A holding company affiliated with an Emirati royal family is injecting a new joint venture between Abu Dhabi-based Marlan Space and startup Loft Orbital with over $ 100 million to grow the region’s domestic satellite manufacturing capabilities. The joint venture, called Orbitworks, will be the first commercial firm in the United Arab Emirates to mass […]
TechCrunch Minute: Lockheed Martin rescues satellite manufacturer Terran Orbital
Lockheed Martin is acquiring satellite manufacturer Terran Orbital, taking the smaller company private and potentially rescuing it from running out of cash while facing of serious debt. Although Terran Orbital itself wasn’t founded until 2013, its history goes back to the late ’90s, to the development of the CubeSat, which became the flagship in a […]
Star Catcher wants to build a space power grid to supercharge orbital industry
Our growth as a civilization is tightly coupled to our ability to sufficiently generate ever-increasing amounts of electricity. Could the same be true in space? Star Catcher Industries, a startup just emerging from stealth today, is betting that might be the case. The company is developing a space-based energy grid that could enable more power-intensive […]
Gravitics to develop ‘tactically responsive’ orbital platforms for the Space Force
Space station module developer Gravitics scored a $ 1.7 million contract from the U.S. Space Force to develop orbital platforms to enable responsive space missions. The contract is part of a larger push from the Force to procure space capabilities — like launch, satellite payload integration, and even satellite operations — from private industry on […]
Gitai’s autonomous robot installs panel outside the ISS, showing orbital repairs in action
Los Angeles-based Gitai said Tuesday that its autonomous robotic arm has nailed a tech demonstration outside the International Space Station. Gitai CEO Sho Nakanose told TechCrunch in an interview last year that the company aims to reduce in-space labor costs by 100 times, in the same way that SpaceX and other providers have dramatically reduced […]