Ars Technica
• Eric Berger
Analysts warn that the looming launch crisis is worse than previously understood. They also find no evidence that SpaceX’s Starship will be used to launch traditional satellites, challenging assumptions that the vehicle will soon provide additional capacity for conventional satellite deployment.
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Analysts warn that the looming launch crisis is worse than previously understood. They also find no evidence that SpaceX’s Starship will be used to launch traditional satellites, challenging assumptions that the vehicle will soon provide additional capacity for conventional satellite deployment.
Virgin Galactic’s newly named Apeiron took to the skies for the first time on Oct. 29, carried beneath its carrier aircraft. The flight marks an initial airborne milestone for the company’s Delta-class spaceplane, though the available report does not specify the flight’s duration or whether it included a release or powered testing.
CEO Dan Goldberg told analysts Telesat was “pretty constrained” in what it could say about refinancing its legacy geostationary-orbit debt. The C$2.4 billion obligation is due in December, leaving the company’s refinancing plans unclear.
China’s commercial launch provider Landspace has topped a tender to launch an unidentified spacecraft, reported to be the Haolong reusable cargo spaceplane intended to serve the Tiangong space station. The award links a private launch provider with a spacecraft program supporting China’s crewed orbital infrastructure.
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Anthropic accounted for more than a third of SpaceX’s revenue in the third quarter, making the AI company the venture’s largest single customer, according to people familiar with the matter. The revenue comes from a finite deal, creating customer-concentration exposure even as Anthropic drives growth.
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Telesat says delays completing two pathfinder satellites at MDA Space will push the planned start of global Lightspeed broadband service back about three months, to around the end of the second quarter of 2028. The company also cited a tight launch market as it prepares to deploy the constellation.
In an interview with Mike Gruss, Laura Crabtree discusses ways to optimize the space industry. Crabtree leads Epsilon3 and previously trained astronauts at SpaceX, bringing experience from both a space-sector company and human spaceflight operations to the conversation.
Elon Musk has repeatedly used the letter X across his businesses: SpaceX, Tesla’s Model X and the social platform renamed X. With the X ticker available, the possibility of using it in a SpaceX-Tesla deal is raised, though the provided report offers no details of a proposed transaction.
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