Oct 15, 2024 | View Online

Good morning. SpaceX made history over the weekend, launching Starship on its fifth test flight and nailing its first attempt to catch a booster in midair using a chopstick-esque contraption at the launch pad. The milestone launch, which ended with Starship’s splashdown in the ocean, will not require an FAA investigation, so SpaceX could fly again whenever it’s ready without any regulatory delay.

That wasn’t all for SpaceX’s very busy long weekend: on Monday, a Falcon Heavy sent NASA’s Europa Clipper off on its mission to search for life on Jupiter’s moon.

Today's newsletter:
✨ Meet the Payload Pioneers
🛰️ Constellation Technologies’ seed round
🗓️ The week ahead
🔁 People on the move

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here..

Presenting our 30-Under-30 For the Space Industry

We’re so excited to unveil our 2024 group of Payload Pioneers.

The caliber of this year’s group of 30-under-30 in the space industry blew us away. And the numbers back it up—the average score of a winner this year was 3+ points higher than those who made our 2023 list.

Cream of the crop: The 2024 Pioneers are working in every corner of the space industry from founding companies to building hardware for tackling space debris to writing policy to developing programs to reach the Moon. Many are also working with programs outside their day jobs to boost diversity in the sector and inspire the next generation of the industry.

Our winners represent 28 companies.
The list is 53% men, 40% women, and 7% non-binary.
Five Pioneers have founded their own company.

Our process: Payload is committed to always being transparent, so here’s a peek behind the curtain of how we picked these 30 young innovators.

We received 115+ nominations—and no one could self-nominate.
Payload reached out to nominees to ask for more information and compiled information on the top 50 nominees to share with our three-person judging panel.
Judges ranked each candidate on a scale of 1-10 in three categories: innovation, promotion of the space industry, and transformation.
We compiled the scores, then judges convened to debate and create the final list.

With gratitude: We want to extend a huge thank you to our judges, all 2023 Payload Pioneers themselves. Thanks to Josh Ingersoll from Astranis, Makena Fetzer from SpaceX, and Brendan Rosseau from Blue Origin.

What’s next: We’re already thinking ahead to next year’s list. Nominations for our 2025 group will open next summer!

Click to see the list

In Partnership With Maxar Space Systems

Innovating Today for a Better Tomorrow

At Maxar Space Systems, we are leveraging our 65+ year legacy as a world-leading space technology and manufacturing company to unleash innovation and pioneer tomorrow. We deliver sustainable solutions to government and commercial customers, helping them unlock the promise of space to solve problems on Earth and beyond. Learn more about how Maxar Space Systems is shaping the future of space exploration.

Read Online

Constellation Technologies Raises €9.3M Seed Round

Image: Constellation Technologies

French connectivity-from-space startup Constellation Technologies has received €9.3M ($10.1M) in seed funding to build and launch the first two satellites of its planned internet-beaming constellation in VLEO.

The pitch: Unlike SpaceX’s Starlink, which delivers internet connectivity directly to user terminals on Earth, Constellation Technologies’ satellites will serve telecommunications companies in remote and under-connected areas, who would then distribute connectivity to end users using their existing cellular and fiber infrastructure.

The company says their aim is to empower terrestrial telecommunication providers rather than compete with them.

Get low: Charles Delfieux, Constellation Technologies CEO and founder, told Payload the firm expects to achieve full global coverage with 1,500 satellites orbiting at a very low altitude of 375 km.

Flying their fleet so low will enable the firm to use smaller, cheaper terminals that require less energy, Delfieux added, providing internet speeds “of up to 150 Mbps downlink and 50 Mbps uplink with latency of less than 30 milliseconds.”

More details: The seed round included participation from Expansion, an investment fund focused on European new space and air mobility efforts, and the French Tech Seed Fund supported by the French government. It will fund the construction of two prototype satellites—each weighing 350 kg—that are scheduled to launch in 2026.

Once in orbit, the spacecraft will allow Constellation Technologies to conduct end-to-end testing of the onboard terminals including an inter-satellite link.

What’s next: Delfieux said that building the entire constellation will require “a multi-billion investment.” The company aims to follow the financing model used for construction of submarine cables with a consortium of telecommunications operators providing the funds to deploy the constellation as “an international shared telecom infrastructure.”

Read Online

In Other News

Anduril Industries announced a partnership with Impulse Space to develop advanced in-space maneuvering capabilities.
A NASA optical ground station transmitted its first laser communications to the TBIRD small sat.
The space agency’s Deep Space Optical Communications also made news, setting a record by transmitting laser signal to the Psyche spacecraft 290 miles away from Earth.
Blue Origin postponed its second human-rated spacecraft launch due to a GPS issue.
Canada and the UK teamed up for their Redwing microsatellite SDA mission set to launch in 2027.
ESA engineers examined the first autonomous welding of aluminum in orbit.
Correction: Friday's story on Vast's Haven-1 space station was updated to reflect the correct number of days Haven-1 will be occupied by crew members on orbit.

The Week Ahead

All times are in Eastern

Tuesday: The 2024 International Astronautical Congress continues all week in Milan. The National Security Space Association will also hold its International Security Space Week programming through Thursday. At 11:30am, The Maryland Space Business Roundtable will hold an event with Elsayed Talaat, NOAA’s director of space weather observations. At 3pm, NASA’s Planetary Science Division will hold a virtual town hall. Air Force Research Laboratory will host the 4th Space Cyber Summit in Albuquerque, NM.

Thursday: At 10:00am, Troy Meink, principal deputy director of the NRO, will be present at a Mitchell Institute event. At noon, AIAA will hold an “aerospace 101” lunch on Capitol Hill focusing on commercial space authorization and economic growth. The NRO’s 2024 Tech Forum will be hosted in Chantilly, VA with the theme “Defining Our Future.” At 3:55pm, SpaceX is expected to launch a batch of Starlink satellites into LEO..

Saturday: At 7:52pm, SpaceX is planning to launch another group of Starlink birds from Cape Canaveral.

On The Move

Portal Space Systems named Jen Scholten as head of marketing and communications.
Ursa Major announced the addition of retired Rear Adm. Chris Engdahl to the team.
Blue Origin welcomed Stephanie DelPozzo as strategy manager.

The View From Texas

Image: Elon Musk/SpaceX

As Elon said on X, “Even rockets need hugs.”

PODCAST | POLARIS | WEBSITE

Questions? Feedback? Let us know by replying to this email.
Tips to share? Send us a secure email or message us on Signal.
Care to partner? To ask about advertising, drop us a line.
Don't like space? Feel free to unsubscribe here.

228 Park Ave S, PMB 37286
New York, NY 10003, United States of America