ANA and Marubeni Join to
Build Spaceport in Japan (Source: Nikkei)
All Nippon Airways operator ANA Holdings and trading house Marubeni
will set up a spaceport in Japan as early as 2021, Nikkei has learned.
The launch site, equivalent to a seaport for ships or an airport for
aircraft, will be for private space travel, and feature 3-km runways
for craft that take off horizontally like airplanes.
There are already around 10 spaceports in the U.S. for commercial use,
some built for the purpose and others converted from airports. The
Japanese corporate alliance aims to secure a foothold in the
international space-business race by building Asia's first space travel
hub. The two companies, together with four other partners -- including
Airbus Japan, satellite broadcaster Sky Perfect JSAT and real estate
company Mitsui Fudosan -- have established a company named Spaceport
Japan to advance the project. The Tokyo-based team will begin work on
Friday. (11/16)
SpaceX Launches Qatari
Satellite, Lands Booster Off Florida Coast (Source: Space
News)
SpaceX launched a Qatari communications satellite Thursday, tying a
record for most launches by the company in a year. The Falcon 9 lifted
off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 3:46 p.m. Eastern and
deployed the Es'hail-2 satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit 32
minutes later. The satellite, built by Mitsubishi for Qatari operator
Es'hailSat, carries Ku-band capacity for television broadcasting and
Ka-band capacity for connectivity to businesses and government users.
The rocket's first stage previously launched the Telstar 19 satellite
in July.
The launch was the 18th this year for SpaceX, tying a record set last
year, with four more launches scheduled through the end of the year.
SpaceX performed a static-fire test last night for its next launch, of
Spaceflight's SSO-A mission, scheduled for Monday at Vandenberg Air
Force Base. (11/16)
Can Government Keep Up
with Commercial Earth Observation? (Source: Space News)
There is a growing gap in the pace of innovation between commercial and
government Earth observation programs. At an ESA conference this week,
Peter Platzer, CEO of Spire, announced his company's
"space-as-a-service" program, where it will provide a 20-satellite
constellation to customers within 12 months, at an introductory price
of 10 million euros. Platzer further criticized the slow pace at which
publicly funded projects move, which leads to their failure to harness
cutting-edge innovation. Will Marshall, CEO of Planet, said there is a
need for public institutions to incorporate more flexibility into their
budgets to enable their EO-driven services to take advantage of the
latest innovations and disruptions. (11/16)
Solstar Space Seeks
Partners for Space Wi-Fi (Source: Space News)
A company that has tested in-space use of Wi-Fi is looking for a
strategic investor. Solstar Space says it's seeking "a space company
that understands our market and wants to help us develop it." The New
Mexico company tested a Wi-Fi communications system on two suborbital
spaceflights of Blue Origin's New Shepard vehicle earlier this year,
and says that technology could offer connectivity for future suborbital
passengers or experiments, as well as for orbital spacecraft. (11/16)
Midland TX Spaceport
Finds Satellite Startup to Take XCOR Hangar in Rent Abatement Deal
(Source: Space News)
A satellite startup plans to take over a hangar at a Texas airport
previously used by XCOR Aerospace. Avellan Space Technology &
Science (AST) said Thursday it will use the hangar at the Midland
International Air and Space Port to produce its Micron line of very
small satellites. The company says it will invest $30 million in the
manufacturing facility, with plans to produce as many as 100,000 of the
Micron satellites, each weighing 200 grams. AST has not disclosed any
customers for those satellites. Midland is offering five years of rent
abatement to AST for use of the hangar, with an additional five years
if the company meets job creation and payroll goals. (11/16)
Luxembourg Government
Assumes Losses in Planetary Resources (Source: Lux Times)
Luxembourg has confirmed the loss of its €12 million investment in US
space firm Planetary Resources. Following a series of parliamentary
questions, Luxembourg's economy minister Etienne Schneider explained
that in the absence of new funding, the financial situation of US space
firm Planetary Resources had continued to deteriorate. In October, the
Luxembourg government decided to sell its 10% shares in the company.
It took a stake in 2016. At that time, the Economy Ministry signed a
memorandum of understanding and agreed to invest €25 million. "This
decision to sell results, among other things, from an analysis of the
particular American legal context and prudent management which intends
to limit the potential exposures of SAAM Luxembourg, or even of SNCI as
sole shareholder of SAAM Luxembourg," Schneider explained. (11/15)
Fake ‘Unicorns’ Are
Running Roughshod Over the Venture Capital Industry
(Source: Intelligencer)
You might think that a study demonstrating that venture capital-funded
“unicorns” are overvalued, and by a stunning 48 percent on average,
would shake up the industry. Yet “Squaring Venture Capital Valuations
With Reality,” a paper announcing just that finding received only a
perfunctory round of coverage from some important investment and tech
publications when it was published.
The median venture capital fund loses money. Only the top 5 percent of
funds earn enough to justify the risks of investing in venture capital.
The nature of venture capital is that the performance of those few
successful funds in turn rests on the spectacular results of a small
fraction of the investments in a particular fund.
How does this pervasive overvaluation come about in the first place?
Once you understand it, it’s breathtakingly simple. Venture
capital-backed companies are money pits. Even if they manage to become
profitable in accounting terms, they almost always need more funding to
support their growth, typically every 12 to 24 months. The tech stars
profiled in the paper, 135 U.S. “unicorns” (i.e., companies with a
valuation of $1 billion or more) had undergone an average of eight
rounds of fundraising. Click here.
(11/14)
Spaceflight Industries
Goes Through Financial Restructuring as Key Launch Nears
(Source: GeekWire)
Seattle-based Spaceflight Industries laid out the status of a debt
restructuring plan this week in advance of its most ambitious satellite
launch operation to date. Documents filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission on Tuesday describe an offering of $29.9 million in
debt instruments and options for other securities, with five investors
participating to date. The filing said $22 million of the offering has
been sold, with $7.9 million remaining.
Spaceflight Industries spokeswoman Jodi Sorensen told GeekWire in an
email that the filing was triggered when the company finished up a
restructuring deal. “Part of that funding ($15M) went through
restructuring, making it more available to us, while the current
investors did invest another $7M,” she explained. “So some is from
restructuring, some is net new investment.” (11/15)
Bridenstine Worried About
Budget Pressures on NASA (Source: Space News)
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said Nov. 15 that the reelection
defeat of a key appropriator, and the potential for budget cuts next
year, is a cause for concern for him as he tries to balance the
agency’s priorities. Rep. John Culberson (R-TX), chairman of the
commerce, justice and science (CJS) subcommittee of the House
Appropriations Committee, was known for his efforts to increase funding
for NASA. Bridenstine said Culberson’s absence will be felt.
Bridenstine also noted that NASA, like other federal agencies, has been
asked by the White House to develop proposals for a five percent cut in
its fiscal year 2020 budget, currently being crafted for released in
February. That would require NASA to find approximately $1 billion in
cost savings across its programs. Such a cut, he suggested, would
imperil its exploration plans. “If that materializes, no, we’re not
going to have what we need to go to the moon,” he said. “We’re
certainly not going to have what we need to put boots on the moon.”
Bridenstine said he wouldn’t try to compensate for any cuts by taking
money from other agency programs to keep NASA’s exploration efforts
funded. “If we start robbing one part of NASA to feed another part of
NASA, we will lose political support in a heartbeat,” he said. (11/15)
Space Tango Unveils ST-42
for Scalable Manufacturing in Space for Earth-Based Applications
(Source: Space Tango)
Space Tango, a leader in the commercialization of space through
R&D, bioengineering and manufacturing in microgravity,
announced ST-42, a fully autonomous robotic orbital platform designed
specifically for scalable manufacturing in space. Launching in the mid
2020’s, ST-42 aims to harness the unique environment of microgravity to
produce high value products across industries; from patient
therapeutics to advanced technology products that have the potential to
revolutionize industries here on Earth. (11/15)
A Group of Young Women in
Kyrgyzstan is Crowdfunding the Country’s First Satellite Launch
(Source: Quartz)
Of the world’s 195 countries, 72 have official space agencies,
including Nigeria, Bangladesh, Peru, and Bolivia. Kyrgyzstan does not.
So a group of young women decided to start their own. Kyrgyzstan is not
an easy place to be female; it was described last year by Reuters as “a
nation rife with domestic violence, child marriage and bride
kidnappings.”
The dozen or so members of the Kyrgyz Space Program, who range in age
from 17 to 25, came together for a free robotics course started by
journalist and TED fellow Bektour Iskender last March and meet twice a
week at the offices of Kloop, the independent journalism school
Iskender runs in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan’s capital. They are crowdfunding
their work towards building and launching a cube satellite, a miniature
design known as a CubeSat that can cost as little as $150,000 to
produce.
The money that comes in will pay for the project in phases; the various
funding tiers are named for prominent women in space, from Russian
cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova ($2/month) to American Peggy Whitson,
who has spent more time in space than any other female astronaut in
history ($1,024/month). The team hopes to have built it and ready for
launch sometime next year. (11/2)
FCC Approves SpaceX,
Telesat, LeoSat and Kepler Internet Constellations
(Source: Space News)
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission voted Nov. 15 to approve
four proposed satellite constellations, authorizing nearly 8,000 small
telecom satellites to serve U.S. entities from low Earth orbit. The new
regulatory approvals set the stage for two companies, SpaceX of
Hawthorne, California, and Telesat of Ottawa, Canada, to expand
constellations already approved last year with more satellites in the
rarely used V-band spectrum.
Canadian startup Kepler Communications and LeoSat, a company licensed
from the Netherlands, also received approvals, Kepler for 140 Ku-band
satellites and LeoSat for 78 Ka-band satellites. Of the four, SpaceX is
by far the largest with 7,518 satellites constituting what it calls a
“very low Earth orbit,” or VLEO constellation that would operate
slightly below 350-kilometers. At that altitude, SpaceX says
atmospheric drag would pull spent satellites down in one month,
assuaging concerns about the magnitude of debris that that many
satellites could create in higher orbits.
While the constellations approved are only proposed, three of the four
companies whose plans advanced Nov. 15 already have demonstration
satellites in orbit. SpaceX launched two prototype satellites in
February, one month before the company gained FCC approval for its
initial constellation of 4,425 satellites in Ku- and Ka-band
frequencies. The company is building its satellites in-house. (11/15)
Vatican Astronomer Says
Space the New Terrestrial Frontier (Source: Crux)
According to Brother Guy Consolmagno, the Jesuit research astronomer
who runs the Vatican’s observatory, global interest in outer space is
increasing at astronomical proportions, from mineral harvesting off
asteroids, to militarizing the zone and developing artificial
intelligence for research. With the space race taking off
internationally, there is a need for clearer parameters to be set for
conduct, making space “the next frontier of law,” Consolmagno said.
Noting how 2017 marked the 50th anniversary of the United Nations 1967
“Outer Space Treaty” on governing the activities of states in outer
space, including the moon and other “celestial bodies,” Consolmagno
said the treaty was followed by a major discussion on the “peaceful
uses of space.” Consolmagno traveled to Vienna in June to represent the
Vatican at a meeting on the space issue, reaffirming the peaceful uses
of space and the right each nation has regarding the space frontier,
because “any war that is going to occur in space is going to touch all
of us.” (11/15)
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