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On this challenge:

• Layoffs come to Astra
• Information from NASA, Starlink and extra

Astra, a rocket startup that went public final yr, informed buyers Tuesday it laid off 16% of its workforce as a part of a wider technique to extend shrinking monetary runway and reduce bills.

The corporate additionally mentioned it could cut back near-term investments in house providers to develop its core companies: specifically, launch and spacecraft engines. This latter section particularly has change into a rising income for Astra, with the corporate reporting it had 237 dedicated orders for its spacecraft engines to entities together with Maxar, OneWeb and Astroscale. That represents a rise of 130% from final quarter.

The layoffs shine an unflattering mild on Astra’s fast progress: CEO Chris Kemp informed buyers throughout a name Tuesday that the corporate tripled in dimension within the house of a yr, swelling to greater than 400 individuals. Provided that quantity, Astra decreased its headcount by not less than 64 individuals.

Main house corporations, together with SpaceX and Relativity, are urging the U.S. Federal Communications Fee (FCC) to stay to its purview — spectrum utilization — because it appears to doubtlessly replace its guidelines for in-space servicing, meeting and manufacturing (ISAM) missions.

There may be a lot that the FCC might — and will do — to assist ISAM missions that sit squarely inside its regulatory bounds, the businesses mentioned. SpaceX and others, in addition to startups like Orbit Fab, which needs to construct refueling depots in house, and Starfish House, which is growing a satellite tv for pc servicing automobile, submitted suggestions associated to spectrum and ISAM. The fee additionally heard from Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin, United Launch Alliance and different house corporations and business teams.

Right here’s SpaceX: “The Fee should deal with this doubtlessly essential however nonetheless nascent business with care, exercising warning to not unintentionally stifle innovation by stepping exterior the authority expressly delegated to it by Congress.”

Extra information from TC and past

• Apple invested $450 million in upgrades to Globalstar’s floor infrastructure and satellite tv for pc community to assist the rollout of Emergency SOS by way of satellite tv for pc for iPhone 14 customers. (Apple)
• China is reportedly scrapping plans to make the booster of the Lengthy March 9 heavy-lift rocket expendable in favor of a completely reusable booster. (SpaceNews)
• NASA didn’t transfer the House Launch System rocket again to the security of a hangar upfront of Hurricane Nicole’s method, so the $4.1 billion rocket rode out the storm on the launch pad. As engineers proceed inspecting the rocket for harm, the company determined to maneuver the following launch date to November 16. (NASA)
• Northrop Grumman‘s Antares rocket despatched a Cygnus spacecraft to the Worldwide House Station for cargo resupply, a profitable mission regardless of one of many capsule’s photo voltaic arrays not deploying correctly. (Northrop Grumman)
• Rocket Lab had tons of reports this week — along with releasing its quarterly monetary outcomes, the corporate additionally introduced it gained a $14 million contract to produce separation techniques for U.S. House Drive satellites. (Rocket Lab)
• Rocket Lab set a launch date for its first mission from U.S. soil: December 7. My private suggestion: come to the TC Periods: House occasion on the sixth, then take a direct flight to Virginia. Simply saying. (Rocket Lab)
• Seraphim introduced the latest cohort of house startups that can take part within the Seraphim House Accelerator and Era House Accelerator. (Seraphim)
• SpaceX will impose slower speeds on Starlink customers that use massive quantities of energy throughout peak hours, in an effort to curb community congestion and enhance efficiency. (CNBC)
• Starfish House supplied extra particulars about its in-space satellite tv for pc docking demonstration mission that can happen subsequent yr. (GeekWire)
• Virgin Orbit acquired a $25 million money injection from Richard Branson’s Virgin Group because the launcher firm’s money available continues to say no. (Virgin Orbit)
• Voyager House’s Nanoracks has a brand new CEO: NASA astronaut and former OneWeb Applied sciences president Tim Kopra. (Voyager)

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