February 26, 2023

AST SpaceMobile: Upcoming Catalysts To Drive Share Price Higher (Source: Seeking Alpha)
Satellite direct-to-device connectivity has gone mainstream with Apple, T-Mobile, and Iridium all in the game. ASTS has built a loyal retail investor base with excellent crowdsourced research. AT&T appears to be pursuing a broader partnership. Significant non-dilutive capital is available from the 5G Fund for Rural America. Key de-risking milestones and share price catalysts are expected in the coming weeks. (2/23)

Rare Black Hole 1 Bllion Times the Mass of the Sun Could Upend Our Understanding of Galaxy Formation (Source: Live Science)
A rare supermassive black hole found hiding at the dawn of the universe could indicate that there were thousands more of the ravenous monsters stalking the early cosmos than scientists thought — and astronomers aren't sure why. The primordial black hole is around 1 billion times the mass of our sun and was found at the center of the galaxy COS-87259. The ancient galaxy formed just 750 million years after the Big Bang and was spotted by the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), a radio observatory in Chile, in a tiny patch of sky less than 10 times the size of the full moon. (2/24)

Aerojet Rocketdyne Scramjet Engine Passes Hypersonic Test Flight (Source: Yellow Hammer)
An advanced Aerojet Rocketdyne scramjet engine powered the flight of the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept in late January, the company announced. The project is in partnership with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Air Force Research Laboratory, and Lockheed Martin. This is the second successful flight test for this team, Aerojet Rocketdyne announced in a news release.

“Aerojet Rocketdyne is proud to be a key part of the team demonstrating maturity in advanced hypersonic flight,” said Eileen Drake, Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO and president. “With a second successful flight test now complete, we are, along with our partners, one step closer to making affordable hypersonic flight a reliable capability in support of national defense.” Launched from a B-52, the test flight exceeded Mach 5 while traveling more than 300 nautical miles at altitudes exceeding 60,000 feet, accomplishing all primary test objectives, according to the news release. (2/23)

SpaceQuest Ventures invests in Kreios Space (Source: SpaceQuest)
SpaceQuest Ventures, a Swiss investment firm that focuses on the space domain and deeptech, has announced its latest investment in Kreios Space, a Spanish company enabling the VLEO (Very Low Earth Orbit) future of space. Founded by a team of engineers with extensive experience in aerospace engineering and space technology, Kreios Space is developing an electric propulsion system for satellites. The technology, called ABEP (Air-Breathing Electric Propulsion), will revolutionize the satellite industry by allowing satellites to orbit closer to Earth without the need for fuel. (2/23)

Thomas to Lead Sierra Space Business Unit (Source: Sierra Space)
Sierra Space, a leading pureplay commercial space company building the first end-to-end business and technology platform in space, announced today another veteran aerospace leader has joined the company’s leadership team. Paul “Rusty” Thomas will serve a dual role for the company: Senior Vice President and General Manager for the Space Applications business sector, as well as Sierra Space’s Chief Technology Officer. (2/21)

Dark Energy Could Lead to a Second (and Third, and Fourth) Big Bang, New Research Suggests (Source: Live Science)
Will the universe end in a bang or a whimper? A pair of theoretical physicists have proposed a third path: perhaps the universe will never end. In a study that attempts to define the nature of dark energy — a mysterious phenomenon thought to be causing the universe to expand faster and faster every moment — the physicists find that cosmic expansion isn't always a given. Rather, they write, dark energy may periodically "switch" on and off, sometimes growing the cosmos, sometimes shrinking it down until the conditions are right for a new Big Bang to occur — and for a new universe to be born. (2/22)