The Deep End #14
An American spy satellite, flying taxis, and a16z's latest space investment
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After several hold-ups, ULA successfully launches classified spy satellite
ULA is phasing out both the Delta IV Heavy and its workhorse Atlas V rocket in favor of the new Vulcan Centaur, which is slated to debut later this year. Whereas the Delta IV Heavy has just one more mission to go after Thursday, however, the Atlas V will keep flying for years to come. ULA has booked missions on the veteran rocket through 2029, mostly to build out Amazon's Project Kuiper internet constellation and send Boeing's Starliner astronaut taxi to the International Space Station.
Read about the long journey here or the successful launch here.
Financial Times: which flying taxi will take off first?
Companies around the world are closing in on the dream: a battery-powered aircraft — the industry dislikes the term “flying car” — that takes off and lands like a helicopter, cruises like a plane and is blessed by regulators for commercial use. Backers include big names such as Boeing and the automaker Stellantis, and several companies are targeting 2024 or 2025 for entry into service.
More here.
Andreessen Horowitz, Shield Capital back satellite bus manufacturing startup Apex Space
Apex’s early customers:
In addition to the new capital, Apex also revealed some of the customers that will be flying payload on that inaugural mission: Orbit Fab, a startup that’s developing technology to refuel spacecraft in orbit; Irish satellite firm Ubotica; and a tier 1 defense prime that Apex CEO Ian Cinnamon told TechCrunch was a “household name.”
Apex’s business model:
Apex, founded by Cinnamon and Max Benassi scarcely nine months ago, seeks to transform the way satellite buses — the part of the spacecraft that hosts the payload — are built and sold. For the most part, buses are built to order at a high cost, with years-long lead times. Instead, Apex has optimized the design of its first bus, a 100-kilogram spacecraft called Aries, for manufacturing. That means a standardized product that can be configured according to mission needs, and lead times on the order of months, rather than years.
More here.