satellite | Pixr8 News

19Aug By AnkitaNo Comments

FUNDING

Space Tech Startup Pixxel secures USD 5 million in funding

Bengaluru, 19th Aug 2020: Indian space-technology startup Pixxel has raised USD 5 million in a seed round led by Blume Ventures, growX ventures, and Lightspeed India. The round also included contributions from Inventus Capital India and other angel investors including Stanford Angels and Ryan Johnson, a veteran in the earth imaging space, it said in a statement. The new funding will strengthen Pixxels plans for its first satellite launch later this year and accelerate development of the second satellite, it said. In conjunction with the funding, Ryan Johnson, previously founder and CEO at Blackbridge, a Canadian earth- imaging company, and ex-President at Planet Labs, one of the largest satellite imaging companies in the world, will be joining the Board of Directors at the company...

18Aug By AdityaNo Comments

FUNDING

SpaceX raises $1.9 billion in funding

Elon Musk-led aerospace company SpaceX raises $1.9 billion in new funding, according to a regulatory filing on Tuesday. This would be the largest funding round raise by SpaceX till date. Bloomberg, in its report, said that the private rocket company will have an equity value of $46 billion after the transaction, citing people familiar with the matter. SpaceX is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs to enable the colonization of Mars. Its designs, manufactures and launches the world’s most advanced rockets and spacecraft.

6May By PriyankaNo Comments

FUNDING

Satellite making platform gets $10 mn funding from Next Capital

Pune-based VestaSpace Technology on Wednesday said it has received USD 10 million (about Rs 75.8 crore) in funding from US-based investment and advisory firm Next Capital LLC. Founded in 2018 by Arun Kumar Sureban, VestaSpace Technology specializes in making small satellite platforms for commercial and scientific applications. "The massive financial support will enable VestaSpace Technology expand the reach of its innovative solutions across India and the world. The company estimates to achieve a 300 per cent growth rate post the funding," a statement said. "Our association with Next Capital LLC began with my stay in the US for a project and has culminated into a promising financial deal that was cracked in April. This deal is going to be a great financial booster for VestaSpace T...

Rakuten and Vodafone Invest in AST & Science’s Space Venture

7Mar By NitishNo Comments

FUNDING

Rakuten and Vodafone Invest in AST & Science’s Space Venture

TOKYO, LONDON, TEXAS – March 3, 2020 - Rakuten and Vodafone have become the lead investors in a venture to extend mobile coverage to more people and devices across the planet, using the first mobile broadband network that will be broadcast from space. Branded SpaceMobile, the low-Earth-orbit (LEO), low-latency satellite network from AST & Science will be the first in the world to connect directly to standard smartphones. The company holds an extensive patent and IP portfolio for its ground and space technologies. “SpaceMobile will be particularly transformative to the growing US$1 trillion annual global mobile market because it will eliminate the coverage gaps faced by today’s five billion mobile subscribers moving in and out of connectivity every day. It will also help the ...

26Nov By Gauri SinghNo Comments

CHINA

China’s Emerging Space Startup to Launch Another AI Satellite Soon

A young Chinese commercial space firm called Chengdu GuoXing Aerospace Technology has sent two satellites into space within 100 days after its establishment, and now the company is preparing for a new launch in December. The firm was set up in the capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province in May. It has developed two experimental satellites integrated with AI technology. "The AI technology could give the satellite a stronger capability of automatic data analysis," said Zhao Hongjie, vice president of the startup firm. The company has around 40 employees most of whom are under 30. It is one of the best examples of China's emerging commercial space industry. Launching rockets and satellites has long been the goal of China's state-owned aerospace companies, but private space firms ar...

Israel Satellite Owner Demand $50 Million or Free Flight From SpaceX

5Sep By reutersNo Comments

News

Israel Satellite Owner Demand $50 Million or Free Flight From SpaceX

Israel's Space Communication Ltd said on Sunday it could seek $50 million or a free flight from Elon Musk's SpaceX after a Spacecom communications satellite was destroyed last week by an explosion at SpaceX's Florida launch site. Officials of the Israeli company said in a conference call with reporters Sunday that Spacecom also could collect $205 million from Israel Aerospace Industries, which built the AMOS-6 satellite. SpaceX said in an email to Reuters that it does not disclose contract or insurance terms. The company is not public, and it has not said what insurance it had for the rocket or to cover launch pad damages beyond what was required by the Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees commercial U.S. launches, for liability and damage to government property. SpaceX h...

Why US Companies are Afraid of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation)?

22Apr By NitishNo Comments

News

Why US Companies are Afraid of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation)?

Amid the US push to expand cooperation with India in the space sector, the country's nascent private space industry has expressed its opposition to the large-scale use of low-cost ISRO launch vehicles for putting American satellites into orbits. Such a move, corporate leaders and officials of the fast- emerging American private space industry told lawmakers this week would be detrimental to the future health of the private sector US space companies as it would be tough for them to compete against low-cost Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launch vehicles, which they alleged are subsidised by the Indian government. "I think the concern about using Indian boosters is not so much the transfer of sensitive technology to a nation that is a fellow democracy, but rather whether the In...

Sunil Bharti Backed OneWeb To Build 15 Internet Satellites Per Week

21Apr By reutersNo Comments

News

Sunil Bharti Backed OneWeb To Build 15 Internet Satellites Per Week

Satellite internet Startup OneWeb Ltd plans to manufacture 15 satellites per week at a planned factory in Florida as part of its push to provide global high-speed internet access, company officials said on Tuesday. Backed by Richard Branson's Virgin Group and other well-known firms, OneWeb aims to supply internet services worldwide through a fleet of 700 or more satellites it expects to have in orbit and operating by the end of 2019. Construction of the Florida factory has not yet begun and OneWeb did not say when manufacturing would start. On Tuesday, it unveiled the factory's location near NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, two days after Reuters reported it. The first group of 10 satellites are being built at partner Airbus' Toulouse, France facility. Typically, communi...