Sample Newsletter

Space Exploration

NASA may ask SpaceX to extend duration of Crew Dragon test flight (Spaceflight Now) – The SpaceX test might be extended for several months to ensure the space station remains staffed with U.S. astronauts after NASA’s agreement to procure seats on Russia’s Soyuz expires in 2020.
Blue Origin Probably Won’t Launch People Into Space This Year (Space.com) – Blue Origin had plans to launch its first crewed spaceflight in 2019. The company plans to launch more test missions with their suborbital New Shepard vehicle before putting someone aboard.
Boeing to invest in Virgin Galactic (Space News) – The $20 million investment by Boeing’s venture capital arm could support future development of high-speed point-to-point passenger travel.
NASA looks to support development of commercial space stations (Space News) – A draft proposal was submitted as part of NASA’s NextSTEP program in connection with the International Space Station and low Earth orbit infrastructure.

Nobel Prize in physics awarded for research on exoplanets and the structure of the universe (Washington Post) – The prize was jointly awarded to a cosmologist for work on the structure of the universe and to two scientists who discovered the first planet orbiting an alien star.
How to spot a wormhole (if they exist) (Science Daily) – Wormhole detection may be possible by searching for deviations in the orbit of stars caused by the gravitational influence of stars on the other end of a wormhole.
Humans will not ‘migrate’ to other planets, Nobel winner says (Phys.org) – Michael Mayor claims that it would just take too long to travel to inhabit exoplanets.

Rocket Lab’s Electron Rocket (Space.com) – The rocket has launched eight times from its New Zealand launch pad. Rocket Lab charges $5 million for each flight, with costs generally split among small satellites.
Relativity Space raises $140 million (Space News) – Bond and Tribe Capital led the Series C round. The company uses 3-D printing for rocket manufacturing. Other notable investors include Y Combinator, Mark Cuban, Michael Ovitz and Jared Leto.

If Planet 9 Is Actually a Black Hole, It Completely Changes How We Understand Our Universe (Popular Mechanics) – If Planet 9 exists, it should be similar in size to Neptune, but if it’s a primordial black hole, it might be about the size of an orange.
Catch Rockets With a Helicopter? Yep, That’s the Plan (Wired) – Grabbing rockets midair with helicopters is a concept being pursued by several companies. It is expected to be less expensive than guiding a rocket back to a landing pad.
The 20 Biggest Space Missions of the Next Decade (Popular Mechanics) – From space travel to colonization, here is a compiled list of all that is to come for space exploration.

SpaceX Falcon 9 (Kennedy Space Center) – SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is expected to launch with 60 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on November 11.
Rocket Lab to Launch Its Tenth Flight (Rocket Lab USA) – The small satellite launch company’s “Running Out of Fingers” mission launch window begins November 25. Payload includes microsatellites from five countries.
Boeing CST-100 Starliner (NASA) – An uncrewed test of the capsule designed to take up to seven astronauts to the space station has a target launch date of December 17, 2019 from Cape Canaveral.

Techstars Startup Weekend Seattle: Space Edition (Techstars) – Seattle, WA | November 15 - 17, 2019. Look for a team, create a prototype, validate your business idea and receive feedback.
National Space Society Conference (National Space Society) – The 2020 conference will be held at the Embassy Suites in Dallas on May 28–31^st.