Topics Satellites * The USSF awarded Rocket Lab $397M to develop, launch, and operate a constellation of flat-stacked satellites under the Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator program (SB-AMTI). [source] * Canada’s Defence Investment Agency has awarded Telesat a $2.3B CAD contract to expand the Lightspeed Constellation from 156 to 225 satellites with assets built by MDA as part of the Enhanced Satellite Communications Project - Polar (ESCP-P) program. [source] * Kreios announced the planned flight of their first VLEO satellite boasting the first air-breathing electric propulsion platform launched into orbit. [source] * Nornir Space announced their AI based satellite architecture platform. [source] Setbacks * EchoStar’s Hughes Network filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as $1.5B debt comes due. [source] * A SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage collided with the moon. [source] * Blue Origin traced their New Glenn explosion to a failed oxygen valve. [source] * Apex’s Nova 1 Satellite failed to communicate on orbit. [source] Emerging Sectors * The FCC awarded Xona Space Systems spectrum approval for 258 LEO Position, Navigation, and Timing satellites. [source] * Neuraspace raised $18M for Space Situational Awareness and Space Traffic Management. [source] * Redwire signed with SpaceX’s Starfall to fly 32 drug labs to eclipse the ISS program in a single flight. [source] Business Moves * Capella, Umbra, and ICEYE won NRO radar data contracts [source] * Seraphim invested £21M into Pixxel and Zeno Power. [source] Tech Advances * SpaceX announced the intent to acquire 130,000 acres of marshland in Louisiana to build a new launch site. [source] Get full access to Space Times at spacetimespod.substack.com/subscribe

    Weekly Recap #46 - Rocket Strikes the Moon

  3. Aug 3

    Weekly Recap #45 + VXB Aerospace Interview

    This week we interviewed Alexander Ryan, Co-Founder and CEO of VXB Aerospace, following their $4M raise! Listen to an excerpt in the podcast, and subscribe to be notified when our full coverage drops later this week. Main Topics Communications * Spain committed $2.3B to building national military communication satellites to contribute to Europe’s IRIS2 constellation. [source] * SpaceX won $1.6B in launch orders from National Security Space Launch (NSSL) for 18 Falcon-9 launches of Airborne Mobile Target Indicator (AMTI) satellites. [source] * The FCC planned an upper C-band auction for next year, selling 160MHz from 3.98-4.14GHz to SES, Eutelsat, and Telesat. [source] * Amazon filed for 5,105 Direct-to-Device (D2D) satellites using Globalstars L-band spectrum in combination with their S-band spectrum. [source] * Sphinx Defense won $287M for strategic communications software. [source] Propulsion * Spinlaunch rebranded to Meridian Space pivoting from launch to communication constellations. [source] * USSF awarded All Points $250M to expand commercial satellite processing at Vandenberg launch base. [source] * Rocket Lab won $266M from the USSF 12-18 HASTE launches out of their new Kodiak launch site. [source] * Nordspace funded its second company, North Vector Dynamics, for Canadian sovereign missile development. [source] * Impulse unveiled their Electra electric propulsion thruster. [source] Monitoring * Array Labs raised $21M anchored by Mitsubishi Electric for AMTI satellites capable of tracking aircraft, ships, and spacecraft. [source] * Orbes unveils Exo-Orb and agreement with Symphony Space to fly the spacecraft as a monitoring and maintenance solution. [source] * Chinese startup Xingchen Daohe raised $14M for Space Situation Awareness (SSA) constellation. [source] * Spaceflux identified a breakup of Intelsat 805 in graveyard orbit. [source] * Intermap spent $11M to acquire PCI Geometics for their geospatial intelligence platform. [source] * Galaxeye’s Drishti officially died on orbit due to a solar storm last month. [source] Business Moves * SSC awarded $981M for space test-and-training to Firefly, Redwire, Rocket Lab, and York Space Systems [source] * The USSF selected 29 companies for Adaptive and Intelligent Space Challenge to develop emerging technologies in orbital compute, sensing, and orchestration. [source] * K2 raised $500M in a Series D led by Kleiner Perkins and ICONIQ to scale production to 100 large satellites per year. [source] * The Exploration Company announced plan to raise $300M at $2B valuation for the Nyx crewed capsule. [source] * Outlier Space raised $7.3M led by GD1 for their reusable capsules/ [source] Tech Advances * Katalyst’s Link spacecraft loses 2 reaction wheels, jeopardizing their mission to boost NASA’s SWIFT observatory. [source] * Intel debuted their new Starfire system-on-a-chip for AI in space. [source] Get full access to Space Times at spacetimespod.substack.com/subscribe

    Weekly Recap #45 + VXB Aerospace Interview

  4. Jul 27

    Weekly Recap #44 - Starship's Lucky 13th Flight

    Here’s everything that happened in the space industry for the week of July 19-25! Main Topics Rockets * SpaceX’s Starship 13 launch concluded after successfully deploying 20 Starlink v3’s and a soft landing in the ocean. [source] * The USSF tripled the National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 1 funding from $5.6B to $17B for flexible launch with an additional $13.7B dedicated for heavy launch. [source] * Chinese startup LegendSpace raised a $29.5M angel round led by Oasis Capital for AI rocket engine development. [source] Infrastructure * VXB Aerospace raised a $4M seed led by Dauntless Ventures for their AI engineering and parts design platform. [source] * Deltavision raised €10.2M led by KT Ventures for fluidic systems. [source] * Northrop launched their MRV mission to service GEO class satellites with refueling pods over the next decade. [source] * Oris Space raised €5M for space to space power transfer with a 2027 demo planned with DCubed. [source] * Senra systems raised $65M to update wire harnesses through their proprietary software and automation technology. [source] * York Space delivered 21 additional satellites to their second wave of assets for PWSA’s Tier 1 Transport Layer. [source] Moon * Lunar Outpost joined ESA’s Moonraker mission, leading the thermal design and models-based systems engineering efforts, which is scheduled to launch in 2030. [source] * Lunar Outpost announced a partnership with NVIDIA to leverage their Jetson platform and CUDA-X libraries on their current and upcoming lunar missions: LV2, LV3, and LV5. [source] * iSpace awarded €65M from ESA to develop and deliver their MAGPIE lunar rover by 2029. [source] * NASA selected 41 technology projects from 37 companies through their Announcement of Collaboration Opportunity focused on solving three major problems to enable further lunar and martian missions: power generation, space logistics, and dust mitigation. [source] Business Moves * Poland committed $745M to IRIS2 which will guarantee them 6 MEO and 6 LEO satellites functioning as a Polish constellation within the broader project. [source] * Iceye won a flood monitoring mission for Korean KT Sat shortly following a unique contract win for wildfire monitoring in Canada. [source] * ONERA selected AMOS to build French SSA telescope PROVIDENCE which will provide 10cm resolution of satellites up to 500 km altitude upon its commissioning in 2029. [source] * Karman Space and Defence acquired Walker Precision for $94M for manufacturing capabilities and advanced materials design. [source] * MDA announced their plans to open a $600M Canadian senior unsecured note offering due 2033 to fund their acquisitions of Blue Canyon Technologies and CLS. [source] * MDA selected for Europe’s Argonaut Lunar Lander mission, bringing two flight units of their LEIA LiDAR sensors to Argonaut’s first mission to the moon. [source] Tech Advances * DARPA announced their Pinpoint program which aims to make a driftless IMU. [source] * Lockheed Martin and Venus Aerospace collaborate on further development of rotating detonation rocket engine technologies. [source] Get full access to Space Times at spacetimespod.substack.com/subscribe

    Weekly Recap #44 - Starship's Lucky 13th Flight

  5. Jul 20

    Weekly Recap #43

    Main Topics Space Power * Beyond Reach Labs raised a $10M seed to develop their rigid structure for large deployable solar arrays. [source] * South Korean company Flexell Space raised a $20M Series A to develop and commercialize their high efficiency Perovskite and flexible copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) solar cell technologies. [source] * Chinese company Qingtian Xingneng raised $14.7M led by Hangzhou Fengzhen for thin film flexible copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) solar arrays. [source] * Polish company Orbital Matter won €500K from the European Innovation Council to build solar arrays printed in space for megawatt-class satellites. [source] * Martin Materials won $7.1M in funding from the Pentagon under the Defense Production Act to scale their solar cell coverglass manufacturing capacity. [source] * Canadian companies Canadensys and CNL announced a partnership to build lunar tritium heaters for lunar and deep space missions. [source] Launch * Indian launch provider Skyroot flew their debut Vikram-1 to orbit, taking 6 satellites to a LEO at 450 km. [source] * The JAXA RV-X rocket conducted a 40 second hop test, the first for the innovative single-stage reusable rocket Callisto led by Mitsubishi Heavy, JAXA, CNES, and the German Aerospace Center. [source] * The Department of Defense increased Leap Space’s Phase III SBIR by $93M up from an initial $7M. [source] Comms * Swissto12 raised $70M to expand their manufacturing capability and achieve further scale for their micro-GEO Hummingsat platform. [source] * SES and Airbus Netherlands have secured a site in Noordwijk for the Eagle-1 optical ground station to implement quantum key distribution communication. [source] * Qosmic raised $3.33M for optical ground stations led by Prosus and Accel in a round intended to further their flight heritage and deployment schedule. [source] * The Canadian Defense Innovation Agency opened a contract opportunity for space domain awareness to replace their aging Sapphire surveillance satellites which have been in operation since 2013. [source] Business Moves * AST Spacemobile announced the intent to raise $1B in private convertible notes to acquire a launch provider; ULA, Relativity, Stoke, and Firefly are rumored to be their targets. [source] * SDA tranche 3 missile defense awarded $1.75B to Sierra Space and L3 Harris for missile tracking and warning satellites. [source] * Loft Orbital announced the purchase of 10 more longbows from Airbus and 1 Apex Nova with the option for 9 more. [source] * Indian company Dhruva Space raised $6.3M, making it the first company to receive investment under the AVCF (Antariksh Venture Capital Fund) - India’s VC fund dedicated to the space sector. [source] * The USSF awarded Slingshot Aerospace a $69M contract to advance AI-powered mission readiness training software for space defense. [source] * Antaris announced the establishment of Aeonyx to advance all-domain mission virtualization for defense training. [souce] Tech Advances * Lockheed Martin partnered with Xanadu to advance quantum capabilities by using the Pennylane platform to train their mechanical and software engineers. [source] Get full access to Space Times at spacetimespod.substack.com/subscribe

    Weekly Recap #43

  6. Jul 13

    Weekly Recap #42 + Peregrine Space Interview

    Main Topics Launch * The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation successfully launched and landed the Long March 10b first stage rocket, demonstrating reusable rocket capabilities for the first time for China. [source] * SpaceX’s Transporter 17 launched 81 payloads including Apex’s first Nova satellite, Planet’s Pelican-11 demo, multiple Posidonia satellites from Open Cosmos, two Firesats from Muon Space, and the first in-space nuclear Tritium battery for City Labs.[source] * ISAR signed a $112.5M contract with Maritime Launch Services to develop a dedicated Spectrum launch site in Nova Scotia. [source] * Venus Aerospace raised $91M led by Mercury Fund for their rotating detonation rocket engine. [source] * NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 added both Relativity Space and Impulse Space. [source] * Loft contracted French launch startup Maiaspace for multiple launches starting as early as 2028. [source] Comms * Es’hail signed contracts with Turksat and Thales Alenia for Es’hail-3 satellite manufacturing to build Qatar’s first software-defined GEO satellite based on Thales Space’s INSPIRE platform. [source] * USSF awarded Pulse Space a $40M contract for laser-based space power technology that Pulse Space will develop and launch in conjunction with their SDA capabilities. [source] * Ravee Optics raised a $6M seed round led by BIG Global Investment JSC for compact laser optical communications. [source] * Spaceflux raised an additional £3.5M bringing their total Seed round raise to £9M for space domain awareness. [source] Interplanetary * Firefly Aerospace was awarded a $13M NASA JPL subcontract to build the aeroshell for SkyFall Mars Mission’s martian lander. [source] * NASA awarded a series of STRIDE contracts for Mars advanced surface mobility technologies to seven recipients. [source] * ESA awarded EMXYS a contract to build the Don Quixote lander whose sole purpose will be landing on the Apophis asteroid during its April 2029 flyby. [source] * Japanese company iSpace increased the size of their cargo order from SpaceX to scale with Starship’s increased capacity, ordering 500 kg of cargo capacity for a $50M price tag. [source] Business Moves * MDA acquired earth analytics company Collecte Localisation Satellites for roughly $600M in a deal that doubles MDA’s revenue and puts them at a 1.5-2.5x debt:EBITDA ratio. [source] * Voyager closed a $250M upsized credit facility led by JP Morgan presumably to continue with their strategy of strategic acquisitions. [source] * Blue Origin announced the intent to raise $10B at $130B valuation led with $4B from Coatue Asset Management. [source] * Orbit Fab raised $25M in interim financing led by Stride Capital for their on-orbit refueling technology. [source] * The Exploration Company established a US entity to pursue government contracts. [source] Tech Advances * The FCC approved the first Reflect Orbital satellite. [source] * USSF awarded 13 contracts through the Other Transaction Authority totalling over $500M for Space Combat Power including for Parabilis’s Dense Orbit Transfer System hybrid propulsion orbital thruster. [source] Get full access to Space Times at spacetimespod.substack.com/subscribe

    Weekly Recap #42 + Peregrine Space Interview

  7. Jul 6

    Weekly Recap #41

    Main Topics Lunar * NASA awarded $590M in CLPS contracts for 2028 Artemis Missions: two contracts to Astrobotic, one to Firefly, and one to Intuitive Machines. [source] * NASA announced they will repurpose their spare PROMISE nuclear Mars rover to send to the Moon. [source] * Lunar Forge came out of stealth targeting a 2027 demonstration of their laser sintering device capable of building structures out of lunar regolith. [source] * Instinct Space and Polimak announced a partnership to provide access to lunar regolith for payloads that fly on their Moon mission. [source] Launch * Katalyst Space’s LINK mission successfully deployed from the Kwajalein Atoll on July 3 and made contact from orbit. [source] * Amazon Leo launched a batch aboard ULA’s last Atlas 5 carrying satellites, Leo now has enough satellites on orbit to begin operations. [source] * AST Spacemobile launched 3 more Bluebirds - 8 through 10 - aboard Falcon 9, successfully achieving operational orbits. [source] * Planet Labs agreed to launch a Pelican satellite onboard ISAR’s Spectrum launch vehicle as early as the end of 2026. [source] * Southern Launch raised a $25M round led by Brindabella and Company to fund their rockets and spaceports. [source] * Hongqing, and affiliate of Landspace, raised a $191M round led by the China Construction Bank and ICBC to develop Jinwu-200 satellites for the Honghu-3 communications constellation. [source] * Nayuta Space announced their intent to use the second stage of their Xuanniao-R rockets as orbital data centers. [source] * Firefly announced plans to launch Alpha out of Sweden’s Esrange Space Center. [source] * French rocket company Latitude announced plans to launch their inaugural rocket out of Oman’s Etlaq Space Center instead of French Guiana. [source] Orbital * China formed a VLEO consortium for satellites below 300 km to accelerate the development of key technology. [source] * Vantor announced WorldView3D which provides up to date 3D ground truth globally on the order of every 6-24 hours. [source] * Dominion Dynamics closed a $100M Series A to scale their Arctic Surveillance network and drone systems.[source] * Observable Space raised $90M led by Lux Capital alongside a $94M USSF contract to develop mobile ground space domain awareness. [source] * Polish space observation company Sybilla secured $10M to enter the US market. [source] * Space Tango raised $7.4M to develop automation for in-space manufacturing. [source] Business Moves * Rocket Lab acquired Iridium in an expansion into the space application layer, securing their assets and valuable L-band spectrum rights. [source] * SpaceX received FTC clearance to buy Mesh Optical Technologies for their optical transceiver technology useful in AI hardware interconnects. [source] * Dish TV, subsidiary of Echostar, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. [source] * Mitsubishi Electric acquired Infostellar for the ground stations to bolster satellite operations. [source] * The Exploration Company acquired European Astrotech for their electric propulsion technology. [source] * Draper raised $300M Fund 8 to invest in AI, Robotics, and Automation; Crypto & Blockchain, Healthcare / Biotech, and Aerospace / Space. [source] Tech Advances * BAE Aerospace validated the rad-hardness of their Endura space processor, based on GlobalFoundries 45nm chip. [source] * Verde Technologies announced their plans to shift their perovskite solar tech to space, providing an up to 50% reduction in cost to silicon based solar. [source] Get full access to Space Times at spacetimespod.substack.com/subscribe

    Weekly Recap #41

  8. Jun 29

    Weekly Recap #40

    Launch * Rocket Lab executed a successful mission for the USSF titled Victus Haze in which they went from ‘Notice To Launch’ in 16 hours and 42 minutes, after which they activated and readied their Pioneer spacecraft on orbit in the 38th hour of their 72 hour deadline window. [source] * Rocket Lab was awarded 3 electron launches for NASA’s PolSIR and TSIS-2 Sun-Earth science missions. [source] * SpaceX’s orbital re-entry demo mission titled Starfall successfully launched over the weekend, bringing with it Starbase Brewing’s Microbrew-2 demo payload. [source] * Firefly Aerospace acquired Space-ng to advance the future of autonomous space operations by leveraging Firefly’s space vehicle strengths with Space-ng’s vision-based navigation solutions. [source] Spacecraft * Sophia Space raised a $7M SAFE and announced a partnership with Apex Space for an Orbital Computing Demo, bringing their total funding to date to $22M. [source] * Vantor announced a partnership with BAE to manufacture their Vantage platform. [source] * ReOrbit launched OrbitCloud R&D with a €4.6M grant from Business Finland. [source] * Irish startup Ubotica Technologies raised $11M to accelerate the commercial deployment of their AI-powered intelligence platform and expand their Live Maritime Intelligence service. [source] * Eclipse Space emerged from stealth with an ex-Starlink team to develop economical spacecraft buses for megaconstellations. [source] Infrastructure * Starfish Space completed their long range rendezvous with Gilmour Space Technologies’ Elarasat. [source] * Astroscale raised $190M after reporting $71.1M in project income, nearly double their numbers from 2025. [source] * Boeing was awarded a $2B Air Force Contract for Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) Satellite Life Extension Phase II. [source] * MDA was awarded a Canadian SAR satellite contract as part of Canada’s RADARSAT+ program. [source] * Umbra started selling their reaction wheels after announcing their expansion into component sales last August [source] * The first live intercept test of Golden Dome’s Dynamic Defense Autonomous Defeat (DDAD) directed energy missile defense system was conducted successfully. [source] Business Moves * OHB began a $581M share sale with KKR to fund their expansion and acquisition efforts, and to support Rocket Factory Augsburg. [source] * Axios reported that Muon Space has begun to pursue a $250M round of capital. [source] * Symphony Space closed an over-subscribed pre-seed round led by Female Founders Fund to develop their modular space depot. [source] * Spanish startup FOSSA raised $10.5M to fund their international expansion and global deployment of their sovereign satellite capabilities. [source] Tech Advances * SpaceX has started talking about expanding Starlink to a direct-to-mobile service, either by creating their own telecom provider, or are rumored to be targeting T-Mobile or Verizon for acquisition. [source] * Orbital Composites won a $1.9M TACFI from SpaceWerx to develop their AI and robotic enabled manufacturing facilities for high stress composite components focused on rocket nozzles. [source] Get full access to Space Times at spacetimespod.substack.com/subscribe

    Weekly Recap #40
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

The space industry is as vast and evolving as the environment it occupies, and we are here to help you navigate it! Every week we talk about advances in space technology and business, and we want to share our opinions and insights with you. Paul Mayer and Harrison Lambert met a decade ago working as aerospace engineers at Maxar. Since then, Harrison has spent that time working on space systems for a variety of applications, and Paul has become a venture capitalist helping grow nascent space companies. Now we want to share the next decades with you, discussing all the exciting times in space! spacetimespod.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Space Times
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    49
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Harrison Lambert
  • Show Website
    Space Times