Small sat news

The latest from SatSure on the rise of Newspace over the last decade, productizing geospatial analytics, investment strategies and more

What’s missing from space exploration?

“Manufacturing” says Made in Space CEO Andrew Rush as quoted in the Jacksonville Daily Record. “You need a reason to go. Every frontier we’ve ever opened as a people was because there was an economic reason for us to go and live and work in that place … That’s what we think is the missing piece in space exploration, . . . that economically-focused motivator to go and innovate and do new things.”

At last: a plan for demonstration of space solar power technology

Stars and Stripes reports that the Air Force Research Laboratory in partnership with Northrop Grumman is planning a Space Solar Power Incremental Demonstration.  No word on when flight hardware will be ready, but this is the first initiative of which I am aware that actual space technology demonstration is in the works. 

Although the project’s primary objectives are intended to augment military operations with beamed power from space to remote bases, the technology has potential commercial applications as a power source for isolated communities worldwide.