The failed debut launch of Virgin Orbit from British soil in January of last year was a bitter start to the U.K.’s spaceflight ambitions. It was also the beginning of a bitter year for the space sector in the western world. In a sense, Virgin Orbit, which filed for bankruptcy three months after the British…

The Ukrainian space tech startup scene was only taking its first breaths when the Russian army invaded Ukraine. The war may set its development back, but it could also give it a boost. The outcome will depend on the decisions of Ukraine’s future government, insiders agree. In 2021, Dnipropetrovsk University rocket engineering professor Vitaliy Yemets…

Just five years ago, small satellite operators would say “yes” to any possibility to get into orbit at a reasonable price, says Stephen Eisele, vice president of Business Development at Virgin Orbit. But times are changing, and with the small satellite market growing exponentially, the operators are increasingly aware of their significance for the launch…

Unstable operators’ business cases together with advances in digital technology impel satellite manufacturers to provide software-defined solutions that would be cheaper and more flexible than traditional satellites. In the next months, American satellite manufacturer Lockheed Martin will launch a bunch of cubesats into the Low-Earth Orbit (LEO). These cubesats, however, will be somewhat different from…