Weekly Recap #50 + Viridian Interview

Main Topics This week we had the privlege of interviewing Matthew Feldman, Co-Founder and CTO of Viridian Space Technologies, to learn all about their air-breathing electric propulsion for VLEO spacecraft! Catch an excerpt in this episode and subscribe to catch the full interview when it drops later this week. On September 10th we’ll be at Space Social SF, be sure to RSVP and join us to meet all the space companies operating in the San Francisco Bay Area! Launch * Isar Aerospace successfully conducted their Spectrum vehicle’s second launch out of the Andoya Space Complex in Norway. [source] * Astroscale Japan selected Isar Aerospace for the ADRAS-J2 mission to de-orbit a rocket body. [source] * Spanish startup PLD Space added €108M to their Series C raise, now sized at €288M, to fund the deployment of their Miura rocket. [source] * German launch company HyImpulse Technologies secured over €50M to scale commercial suborbital and orbital launch operations. [source] Comms * NASA awarded Blue Origin a $700M firm-fixed-price contract to deliver a high-performance Mars telecommunications orbiter to NASA by the end of 2028. [source] * OHB won a nearly €1B IRIS2 contract for the development and production of 18 satellite platforms for the Secure Connectivity Program. [source] * The British Government Commercial Agency selected Open Cosmos as an approved provider for the £8B Sovereign Comms Framework. [source] * SpaceX petitioned the FCC to block Viasat’s GEO birds from interfering with Starlink constellation. [source] Space Mobility * York Space Systems unveiled their new VLEO platform leveraging their LX/V-class satellites. [source] * Fermi Explorer was announced as Starcloud CEO Philip Johnston’s non-profit to send a satellite to Alpha Centauri, it’s crowd-funded, so if you want your name onboard then donate on their website. [source] * Samara Aerospace received a $1.22M NSF SBIR Phase II award for their novel attitude control technology. [source] * Juno Propulsion was awarded a $1.2M NSF SBIR Phase II award for their novel rotating detonation propulsion technology. [source] Business Moves * Diffraqtion expanded their raise to $10M adding Lockheed Martin Ventures as a supporter of their quantum camera technology. [source] * Indian startup Kepler Aerospace raised $8M led by Ashva Capital for the development of their ISR constellation. [source] * Nade Space raised $4.4M in a round led by Abstract for their onboard automated FDIR technology. [source] Tech Advances * Elve reached TRL8 on their 100W mmWave space traveling wave tube amplifier. [source] * Bepicolombo began its Mercury approach 8 years after launch, jettisoning its orbital transfer first stage. [source] * Yank Technologies wins USSF contract to study near-field wireless satellite charging. [source] Get full access to Space Times at spacetimespod.substack.com/subscribe