Former U.S. Air Force top counsel Tom Ayres joins Voyager Space
WASHINGTON — Voyager Space Holdings announced June 29 the appointment of former Department of the Air Force general counsel Tom Ayres as the company’s chief legal officer and general counsel.
Denver-based Voyager was founded in October 2019 as an alternative to the traditional venture capital models.
Exploring deep space: How can we get there safely and sustainably?
Once the sole dominion of sci-fi movies and novels, the subject of deep space exploration and interplanetary colonization has moved several steps closer to becoming a reality thanks to major advances in aerospace engineering, medicine, and physics.
Sending astronauts to the International Space Station for extended missions has provided a wealth of information about keeping humans alive in the challenging environment of space. Back on earth, scientists and engineers attempt to replicate off-world conditions to test limits for more ambitious missions.
HASC to scrutinize Space Force budget: Satellites have to be ‘easier to defend’
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said he expects to see a shift in U.S. military spending away from large satellites to a “more survivable infrastructure” of smaller spacecraft.
Spacecom buys part of Nuran Wireless to strengthen Africa operations
TAMPA, Fla. — Israeli satellite operator Spacecom is buying a 9.3% stake in rural connectivity provider Nuran Wireless to deepen its presence across Africa.
The $3.2 million deal includes exclusive rights for providing satellite capacity and bandwidth to Canada-based Nuran’s future operations in Africa, where Spacecom provides services with its Amos-17 spacecraft.
Musk set to invest up to $30 billion in Starlink
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk said Tuesday he plans to invest up to 30 billion dollars to develop his ambitious Starlink satellite internet service.
Starlink plans to deploy thousands of low-orbit satellites to provide high-speed internet to isolated and poorly connected areas.
It has so far deployed over 1,500 satellites and by August it will be able to provide coverage everywhere in the world except the North and South Poles, Musk told the Mobile World Congress, a telecoms industry conference underway in Barcelona, by video.
The Tesla chief said he expects to invest "at least five billion dollars, and maybe as much as ten billion" in Starlink before the service has a positive cash flow.
"Then over time it is going to be a multiple of that, and that would be 20 or 30 billion dollars. It is a lot basically," he added.
Starlink is currently operating in about a dozen countries, with more being added, and it currently has just over 69,000 active users, Musk said.
"We are on our way I think to having a few hundred thousand users, possibly over 500,000 users, within 12 months," he added.
Virgin Orbit looks to increase launch rates in 2022
WASHINGTON — On the eve of its second revenue-generating launch, Virgin Orbit is looking to 2022 to ramp up its launch activity and operate from several airports in the United States and Great Britain.
In a call with reporters June 29, Virgin Orbit Chief Executive Dan Hart confirmed that the company was “green for launch” on a LauncherOne mission called “Tubular Bells: Part One.
Analytical Space Inc. hires KSAT’s Monson and Velazco of JPL
SAN FRANCISCO — Satellite communications startup Analytical Space Inc. has named former KSAT Inc. chief executive Katherine Monson as its chief commercial officer and Jose Velazco, former technical supervisor for the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Advanced RF and Optical Technology Group, as chief innovation officer.
Falcon 9 launch scrub highlights airspace integration problems
WASHINGTON — A SpaceX launch scrubbed in the final seconds of its countdown when an aircraft violated restricted airspace June 29 has aligned both the launch industry and the airline industry in their criticism of the Federal Aviation Administration.
Reprogrammable satellite shipped to launch site
An advanced telecommunications satellite that can be completely repurposed in orbit has arrived at its launch site of Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
Gilmour Space rockets ahead with $61M AUD Series C funding
Australia's leading launch services company, Gilmour Space Technologies, has secured $61 million (approximately $47 million USD) from global investors in what is the largest private equity investment raised by a space company in Australia.
The Series C round, which includes US-based Fine Structure Ventures, Australian venture capital firms Blackbird and Main Sequence, and Australian supera 
