Overview: Looking Forward

I’m off to Paris soon for next week’s World Space Business Week conference, which, from my point of view, is the most productive event of the year for understanding space as a business.?

WSBW is this industry’s version of the Sun Valley Conference, where midday panels and late-night conversations by top decision-makers reveal insights into the state of play.

I’m looking forward to connecting and reconnecting with sources — if you’ll be there, shoot me a note! I’ll also be moderating an opening day executive discussion on “last mile” satellite connectivity , so I hope to see you at the panel too.

As I’m getting ready for next week’s whirlwind, I’m also anticipating the effects of some recent events. Two in particular: this morning’s Polaris Dawn spacewalk , and a spate of CEO changes.

SpaceX continues to pull off feats that are in the “previously only done by superpower governments” category, with Polaris Dawn its latest. There are a lot of notable elements about the milestone, but the standout for me is the spacesuits.?

Two years from concept testing to in-space use is mind-bendingly quick development, as spacesuits are a uniquely difficult piece of tech given the fact that they’re basically mini-spacecrafts in their own right. Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis showed off the mobility of the SpaceX EVA suits. While these ones were tethered to the spacecraft to minimize risk and complexity, SpaceX’s iterative process and the data from this first mission will surely lead to improved spacesuits — entering a new product into the spacesuit market that NASA is already heavily seeding .

And then there are the CEO moves.?

In the past couple weeks, we’ve seen Firefly pick up a new CEO in Jason Kim from Boeing’s Millennium Space Systems, Mynaric CEO Mustafa Veziroglu ousted as the company tries to restructure and get production back on track, Lynk co-founder Charles Miller step aside from the CEO role for Dan Dooley as the satellite communication company prepares to go public, and satellite terminal maker All.Space’s founder John Finney replaced as CEO by Paul McCarter, who was previously COO.?

Back to you next week with my thoughts from another busy space week in the French capital!

WHAT'S UP

• Polaris Dawn mission launches, performs first SpaceX spacewalk that saw crew members Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis step outside of the Dragon capsule. – CNBC / CNBC
• Boeing’s Starliner returns to Earth empty to end a test flight that left NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams at the ISS for a much longer stay than previously planned. – CNBC
• A record 19 astronauts in orbit were recorded this week, with 12 aboard the International Space Station, four in the free-flying Polaris Dawn mission, and three on China’s Tiangong space station. – Supercluster
• Quilty Space estimates Kuiper will cost Amazon initially as much as $20 billion, double the $10 billion estimate the company released four years ago. Despite the high upfront cost, Quilty estimates the long-term payoff for Amazon could amount to tens of billions in annual revenue. – GeekWire
• SpaceX and the FAA spar over Starship licensing after an estimate that the rocket’s next launch license won’t be issued until November, while a congressional subcommittee grilled the regulator over its efficiency. SpaceX lambasted the FAA in a lengthy, rare post on its website that said the “delay was not based on a new safety concern, but instead driven by superfluous environmental analysis.” The FAA in a statement noted that SpaceX had modified the launch profile for its next mission and said SpaceX didn’t deliver information until mid-August about “how the environmental impact of Flight 5 will cover a larger area than previously reviewed,” which triggered an interagency review. – SpaceNews
• AST’s first five commercial satellites are in orbit after launching on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, the first of its BlueBird direct-to-device communications spacecraft. – AST
• FCC calls for competitors to Starlink, saying the U.S. needs “to invite many more space actors in, many more companies that can develop constellations and innovations.” – Reuters
• Japanese lunar company ispace targets December for second mission launch, with its lander having completed assembly and integration. – ispace
• Satellite builder Aerospacelab opens L.A. factory in Torrance, a 35,000-square-foot facility for its U.S. customers. – Aerospacelab
• John Deere to debut early-access Starlink program, using a “ruggedized” terminal and cell modem to connect agricultural machines. – Via Satellite
• Verizon rolling out Android emergency satellite texting via Skylo, which will use compatible smartphones for texting and location services in the U.S. – SpaceNews

INDUSTRY MANEUVERS

• Airbus Ventures raised a $155 million fund for deep tech and space investments, the firm’s fourth fund to date. One of the most prolific investors in space startups, Airbus Ventures has deployed about a third of its capital to date in the sector. – CNBC
• Space traffic startup Slingshot Aerospace raises $30 million in debt from Trinity Capital, in a round the company says will allow it “to continue to scale operations and fund key growth initiatives.” – Slingshot
• NASA selects eight companies under $476 million satellite imagery and services contract, known as the “Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition Program On-Ramp1 Multiple Award:” BlackSky, ICEYE, MDA, Pixxel, Planet, Satellogic, Teledyne, and The Tomorrow Companies. – NASA
• Reentry capsule startup Inversion Space awarded $71 million Space Force contract via the technology development arm SpaceWERX for a demo mission in 2026. – TechCrunch
• ImageSat awarded $54.5 million defense contract to provide satellite-based intelligence analytics for an unnamed international customer. – ISI
• Satellite weather data company PlanetiQ awarded $6.5 million NOAA contract for one year of supplying radio occultation data. – PlanetiQ
• SoftBank signs service deal with Eutelsat’s OneWeb, focused on the Japanese market. – Via Satellite

MARKET MOVERS

• Viasat ups debt facility to $1.975 billion in 9% senior secured notes due 2029, with the sale proceeds to be used for redeeming its previously issued 2026 senior secured notes. – Viasat

BOLDLY GOING

• Dan Dooley promoted to CEO of Lynk, with co-founder Charles Miller moving to chairman. Dooley was the satellite communications company’s chief commercial officer, which also named retired Air Force Gen. John Olson as president of strategic development. – Lynk
• Jamie Landers joins Outpost as president, coming to the orbital cargo reentry and delivery startup after previous leading sales roles at Maxar and Lockheed Martin. – Landers
• Frank Klein named COO of Rocket Lab, joining the company from the automotive industry, where he previously led business units at Daimler AG. – Rocket Lab
• Pete McGrath becomes CFO of Intuitive Machines, having previously been the COO, while interim CFO Steven Vontour was named chief accounting officer and Jack Fischer was made SVP of production and operations. – Intuitive Machines
• Paul Suarez joins Blue Origin as director of manufacturing operations, having previously served in similar roles at Northrop Grumman and SpaceX. – Suarez
• Kelly Kennedy joins Satellogic board of directors, who currently serves as CFO of Willow Innovations. She steps into a board seat left by Brad Halverson, who served for two years. – Satellogic

ON THE HORIZON

• Sept. 12: SpaceX Falcon 9 launches Starlink satellites?from California.
• Sept. 13: NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Wilmore?speak in a virtual press conference from the International Space Station.
• Sept. 15:?SpaceX Falcon 9 launches Galileo satellites from Florida.
• Sept. 16 - 20: World Space Business Week?conference in Paris.
• Sept. 16: FAA's COMSTAC meeting.
• Sept. 16: Rocket Lab Electron launches Kineis satellites from New Zealand.