Challenges | Solicitations | Resources
Who Let the Gas Out? NASA Tank Venting Challenge | NASA Tournament Lab (NTL)
Register to submit your novel solution to NASA’s spacecraft ullage venting challenges in microgravity for extended space travel. Chosen concept designs will win a share of the $80,000 prize. Deadline: February 22, 2024.
The solar system's biggest space jobs site | Space Crew
Accelerate your space career with email alerts for key space industry insights and over 4000 space company jobs.
Jobs in the Space Field & Tech Industry | Space Talent
Space Talent is a resource for careers at the intersection of space and tech. They match employers with top talent while providing insights and resources to grow your career.
Upcoming Events
Automating for SmallSat Success
Panel featuring speakers from Planet, Terran Orbital, York Space and Blue Canyon will discuss how automation is changing the way satellites are being designed, built, deployed and operated. Online. February 20, 2024.
Small Satellites & Services International Forum (SSSIF)
SSSIF 2024 is an international workshop for small satellite designers, technicians, developers, and launchers. €100 - €400. Málaga (Spain). February 20-22, 2024.
SETI Institute Movie Night - The Hunt for Planet B
Watch The Hunt for Planet B with its director, award-winning documentary filmmaker Nathaniel Kahn. The film interweaves the building of the Webb Telescope with the story of a pioneering group of female scientists looking for life beyond our solar system. Free. Online. February 22, 2024.
Space-Comm Expo brings together world-class speakers to discuss the theme, “Accelerating the commercial future of space” as multiple space-related industries network and learn about space technology and commercial developments. Farnborough, UK. March 6-7, 2024.
45th IEEE Aerospace Conference 2024
The IEEE Aerospace Conference invites leaders in aerospace, academia, and the military for plenary sessions on cutting edge aerospace system technologies and applications. $130-1770. Big Sky, MT. March 6-9, 2024.
Conference and exhibition to include manufacturers, service providers, and integrators serving all technology end-user markets. Speakers include Office of Space Commerce Deputy Director Janice Starzyk and SpaceX VP of Commercial Sales Stephanie Bednarek. Washington, DC. March 18-21, 2024.
61st AAS Goddard Space Science Symposium
The Goddard Space Science Symposium brings the space community together to discuss topics including cislunar infrastructure, space weather and interplanetary missions under the theme “Space 2040: Pathways to the Future”. $0-$925. College Park, MD. March 20-22, 2024.
April 8, 2024 Solar Eclipse | NASA
Passing from Mexico to Canada, it will be the last total solar eclipse visible from the contiguous US until 2044. April 8, 2024.
Space Symposium gathers all sectors of the space community for networking and opportunities to examine multiple perspectives on critical space issues and plan for future achievements in space. $425-$3,560. Colorado Springs, CO. April 8-11, 2024.
This conference brings together leading academics, business leaders, innovators, and policy influencers working on the new space economy for curated sessions under the theme “Economics, Commerce, and Sustainability of New Space”. $150-$525. Huntsville, AL. April 21-23, 2024
CubeSat Developers Workshop 2024
Join over 600 attendees from 50 countries for this global small-satellite conference hosted by CubeSat. $175-$700. Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, CA. April 23–25, 2024.
12th Inter-Planetary Small Satellite Conference
Conference organized by staff and students from Caltech, MIT, Cornell and other institutions to explore mission concepts, discuss emerging technologies, and foster “outside the box” thinking on interplanetary small satellite missions. Tucson, AZ. April 30-May 2, 2024.
Small Satellites Systems and Services Symposium
Join presentations around “Space Transformation” toward a circular economy, clean space, and how new technology impacts satellite design and data use. The program will also cover sessions including mission and system analysis, Earth observation, and small satellites access. €500-€1100. Palma de Mallorca, Spain. May 27-31, 2024.
75th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) 2024 | International Astronautical Federation
IAC 2024 will highlight efforts to keep the space environment secure and open to exploration through international cooperation. Over 8,000 are expected to attend the event, which will feature the theme “Responsible Space for Sustainability.” Milan, Italy. October 14-18, 2024.
Add your event or campaign. Contact us for details.
Space Ecosystem | Startups | Deals
Space object tracking firm LeoLabs raised $29 million to scale and develop new ground-based radar tracking technologies and AI solutions for space domain and space situational awareness. The round was led by GP Bullhound.
Secretive moon startup led by ex-Blue Origin leaders raises new tranche of funding
Interlune, a startup focused on harvesting resources from the moon to use on Earth, raised $15.5 million in new funding. Interlune is led by Rob Meyerson, the former Blue Origin president and angel investor with investments in hardware startups such as Axiom and Starfish Space.
AI startup Synthetaic raises $15 million in Series B funding
AI space and air sensor data analysis startup Synthetaic raised $15 million in Series B funding led by Lupa Systems and TitletownTech, with participation from IBM Ventures and Booz Allen Hamilton, for its Rapid Automatic Image Categorization (RAIC) analytics tool.
Illustration of satellite coverage for telecommunications services. Image Credit: ESA-Science Office
Shanghai firm behind G60 megaconstellation raises $943 million
Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST) raised $943 million in series A funding led by the National Manufacturing Transformation and Upgrading Fund to build its 12,000-satellite G60 LEO megaconstellation.
Quindar raises $6 million for automation of satellite constellation operations
Quindar raised $6 million in a seed round extension led by Fuse with participation from existing investors Founders Fund and Y Combinator, to further develop AI for automation of satellite constellations and simplified operation of multiple satellite busses and payloads.
Lynk Global finalizes SPAC merger deal
Direct-to-smartphone operator Lynk Global agreed to a merger with Nasdaq traded shell company Slam Corp at a valuation of $800 million. Lynk is also raising ~$40 million in a parallel Series B round. Lynk seeks to fund a LEO constellation to extend terrestrial mobile networks.
Space Exploration | Development
Falcon 9 launches first Intuitive Machines lunar lander
Intuitive Machines’s first Nova-C lunar lander, Odysseus, successfully deployed and will attempt a landing near the Malapert A crater in the south polar region of the moon on February 22. It carries six CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) payloads for NASA under an award valued at ~$118 million, and six non-NASA payloads.
Artist rendering of the Starlab space station in low Earth orbit. Image Credit: Voyager Space / Starlab Space LLC
Starlab, meet Starship: Private space station buys SpaceX launch for later this decade
Private station developer Starlab, one of the earliest commercial customers to order a Starship launch, plans to reach orbit as early as 2028 before the ISS retires in 2030. Voyager and Airbus did not disclose the launch contract’s value.
AI spurs space sector innovation
Artificial intelligence and machine learning has sped up innovation and analysis by facilitating rapid iteration of designs, as demonstrated by Amazon Web Services customers who 3D-print spacecraft parts designed with generative AI, and enabling natural language image archive searches.
Astronomy | Astrophysics | Astrobiology | Cosmology
No, the James Webb Space Telescope hasn’t found life out there—at least not yet
Some scientists think strong evidence for a biosignature on an exoplanet is coming soon. Researchers previously reported the possible detection of dimethyl sulfide, an organic compound that is only produced by life on Earth, on K2-18b, an exoplanet 120 light years away.