SpaceNews This Week | GEO smallsat startup; DARPA; Exploration roadmap; Stratolaunch

March 2, 2018 View this email in your browser Startup plans to provide broadband using small GEO satellites Jeff Foust, CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A startup company has raised $18 million to provide broadband internet access from space using small satellites in geostationary orbit. San Francisco-based Astranis announced the Series A funding round March 1 led by Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Others participating in the funding round include Y Combinator, Fifty Years, Refactor Capital and Indicator Fund. The funding will go towards the development of the first in what the company plans to be dozens of smallsats that can each provide up to 10 gigabits per second of capacity. Those satellites, the company's founders and investors argue, can provide internet access to underserved areas more cost-effectively than traditional large geostationary satellites or constellations of low Earth orbit smallsats. More satellite headlines  Kratos, bullish on satellite communications, in talks with LEO constellations Globalstar plays up spectrum strategy as debt deadline looms Sky Perfect Jsat investing $4.5 million in maritime satcom company KVH Canada budgets a boost for LEO broadband constellations Viasat taps into Brazilian market with Telebras pact Iridium raising new debt to cover late Aireon payments DARPA sees clear path to faster, cheaper space technology Sandra Erwin, WASHINGTON — The commercial space industry can mass produce satellites that are small but quite sophisticated for the price. And launch vehicles are getting better and cheaper by the day. So it only makes sense for the U.S. military to ride that wave, said Steven Walker, the director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. DARPA was created 60 years ago as an antidote to the stubbornly inflexible system the military uses to develop and acquire technology. The agency now sees an opportunity to flex its disruptive muscles in space programs. "Space is going to be one of my priorities," Walker said Thursday at a defense writers breakfast meeting. More military space headlines Chairman Rogers: Space corps needed more than ever, Air Force 'in denial' Massive review of the defense industry nears completion; Air Force steps up rhetoric on China's space challenge Air Force space laboratory invites companies to pitch ideas Northrop Grumman moves ahead with new ICBM design, impact of Orbital merger still unclear Op-ed | As adversaries threaten U.S. space systems, serious changes are needed in defense procurement New exploration roadmap to be topic of space agencies meeting Jeff Foust, CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A new version of a space exploration roadmap that firmly puts the moon on the path to Mars will be one topic of discussion at a meeting of dozens of space agencies this weekend in Tokyo. The Second International Space Exploration Forum (ISEF2) will take place March 3 in Tokyo. About 45 countries and international organizations are expected to participate in the meeting, the first since the inaugural meeting in January 2014 in Washington. Representing the United States at the meeting will be several officials, including National Space Council Executive Secretary Scott Pace and NASA Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot, according to a March 1 statement by the U.S. State Department. More civil space headlines Atlas launches GOES-S weather satellite GAO warns JWST could face more delays and cost overruns NASA no longer seeking to develop second mobile launcher for SLS Senators press administration for ISS transition plan New NASA planetary protection officer seeks greater cooperation with human and commercial missions KBR to acquire NASA contractor SGT Stratolaunch aircraft edges closer to first flight Jeff Foust, WASHINGTON — The giant aircraft being developed by Stratolaunch as part of an air-launch system is one step closer to its first flight after a new series of taxi tests. The company said Feb. 26 that it performed a series of medium-speed taxi tests of its aircraft Feb. 24 and 25 at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. The aircraft reach a top speed of 74 kilometers per hour in the tests. "The primary purpose of the activity was to evaluate updates made to the steering and primary braking systems. We are excited to report all objectives of this test were achieved," company spokesperson Alex Moji said in a Feb. 26 email. "The data collected will be used to evaluate and update our flight simulator for crew training." More launch headlines  Atlas launches GOES-S weather satellite Lessons from SpaceX about the power of incentives Head of FAA commercial space office to retire ILS's Pysher: Proton continues to reinvent itself to compete Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Advertise with Us | Privacy Policy | Subscribe Copyright © 2018 SpaceNews Inc., All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: SpaceNews Inc. 1414 Prince St, Suite 204 Alexandria, VA 22314