Hello and welcome back to Max Q! Straight to the big news up front: It seems that we are finally getting close to the first orbital flight test (OFT) of SpaceX’s Starship — for real this time. It’s looking like a wet dress is likely next week, and if all goes to plan, we could see SpaceX attempt a flight as soon as the week after.
In this issue:
Virgin Orbit, the low Earth orbit small-payload launch company that was spun out of Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, has filed for bankruptcy protection with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The bankruptcy filing follows weeks of bad news for the company, including a pause on all operations, a brief hunt for more money to continue as a going concern and massive layoffs to try to right-size to the company’s actual available budget, which the bankruptcy news essentially confirms was nonexistent. RIP.
As tensions between the United States and China continue to escalate, a new startup has emerged from stealth with millions raised and a plan to send intelligence-gathering pursuit satellites to orbit this year.
Colorado-based True Anomaly was founded last year by a trio of ex-Space Force members. The company has set out to supply the Pentagon with defensive tech to protect American assets in space, and to conduct recon on enemy spacecraft. The startup has developed a technology stack that includes training software and “autonomous orbital pursuit vehicles” that will be able to collect video and other data on objects in space.
According to True Anomaly CEO Even Rogers, there is a critical “information asymmetry” between the U.S. and its adversaries regarding space activities. Such an asymmetry increases the probability of conflict “because it creates conditions for miscalculation,” he said.
“We have to get absolutely clear about what their intentions are and what their capabilities are so that we can make the right investments and defend ourselves if necessary.”
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Source @TechCrunch
