Louisville, Colorado, January 9, 2024 – Sierra Space, a leading commercial space company building the first end-to-end business and technology platform in space to benefit life on Earth, announced today that it was honored in Built In’s 2024 Best Places to Work Awards, earning a place on 100 Best Large Places to Work in Colorado. The annual awards program evaluates companies of all sizes, from startups to established enterprises, and honors a wide range of companies in large tech markets across the United States.
Built In determines the winners of Best Places to Work by using company data about compensation packages, total rewards and culture programs. Sierra Space won this industry accolade not only for its commitment to providing competitive salaries and comprehensive benefits packages, but also for fostering an engaging work environment and culture that is embraced by its 2,000 team members across seven states.
If you are excited about venturing into uncharted territories and are driven to being exceptional, Sierra Space has a place for you. We offer a broad range of diverse career opportunities across various corporate sectors. Join our team and collaborate with like-minded individuals who share a common goal: shaping the future of space exploration while advancing the greater good. Dare to dream at SierraSpace.com/Careers.
Copenhagen, Denmark, October 12, 2023 – A.P. Moller – Maersk (London: 0O77) is embarking on a collaboration with Starlink, the pioneering satellite internet constellation developed by Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX. SpaceX was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk of Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) fame.
Maersk, the global leader of integrated container logistics, will have Starlink installed on more than 330 own operated container vessels. This will enabling high-speed internet with speeds over 200 Mbps, service that is a leap forward in terms of internet speed and latency bringing significant benefits in terms of both crew welfare and business impact.
The agreement comes after a successful pilot phase where crew members on more than 30 Maersk vessels have had the opportunity to test the Starlink technology – resulting in very positive feedback.
DENVER – 02 August, 2023 – Voyager Space, a global leader in space exploration, and Airbus (OTC: EADSY) Defence and Space, the largest aeronautics and space company in Europe, today announced an agreement paving the way for a transatlantic joint venture to develop, build, and operate Starlab, a commercial space station planned to succeed the International Space Station. The US-led joint venture will bring together world-class leaders in the space domain, while further uniting American and European interests in space exploration.
Voyager was awarded a $160 million Space Act Agreement (SAA) from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in December 2021 via Nanoracks, part of Voyager’s exploration segment. Part of NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program, this SAA sets the foundation to create Starlab, a continuously crewed, free-flying space station to serve NASA and a global customer base of space agencies and researchers.
The program’s mission is to maintain continued human presence and American leadership in low-Earth orbit (LEO). Today’s announcement builds on an agreement made public in January 2023, where Voyager selected Airbus to provide technical design support and expertise for Starlab.
In addition to the US entity, Starlab will have a European joint venture subsidiary to directly serve the European Space Agency (ESA) and its member state space agencies.
Lockheed Martin and NASA executives officially opened the STAR Center in Florida on July 15.
TITUSVILLE, Florida, July 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] opened its Spacecraft Test, Assembly and Resource (STAR) Center today. The STAR Center features business and digital transformation innovations that will expand manufacturing, assembly and testing capacity for NASA’s Orion spacecraft program and ultimately, future space exploration.
Lockheed Martin currently assembles the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I and II Moon missions at the nearby Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout (O&C) building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The addition of the STAR Center provides much-needed space for the new production phase of Orion, allowing future Orion spacecraft – starting with the Artemis III mission – to be built faster.
Lockheed Martin acquired the building that formerly housed the Astronaut Training Experience attraction and spent 18 months and nearly $20 million renovating and modernizing the 55,000 square-foot space into a digitally-transformed factory of the future.
EXPLORATION PARK, Florida – 34 satellites for the OneWeb constellation are ready for launch from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The satellites arrived in two shipments, including one last week, have been tested, and have now been fitted into the dispenser of the Soyuz-2.1b rocket. OneWeb’s upcoming launch of 34 satellites has been scheduled for Thursday 6 February 21:42 (GMT) / Friday 7 February 02:42 (local time) from the historic Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.
“This launch will be a massive step forward for OneWeb – one step closer to the ambition of improving global connectivity. These 34 satellites will join the six currently operating flawlessly in orbit. Our joint venture OneWeb Satellites produces two satellites a day – in series production, just like Airbus makes planes,” said Jean-Marc Nasr, Head of Airbus Space Systems.
The satellites, which are manufactured at 1/50th of the cost of a traditional spacecraft, are all fitted with plasma thrusters enabling them to reach their correct position in low Earth orbit at 1,200km.
“Watching the first batch of our factory-built satellites launch from the Soyuz will be the realisation of a four-year journey… and just the beginning,” said Tony Gingiss, CEO OneWeb Satellites. “Our factory continues to ramp up and streamline our production to deliver the next batch… and the next… and the next!”
The OneWeb constellation will provide global connectivity with an initial 650 satellites. OneWeb’s mission is to provide affordable, high-speed internet connectivity everywhere for everyone, by 2021.
After this first launch from Baikonur, OneWeb is planning to launch around 30 satellites with Soyuz rockets every month.
Teams at Stennis Space Center prepare for core stage hot-fire testing ahead of Artemis I lunar mission
Boeing [NYSE: BA] today delivered the core stage of NASA’s first Space Launch System (SLS) deep space exploration rocket, moving it out of the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to the agency’s Pegasus barge.
The event marks the first time a completed rocket stage has shipped out of Michoud since the end of the Apollo program. SLS Core Stage 1 is the largest single rocket stage ever built by NASA and its industry partners.
The rollout follows several weeks of final testing and check-outs after NASA’s declaration of “core stage complete” during a December 9 Artemis Day celebration at Michoud.
NASA will transport the SLS core stage to its Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, in the next few days for “Green Run” hot-fire engine tests later this year. After inspection and refurbishing for launch, the stage moves to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At Kennedy, the core stage will be integrated with the Interim Cryogenic Upper Stage (ICPS) and NASA’s Orion spacecraft for the uncrewed Artemis I mission around the moon – the first launch of a human-rated spacecraft to the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.
“The Boeing SLS team has worked shoulder-to-shoulder with NASA and our supplier partners to face multiple challenges with ingenuity and perseverance, while keeping safety and quality at the forefront,” said John Shannon, Boeing SLS vice president and program manager.
SLS is the world’s most powerful rocket, evolvable and built to carry astronauts and cargo farther and faster than any rocket in history. Its unmatched capabilities will deliver human-rated spacecraft, habitats and science missions to the moon, Mars and beyond as part of NASA’s Artemis program.
“We are applying what we’ve learned from development of the first core stage to accelerate work on core stages 2 and 3, already in production at Michoud, as well as the Exploration Upper Stage that will power NASA’s most ambitious Artemis missions,” said Shannon.
Space Launch System Core stage 1 rollout from Michoud Assembly Facility to NASA’s Pegasus barge; for Green Run test. MSF20-0002 Series. Leanne Caret_President and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security.
ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) – Billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX accused the U.S. Air Force of breaking contracting rules when it awarded money to three rocket makers but passed on Musk’s rival bid, and said the tender should be reopened, according to a court filing unsealed on Wednesday.
In the complaint, Space Exploration Technologies Corp said contracts were awarded for three “unbuilt, unflown” rocket systems that would not be ready to fly under the government’s timeline, “defeating the very objectives” outlined by the Air Force’s program.
SpaceX asked the court to force the Air Force to reopen the $2.3 billion Launch Service Agreements competition and reconsider the Hawthorne, California-based company’s proposal.
The agreement is part of a Department of Defense initiative to assure constant military access to space and curb reliance on Russian-made RD-180 engines.
In the watershed race for dominance in the space industry, new entrants including SpaceX and billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, compete for lucrative contracts for military launch services. The arena has been long dominated by incumbents like Boeing Co-Lockheed Martin Corp’s United Launch Alliance (ULA).
ULA was granted $967 million under the program for developing its heavy-lift Vulcan rocket, Blue Origin won $500 million for its New Glenn rocket, and Northrop Grumman Corp was awarded $791.6 million for its OmegA rocket development.
In separate court filings this week, all three companies argued they should be parties to the lawsuit because of their direct financial interest in its outcome.
A SpaceX spokesperson said the company sued to “ensure a level playing field for competition.”
Representatives for the Air Force and ULA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Blue Origin declined to comment.
SpaceX’s complaint was filed with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims last Friday under seal, along with a request for the court to keep the proceedings secret under a protective order, citing proprietary information. A redacted complaint was filed Wednesday.
SpaceX alleged the Air Force broke contracting rules on five different counts and asked the court to halt deliveries of the award to the three companies and force a re-evaluation of the proposals.
The Air Force rejected a formal objection from SpaceX in April regarding the terms of the awards.
SpaceX has sued the government over contracts before, most prominently in 2014 to protest a multibillion-dollar, non-compete contract for 36 rocket launches to United Launch Alliance. It dropped the lawsuit after the Air Force agreed to open up the competition.
(Reporting by Joey Roulette in Orlando, Florida; Editing by Eric M. Johnson and Richard Chang)
FILE PHOTO: SpaceX headquarters is shown in Hawthorne, California, U.S. September 19, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) – Facing tough competition from China, the United States and even tiny Luxembourg, Germany is racing to draft new laws and attract private investment to secure a slice of an emerging space market that could be worth $1 trillion a year by the 2040’s.
The drive to give Germany a bigger role in space comes as European, Asian and U.S. companies stake out ground in an evolving segment that promises contracts for everything from exploration to mining of outer-space resources.
Firms likely to benefit from any future spending rise in Germany include Airbus, which co-owns the maker of Europe’s Ariane space rockets, and Bremen-based OHB.
The new legislation would limit financial and legal liabilities of private companies should accidents happen in orbit, set standards for space operations and offer incentives for new projects, the German economy ministry told Reuters.
The ministry’s aerospace and space commissioner, Thomas Jarzombek, could submit the laws to parliament later this year. The move comes as companies and trade groups press for German authorities to establish a regulatory framework for the lucrative new market to encourage private investment.
“We are sounding the alarm that Germany and Europe are falling behind in space vis-a-vis China and the United States,” Dirk Hoke, defence and space chief at Franco-German-led aerospace group Airbus, told Reuters. “We’re at a critical juncture to ensure we stay in the top league.”
Germany is Europe’s economic powerhouse and the world’s fourth-largest economy. However it had just the world’s seventh-largest national space budget in 2018, an estimated $1.1 billion, just over half the amount generated by fifth-placed France, according to preliminary data from Paris-based research firm Euroconsult.
The next launch by Space Exploration Technologies Corp. appears almost routine by now: A satellite owned by Bangladesh will blast into orbit on top of a reusable Falcon 9 rocket, then the booster will land back on a drone ship to be launched again at a later date. SpaceX has already done this 24 times—11 by land, 13 by sea.
But Thursday’s launch will mark the debut of a slightly different rocket, called Falcon 9 Block 5, that SpaceX has crafted to more quickly send an already used rocket back into space. The new rocket is “designed to be capable of 10 or more flights with very limited refurbishment,”SpaceX said ahead of the launch.
