<p>Tom Vice, the CEO of private space technologies company Sierra Space, has left the company, according to a CNBC report.  Vice held the position for three and a half years, overseeing the VC-backed company’s $290 million fundraise at a $5.3 billion valuation in 2023 and securement of a military satellite contract in early 2024.&nbsp; Despite [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Tom Vice, the CEO of private space technologies company Sierra Space, has left the company, according to a CNBC report.  Vice held the position for three and a half years, overseeing the VC-backed company’s $290 million fundraise at a $5.3 billion valuation in 2023 and securement of a military satellite contract in early 2024.&nbsp; Despite [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Hi, and welcome back to TechCrunch Space. Happy New Year! And&#8230;surprise!: This will be the last edition of TechCrunch Space for the foreseeable future. I know, it&#8217;s a bummer. But fear not: We&#8217;ll still be reporting on space startups, so I hope you&#8217;ll stay tuned. And there will certainly be a lot to cover. This [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Hi, and welcome back to TechCrunch Space. Happy New Year! And&#8230;surprise!: This will be the last edition of TechCrunch Space for the foreseeable future. I know, it&#8217;s a bummer. But fear not: We&#8217;ll still be reporting on space startups, so I hope you&#8217;ll stay tuned. And there will certainly be a lot to cover. This [&hellip;]</p>

<p>SpaceX is significantly upping the ante of its Starship test flight program, with the next rocket launch expected to demonstrate payload deployment for the first time.  The payload in question will be 10 Starlink “simulators” that will be similar in size and weight to the next-gen satellites SpaceX plans to use Starship to deploy in [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Like many highly valued startups, SpaceX sometimes allows its employees to cash out some of their shares by selling to company-authorized outside investors. TechCrunch has gotten a peek at an internal SpaceX document about such a tender offer from May 2022. Musk posted on X last month that SpaceX holds such sales for employees about [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Like many highly valued startups, SpaceX sometimes allows its employees to cash out some of their shares by selling to company-authorized outside investors. TechCrunch has gotten a peek at an internal SpaceX document about such a tender offer from May 2022. Musk posted on X last month that SpaceX holds such sales for employees about [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Nearly a quarter century after its founding, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is gearing up to launch an orbital rocket for the first time — and finally enter the competitive launch industry that is currently dominated by SpaceX.  Company executives have maintained that they are planning to launch the towering rocket, called New Glenn, before the [&hellip;]</p>

<p>We are at the dawn of a new space age. If you doubt, simply look back at the last year: From SpaceX’s historic catch of the Super Heavy booster to the record-breaking number of lunar landing attempts, this year was full of historic and ambitious missions and demonstrations.&nbsp; We’re taking a look back at the [&hellip;]</p>

<p>K2 Space is betting that the future of space hardware will be big — really big.  The startup is building massive spacecraft under the assumption that launch costs will continue to drop as SpaceX’s Starship and other heavy-lift vehicles come online. It looks like the Space Force is taking up their side of that bet, [&hellip;]</p>

<p>K2 Space is betting that the future of space hardware will be big — really big.  The startup is building massive spacecraft under the assumption that launch costs will continue to drop as SpaceX’s Starship and other heavy-lift vehicles come online. It looks like the Space Force is taking up their side of that bet, [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Regulators have given SpaceX the go-ahead to launch Starship for the seventh time, although the company has not yet announced when that mission might take place.  While the exact launch date is unclear, SpaceX engineers have been as busy as ever at the company’s massive launch site near Boca Chica, Texas. In recent days, the [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Hello and welcome back to TechCrunch Space. This will be the final TechCrunch Space newsletter you receive in 2024, so to all our readers, have a wonderful holiday and see you next year. There&#8217;s a lot to look forward to next year. I expect to see much more progress from SpaceX on Starship, big changes [&hellip;]</p>

<p>The European Union is forging ahead with plans for a constellation of internet satellites to rival Elon Musk-owned Starlink, after signing a €10.6 billion ($11.1 billion) deal to launch nearly 300 satellites into low- and medium-Earth orbits by 2030. The bloc wants the space tech to boost its digital sovereignty by providing secure comms to [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Late-stage deals in space have been on the decline this year, but one notable exception is Fleet Space Technologies’ $100 million Series D.  The Adelaide, Australia-based startup raised the new funding to accelerate the development of ExoSphere, a platform to enable real-time mineral prospecting from space. The company currently has two satellites in low Earth [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Lumen Orbit, a startup looking to build data centers in space, was able to close its recent seed round in mere days amid intense investor interest. The Redmond, Washington-based company closed on an $11 million seed round at a $40 million valuation, confirming prior TechCrunch reporting that the company had raised a competitive double-digit round [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Blue Origin says it&#8217;s on track to launch its towering New Glenn vehicle before the year’s end, though the company is still awaiting regulatory approval to conduct a final key test of the massive rocket.  That test, called a “hot fire,” involves powering up all seven of the first stage’s BE-4 engines and firing them [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Hello, and welcome back to TechCrunch Space! To the shock of no one, ever, NASA announced that the next Artemis mission is delayed to no earlier than April 2026, and the subsequent Artemis III mission is delayed to mid-2027. It will be interesting to see how Artemis changes under Jared Isaacman&#8217;s leadership &#8212; more on [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Incoming president Donald Trump has nominated Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur and private astronaut, to lead NASA through what could be one of the most consequential periods in the agency’s history.  During the four years of Trump’s second term, NASA will need to navigate a number of significant changes and challenges, including the ongoing Artemis [&hellip;]</p>

<p>Incoming president Donald Trump has nominated Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur and private astronaut, to lead NASA through what could be one of the most consequential periods in the agency’s history.  During the four years of Trump’s second term, NASA will need to navigate a number of significant changes and challenges, including the ongoing Artemis [&hellip;]</p>