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Hey everyone. Welcome to this first test release of Sol 31. We’re excited to finally introduce Sol 31 to you.

Sol 31 is a student-run newsletter, designed to give you, dear reader, latest insights into the world of spaceflight. Technology, science, and the space economy all play a role in our modern day society, and we hope to make this world a little more digestible. We begin our first release with a quick shoutout to up-and-coming spacecraft manufacturer 'The Exploration Company' - apart from that, its acquisition season in the industry. Read on to find out more.

Oh, one more thing: we’d love to hear from you. Give us feedback, let us know if we’ve missed updates that you find exciting, or shoot us a message just because. DM us on social media (see links down below, in the footer), or just reply to this email.

Headlines:

• Starliner is stuck, still: flight readiness review pushed to late August

• Watch a recap of NASA’s inflatable reentry demonstrator test

• Polaris Dawn: record-setting mission now set to launch on the 26th

Launch Tracker:

Noteworthy: Transporter 11 will be SpaceX’s 10th mission after Falcon 9’s return to flight. The industry’s workhorse, targeting close to 3 flights per week in 2024, was grounded for over two weeks after a second stage failed to complete its scheduled burn due to a liquid oxygen leak.

Also: T-11 will also launch the first NVIDIA GPU to space, although this time not propelled by stock-price surges but by good old RP-1.

Eurofocus

Reaching for the stars

The Exploration Company (TEC) is shaking things up, and we are loving it. In the (comparatively) static European launch market, TEC stands out: founded in late 2021 by ex-Airbus VP turned-CEO Hélène Huby, their first demo mission, a downsized capsule reentry demonstrator dubbed ‘Bikini’, launched to space on the maiden flight of Ariane 6 in July after only 9 months from ideation to launch. An impressive pace with even more impressive plans ahead: ‘Mission Possible’, a larger demonstrator is slated to launch in Q2 2025 after only 24 months and $20 million in R&D costs.

Compare that to Europe’s last attempt, the Automated Transfer Vehicle - plus the program’s $1.6 billion dollar development cost plus a 21-year development timeline - and you can tell that affordable and quick access to space is a novelty. And there’s a rush to get in on that novelty: TEC has secured $770 million (€700 million) in contracts three years after founding. Even more exciting: 90% of these contracts come from private companies, further cementing the role of private industry in the NewSpace era.

Next on the mission plan: completing testing of ‘Mission Possible’, full-scale development milestones of the cargo capsule ‘Nyx’, and the development of a 200-ton reusable engine named ‘Typhoon’. link

Rapid-fire

• Starlab taps Lufthansa for crew astronaut training

Involved in ESA’s Astronaut Training Programmes since 2000, the airline will “develop a comprehensive training concept and establish a sustainable European training infrastructure” as part of its ‘Beyond Aviation’ program.

• Rabea Rogge to fly on SpaceX Fram2

Rogge is the first German woman to be selected for an astronaut mission. She will join a crypto entrepreneur, a cinematographer, and a polar adventurer on a 3 to 5-day mission in polar orbit focusing on researching, you guessed it, the poles.

Zooming out

Lockheed x Terran

Lockheed Martin finally closed on Terran Orbital.

It’s been a long time coming, too. The space and defence giant already owns one third of the company after a series of seed investments and a strategic partnership that has aligned the two manufacturers for the past seven years. Lockheed offered to take over the company and add it to its satellite division earlier this year, a goal that aimed to integrate “Terran’s superior capabilities and business momentum [which] align with … Lockheed Martin Space’s strategic growth priorities”. Second time’s the charm, as priorities for the smallsat manufacturer have shifted, filing in July only ~$15 million in cash and equivalents on hand - down from ~$31 million only a month prior.

And waiting for an opportune moment has paid out for Lockheed: the firm offered $0.25 per share, shelling out an estimated $450 million for the acquisition that is expected to be finalised in Q4 this year. That’s down 75% from the $1 per share offered earlier this year in March. Talk about cutting a deal.

While a subsidiary of Lockheed, it’s likely most of the contract volume will continue to come from inside the company. Already, the firm accounts for about 90% of Terran’s backlogged contracts. Nevertheless, Terran is committed to continue their tenure as a “commercial merchant supplier to industry”. link

Golden Child

Redwire Corporation has had one heck of a year. One of the best performing space stocks to date, the company founded in 2020 is up close to 130% ytd, beating out surging successes like Intuitive Machines and Lockheed Martin by up to 5x.

The infrastructure company is now turning that momentum into expansion, and announced August 14th it will acquire Hera Systems, a smallsat manufacturer geared towards the defence market. It represents a wider push in the industry to focus more heavily on the military applications of commercial space hardware, driven by concerns over national superiority in space.

Hera recently was selected for the US Space Force’s Tetra 5 project, which aims to test novel in-space liquid propellant refueling technologies. Redwire itself isn’t new to national security either, having secured a VLEO (very low earth orbit) spacecraft for the DARPA Otter Initiative, developing a testbed for airbreathing electric propulsion technologies using ambient air at high altitudes. link

Headlines

• Good news: Intuitive Machines seeks to take over NASA’s canceled rover

IM executives stated in an earnings call that the company was planning to respond to a request for information the Agency issued August 9th with a plan to organize a coalition of organisations to own and operate the NASA VIPER mission cancelled in July, offering its own Nova-D lander for the job.

• Waterworks: SpaceX refutes reports that its deluge systems pollute Texan nature reserves

CNBC reported August 12th that SpaceX allows the runoff of industrial wastewater with dangerously high levels of mercury into nearby bodies of water while operating its launch pad deluge system, citing reports by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Research Report

Blue pill red pill

With elections in the US coming up quickly, the space industry is considering the impact Kamala Harris’ nomination has on space policy and politics. How does Trump’s record stack up against Biden’s in vying to secure the future of in-space dominance for western nations?

Find out on Saturday, when we publish a weekend-round up together with our Research Report.