Each month we round up some of the top stories in space, entrepreneurship, innovation, finance and technology.
Here’s our round-up for June:
HIGH-TECH GRÜNDERFONDS INVESTS IN ORBEX ORBITAL SPACE LAUNCH VEHICLE
Germany’s High-Tech Gründerfonds has made its first investment in the space sector with UK-based Orbex. Founded in 2015, Orbex is building an orbital micro-launch vehicle to insert small satellites into low Earth orbit from Europe. Read the press release here.
RUSSIA STUDYING DEDICATED SPACE TOURISM MISSIONS USING ITS SOYUZ SPACECRAFT
Russia is studying dedicated space tourism missions using its Soyuz spacecraft.
Glavkosmos Director General Denis Lyskov said at the Paris Air Show that future missions could fly two tourists and one professional cosmonaut, possibly visiting the ISS. Read more here.
KFC LAUNCHED A CHICKEN SANDWICH INTO SPACE (…NO KIDDING!)
A chicken sandwich boldly went where no chicken sandwich has gone before: space. Read about it here.
Watch the launch video below.
ROCKET SCIENTIST SAYS SPACE THE PLACE FOR BUDDING ENTREPRENEURS
The man behind one of the world’s first rocket launches from a private site has called on Irish spacetech firms to focus on small satellites if they want to get ahead.
Peter Beck, chief executive and founder of Rocket Lab, said money is no longer an obstacle for companies who want to build their own satellites.
Read the article here in The Irish Times.
JAPAN HAS PLANS TO LAND ASTRONAUTS ON THE MOON BY 2030 — WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM THE UNITED STATES.
Japan has plans to land astronauts on the Moon by 2030 — with a little help from the United States. The Japanese space agency JAXA said it envisions human missions to the Moon, potentially to study and make use of water ice deposits at the lunar poles. The JAXA plan, though, would involve making use of NASA’s proposed Deep Space Gateway in cislunar space, which would serve as the jumping-off point for expeditions to the lunar surface. [Asahi Shimbun]
FRENCH STARTUP RAISES $1.9 MILLION FOR SMALLSAT ELECTRIC PROPULSION
A pair of French entrepreneurs have raised 1.7 million euros ($1.9 million) for a new electric propulsion system to address the small satellite market.
Read the article on SpaceNews here.
20 OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD COMPANIES WORKING ON SPACE TRAVEL TECHNOLOGIES
Read how 20 companies are currently working on their technology that may soon make it possible for more humans to experience space travel and to send unmanned spacecraft for innovative cosmic explorations.
Featured image (above): Boeing’s Phantom Express spaceplane. Image Source: The Boeing Company
