Good morning. We’re sorry for including the wrong email in Friday’s trivia question. We also still haven’t gotten the right answer! Rocket Lab and SpaceX—plus seven other rocket families by our count—have launched 50+ times. First person to send the other seven to general@payloadspace.com (where you can always reach us) will win a Payload hat. Today's newsletter:
🧑🚀 Starliner’s return slips…again
💰 Skynopy’s fundraise
🗓️ The week ahead |
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Skynopy Raises $3.1M to Build LEO Connectivity |
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Skynopy cofounders Pierre Bertrand and Antonin Hirsch. Image: Skynopy |
Skynopy, a Paris-based satellite connectivity startup, raised $3.1M to simplify the data transfer process between LEO satellites and ground stations, the company announced Monday. Heartcore Capital, Kima Ventures, Better Angle, and BPI France joined the round, which also included participation from entrepreneurs Thibaud Elziere (founder of Hexa), and Yohann Leroy (CEO of Maia Space).
Outsourcing: Skynopy cofounders Pierre Bertrand and Antonin Hirsch, both former directors at Loft Orbital, started the company in October after seeing firsthand how much capital expenditure and effort it takes for companies to build their own reliable satellite connectivity systems.
“Being at Loft [Orbital], having raised $200M, we could internalize these teams, but we knew that other players would not be able to do that,” Bertrand told Payload. Skynopy’s goal is to capitalize on the rapidly growing volume of data being transferred from orbit to ground stations by offering satellite operators the ability to outsource these functions instead of building them in-house.
Unlimited minutes: Skynopy intends to use the new funding to grow its team of developers and radio-frequency engineers, and invest in new technology that satellite operators can easily plug into their birds, including: |
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Ground stations: Skynopy has created a revenue sharing model with over a dozen existing ground stations around the world that allows Skynopy to utilize its excess data capacity. The company’s eventual goal is to bolster its coverage with its own ground stations, and intends to build its first one in a French overseas territory.
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Connectivity keys: Skynopy aims to create the space equivalent of a SIM card, so satellites can transmit data to any ground station in the Skynopy network with little to no input from the satellite operator. This gives satellite operators global coverage and the added ability to scale up their data usage at the push of a button.
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As the cost to get satellites into orbit decreases, the need for cheap, seamless data transfers back to earth has grown, and Skynopy hopes to be the main provider of orbital connectivity. The company’s goal is to completely free satellite companies from needing to worry about how they’re getting their data.
“You don’t want the refueling station or the hyperspectral constellation to be expert on how they will download data; it does not make any sense. They should specialize in selling their service, and we want to provide that transparent connectivity,” Bertrand told Payload. |
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Italy Invests in the US Space Sector |
Italy is investing heavily in the US space industry through increased manufacturing footprint, tech contributions, and strategic partnerships in space exploration. As Italian companies collaborate with American firms, they are not only boosting their own tech but also lending crucial support to the US aerospace sector. The US 🤝 Italian partnerships include: |
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Impulso.Space, Argotec, and Officina Stellare expanding US manufacturing
- Thales Alenia Space Italia contributions to NASA’s Gateway
- NASA and Italy reunite for Air Pollution Study
- Ax-3 and Virgin Galactic missions
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Discover more about Italy’s contributions to the US space sector in this latest co-branded article with Payload. |
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Starliner Deorbit Slips Again, NASA Launches Review |
Starliner seen docked at the ISS as it passes high over the Mediterranean. Image: NASA. |
NASA indefinitely postponed Boeing Starliner’s departure from the ISS, marking another setback in a bumpy flight test for the capsule, which is intended to compete with SpaceX’s crew Dragon. The space agency announced late Friday that the new departure date won’t be until after astronauts complete a spacewalk scheduled for July 2.
News dump: The extended stay merited an “agency-level” review of Starliner’s departure “to document the agency’s formal acceptance of proceeding as planned,” NASA’s commercial crew program manager Steve Stich said in a statement That presumably requires administrator Bill Nelson’s sign-off.
The view from Tuesday: In a news conference June 18, Stich insisted that the vehicle was in good shape despite five helium leaks and several thruster failures. Following tests performed by astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Willmore, the agency certified Starliner for use as an escape vehicle to Earth.
“Obviously we wouldn't say Starliner is safe to bring a crew home in an emergency if we weren't confident in its capability," Stich said.
Watch the data: Nonetheless, he said the team was taking the opportunity to carefully review test burns of Starliner’s thrusters, and further examine the cause of five helium leaks. That’s particularly important because Starliner’s service module isn’t recovered when the vehicle returns to Earth.
Stich said the new high-level review is “similar to what was done ahead of NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 return after two months on orbit.” One of the lead engineers on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon program, Abhi Tripathi, suggested that circumstances were different.
“The Demo-2 duration was primarily driven by a very specific (one-off) set of crew rotation and geopolitical considerations at that specific point in time,” Tripathi wrote in a social media post. “The demo mission durations were originally conceived to support the provider’s certification data packages. In the case of Starliner, NASA seems intent on collecting additional data for operational certification determination based on how the mission unfolds in real time.”
And watch this space: NASA said it will hold a news conference when the high-level review is complete. Good news would sure help Boeing following CEO Dan Calhoun’s tongue lashing on Capitol Hill last week. |
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SpaceX has added ~$100M and 21,000+ jobs to the economy in South Texas.
- Japan’s space agency confirmed that no classified information was leaked during a series of cyber attacks against them in the past year.
- An astronomy sat developed by China and France launched on Saturday.
- NASA is being sued by a Florida family after space debris hit their house.
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Monday, June 24: The two-day European Space Forum will begin in Brussels. At 8am, two astronauts will perform a spacewalk outside the ISS. At 9:30am, NASA and NOAA will hold briefings ahead of the GOES-U launch. At 2pm, Space Command chief Gen. Stephen Whiting speaks at the Mitchell Institute.
Tuesday, June 25: At 11:30am, the Space Transportation Association is holding a luncheon with the director of Johnson Space Center. At noon, the Washington Space Business Roundtable will hold a luncheon with launch providers. At 5:16pm, NOAA’s meteorological satellite is scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center.
Wednesday, June 26: The two-day Amazon Web Services summit will begin in DC. Thursday, June 27: At midnight, Firefly is scheduled to launch its Alpha Noise of Summer mission from Vandenberg. At 6:55am, SpaceX is scheduled to launch a batch of Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral. At 1pm. The Beyond Earth Institute will hold a webinar on commercial market forecasts.
Friday, June 28: At 3:30pm, the Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is meeting virtually to talk to NASA Astrophysics Division Director in the Science Mission Directorate. |
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SpaceX launched 22 Starlinks to LEO over the weekend. |
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