Max Q: Count on the worst, hope for the most effective

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On this concern:

ispace’s lunar lander presumed misplaced
Replace on Ursa Main
Information from Hydrosat and extra

ispace loses contact with lunar lander seconds earlier than landing

Japanese firm ispace misplaced communication with its Hakuto-R lander simply moments earlier than it was supposed to the touch down on the lunar floor, a serious blow for what the corporate hoped could be the primary totally non-public lander to achieve the moon.

“At this second, now we have not been in a position to affirm profitable touchdown on the lunar floor,” ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada mentioned on the corporate’s livestream. “At present, now we have not confirmed the communication from the lander. […] We now have to imagine that we couldn’t full the touchdown on the lunar floor.”

He mentioned that ispace engineers will proceed to evaluate the state of affairs and supply an replace as soon as that investigation is full.

In an interview with TechCrunch, Hakamada mentioned that whereas it’s potential that the lander is secure and intact on the floor, there is no such thing as a knowledge to help that but and it’s unclear whether or not imagery from a lunar orbiter might make clear the state of affairs both.

Picture Credit: ispace Hakuto-R touchdown livestream (screenshot)

Ursa Main’s cope with Astra and new tranche of funding

Rocket engine maker Ursa Main had some massive wins: First, it publicly introduced information that Astra’s new Rocket 4 launch automobile will use Ursa Main’s Hadley liquid engine to energy its higher stage. Then, I uncovered that the corporate quietly closed a large new tranche of funding final October at a $400 million pre-money valuation.
Ursa, led by CEO Joe Laurienti, is constructing a 5,000-pound liquid oxygen and kerosene engine referred to as Hadley and a a lot bigger, 10x extra highly effective Ripley engine with a 50,000-pound thrust. The corporate eschews the vertical integration paradigm that has traditionally dominated the aerospace business. As an alternative, it focuses solely on the engine, one of many trickiest elements of a rocket to develop.

“We actually just like the notion that we’re a know-how growth firm, and the businesses which can be flying rockets right this moment shouldn’t be flying the identical engine that they architected for his or her rocket 10 years in the past,” Laurienti informed TechCrunch in an interview final 12 months. “That’s the paradigm we see in vertical integration.”

Ursa’s different public clients embrace small launch firms Phantom House and Stratolaunch. The corporate has additionally scored an engine supply contract with the U.S. Air Power.

Jordan Forness, Car Operations supervisor at Ursa Main, critiques a Hadley engine earlier than it ships to Astra. Picture Credit: Ursa Main

Extra information from TC and past

Astra will present 5 spacecraft propulsion kits to startup Apex House’s satellite tv for pc bus platform. (Astra)
Astrobotic chosen SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy to launch its Griffin lunar lander to the moon within the fourth quarter of this 12 months. (Astrobotic)
Astroscale secured a mortgage settlement and opened a brand new credit score line with two separate Japanese banks, every for roughly $22 million. (Astroscale)
Hydrosat closed on $20 million in new funding to scale its operations, together with placing its first two thermal infrared satellites into orbit. (TechCrunch)
NASA and its companions confirmed they’d help operations on the Worldwide House Station by means of 2030, and Russia agreed to help operations by means of 2028. Lengthy dwell ISS! (NASA)
Quantum House is accelerating the timeline for launching its Ranger orbital switch automobile in response to rising buyer demand. (House Information)
SpaceX’s Starship orbital flight check scattered particles over a whole bunch of acres and coated a close-by city in mud. (Bloomberg)
The U.S. House Power agreed to lease House Launch Complicated 6 to SpaceX for Falcon launches. (USSF)