Space Times

Space Times
  • 5.0 (6)
  • Technology
  • Updated Weekly

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. Sep 7

    Weekly Recap #50 + Viridian Interview

    Main Topics This week we had the privlege of interviewing Matthew Feldman, Co-Founder and CTO of Viridian Space Technologies, to learn all about their air-breathing electric propulsion for VLEO spacecraft! Catch an excerpt in this episode and subscribe to catch the full interview when it drops later this week. On September 10th we’ll be at Space Social SF, be sure to RSVP and join us to meet all the space companies operating in the San Francisco Bay Area! Launch * Isar Aerospace successfully conducted their Spectrum vehicle’s second launch out of the Andoya Space Complex in Norway. [source] * Astroscale Japan selected Isar Aerospace for the ADRAS-J2 mission to de-orbit a rocket body. [source] * Spanish startup PLD Space added €108M to their Series C raise, now sized at €288M, to fund the deployment of their Miura rocket. [source] * German launch company HyImpulse Technologies secured over €50M to scale commercial suborbital and orbital launch operations. [source] Comms * NASA awarded Blue Origin a $700M firm-fixed-price contract to deliver a high-performance Mars telecommunications orbiter to NASA by the end of 2028. [source] * OHB won a nearly €1B IRIS2 contract for the development and production of 18 satellite platforms for the Secure Connectivity Program. [source] * The British Government Commercial Agency selected Open Cosmos as an approved provider for the £8B Sovereign Comms Framework. [source] * SpaceX petitioned the FCC to block Viasat’s GEO birds from interfering with Starlink constellation. [source] Space Mobility * York Space Systems unveiled their new VLEO platform leveraging their LX/V-class satellites. [source] * Fermi Explorer was announced as Starcloud CEO Philip Johnston’s non-profit to send a satellite to Alpha Centauri, it’s crowd-funded, so if you want your name onboard then donate on their website. [source] * Samara Aerospace received a $1.22M NSF SBIR Phase II award for their novel attitude control technology. [source] * Juno Propulsion was awarded a $1.2M NSF SBIR Phase II award for their novel rotating detonation propulsion technology. [source] Business Moves * Diffraqtion expanded their raise to $10M adding Lockheed Martin Ventures as a supporter of their quantum camera technology. [source] * Indian startup Kepler Aerospace raised $8M led by Ashva Capital for the development of their ISR constellation. [source] * Nade Space raised $4.4M in a round led by Abstract for their onboard automated FDIR technology. [source] Tech Advances * Elve reached TRL8 on their 100W mmWave space traveling wave tube amplifier. [source] * Bepicolombo began its Mercury approach 8 years after launch, jettisoning its orbital transfer first stage. [source] * Yank Technologies wins USSF contract to study near-field wireless satellite charging. [source] Get full access to Space Times at spacetimespod.substack.com/subscribe

    Weekly Recap #50 + Viridian Interview

  2. Aug 31

    Weekly Recap #49 + Kall Morris Inc Interview

    This week we interviewed Troy Morris, Co-Founder and CEO of Kall Morris Inc, on their recent STRATFI win, hear how they plan to use that money for on-orbit servicing! Main Topics Launch * SpaceX announced plans for a $100B Starship launch site in Louisiana. [source] * Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket has successfully completed its first Geostationary mission. [source] * China’s Long March 6C fragmented on orbit, generating 10s to 100s of fragments from the event. [source] * China’s Chang’e-7 moon rover mission was delayed indefinitely. [source] * Space Angel won a $1.75M grant from the Western Australian government to support plans for new spaceports. [source] Government * Tomorrow.io won a 5 year, $49M, IDIQ NOAA contract to provide advanced weather modeling services. [source] * Spire Global won a $28M NOAA contract to advance hyperspectral microwave sounding technology. [source] * Leolabs was awarded a $20M USSF contract for their mobile space tracking Scout radar system. [source] * The SDA announced the intent to resume Tranche 1 Transport Layer deployments for the PWSA. [source] * York Space Systems announced their selection to join the USSF’s Space Data Network Backbone (SDN-B) program. [source] Infrastructure * Beyond Reach Labs unveiled their large format solar array deployment platform: Flarewing. [source] * Constellr selected Space Inventor to expand their constellation and supply microsatellite platforms. [source] * Kepler launched their commercial optical data relay service aboard their optical data relay constellation. [source] * Northstar Space agreed to host 11 SDA terminals on future Kepler satellites. [source] * Bioorbit was selected for Germany’s SPRIN-D Orbital Bioworks challenge. [source] * Edge Aerospace and Redwire established U.S. manufacturing partnership. [source] * Star Catcher signed Aethero as a power-beaming customer. [source] Business Moves * Ursa Major announced their public listing through a SPAC with Bleichroeder Acquisition Corp. III at a valuation of approximately $2.3B. [source] * Astrum Space announced plans to SPAC through Black Space Acquisition III Co. at a $1B valuation. [source] * CesiumAstro acquired 1Aardvark for their autonomous mission capabilities, and announced their undisclosed Series D raise. [source] * MDA announced the founding of Launchpad Ventures, an investment vehicle focused on investing in Canadian space and defense companies. [source] * India’s Inspecity raised a $10.5M Seed round of funding. [source] Tech Advances * NASA launched the Nancy Grace Roman telescope to study dark matter. [source] * Veoware successfully demonstrated their miniCMG on Planet’s Pelican platform. [source] * Infleqtion was awarded a $20M NASA contract for a mission flying their quantum gravity sensor. [source] Get full access to Space Times at spacetimespod.substack.com/subscribe

    Weekly Recap #49 + Kall Morris Inc Interview

  3. Aug 24

    Weekly Recap #48 - China Lands Another Rocket

    We’ll be at Small Sat this week providing press coverage, so be sure to reach out if you want to meet up! Main Topics Launch * Chinese startup LandSpace successfully landed the first stage of their ZhuQue-3 rocket after delivering the Honghu 03 satellite into orbit. [source] * SEOPS Space announced the expansion of their Waymaker program to include a second Falcon 9 launch provided as a rideshare solution in 2028. [source] * Portal Space announced a dedicated Falcon 9 launch, and an exclusive partnership with Maverick Space Systems to auction off and manage third party rideshares for the half they’re not filling. [source] * Stoke Space planning $1B Series E raise to accelerate the development and production of their fully reusable Nova rocket. [source] Infrastructure * Chinese startup SpaceSail raised a $1B Series B round for the acceleration of their Qianfan communications constellation. [source] * Lynk and Omnispace announced the completion of their merger to form Elveo Mobile focused on winning and delivering on the D2D market. [source] * Firefly announced that their Blue Ghost lander will host Zeno Power Systems’ nuclear radioisotope thermal generator. [source] * Muon closed a $250M Series C to scale their space infrastructure platform, termed their Mission Foundry, in a round led by Eclipse Capital. [source] Government * York Space and Rocket Lab were both selected for and onboarded to the Space Systems Command’s Nite-Star training program, part of the $981M space test-and-training program announced at the beginning of the month. [source; source] * Viasat selected Rocket Lab to build a GEO Satellite for USSF SSC’s Protected Tactical SATCOM-Global (PTS-G) program. [source] * Katalyst and NASA announced the intent to abandon rescue and orbit-boost of the Swift space telescope. [source] * USSF released the 2026 STRATFI winners including awards for Starcatcher, Agile Space Systems, Antares Nuclear, EO Solutions, Hydrosat, Kall Morris Inc., Method Security, Muon Space, Scout Space, Sedaro, and Think Orbital [source] Business Moves * Viennese electric propulsion startup Enpulsion announced plans to acquire British propulsion company Lift Me Off. [source] * Starcloud raised $250M at a $2.3 B post-money valuation in a round led by Manhattan West, notably including investment from Nvidia and Cisco. [source] * StarRF closed a Pre-A+ round of funding led by Luxin Venture Capital to develop RF observation satellites primarily for maritime monitoring. [source] * Letara raised $16M for their hybrid rocket satellite thruster, led by Headline Asia and JIC Venture [source] Tech Advances * NASA opened the human research program to fund research into human effects of short term (weeks to months) lunar habiation. [source] * NASA announced the Techleap Prize for Orbital Clarity to fund research into better atmospheric drag models to improve satellite tracking. [source] Get full access to Space Times at spacetimespod.substack.com/subscribe

    Weekly Recap #48 - China Lands Another Rocket

  4. Aug 17

    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

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. 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
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Ratings & Reviews

5
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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
    52
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Harrison Lambert
  • Show Website
    Space Times

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