NASA and the Private Sector - Page 202

Virgin Galactic is delaying the beginning of its commercial space tourism service to fourth quarter 2022, with the company on Thursday announcing a reorganization of its development and test flight schedule.

The space tourism company will this month begin work refurbishing and improving its spacecraft and carrier aircraft, a process a Virgin Galactic spokesperson told CNBC is expected to last eight to 10 months – with completion expected between June and August.

Virgin Galactic had planned to begin the “enhancement” period after the next spaceflight, called Unity 23. But the company said a recent test “flagged a possible reduction in the strength margins of certain materials used to modify specific joints” in its vehicles that will require “further physical inspection.”

With the work on Virgin Galactic’s spacecraft VSS Unity and carrier aircraft VMS Eve beginning this month, the process makes mid-2022 the earliest that the Unity 23 may fly.

“The re-sequencing of our enhancement period and the Unity 23 flight underscores our safety-first procedures, provides the most efficient path to commercial service, and is the right approach for our business and our customers,” Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier said in a statement.

Shares of Virgin Galactic dropped as much as 11% in after hours trading from its close of $24.06. The stock is up just 1% for 2021 as of Thursday’s close, effectively unchanged the year.

Unity 23 will now take place after the enhancement process, which Virgin Galactic said is “designed to further increase margins that will enable improved reliability, durability and reduced maintenance requirements.”

The refurbishment period had also been expected to begin in September, but the Federal Aviation Administration had grounded Virgin Galactic for most of last month to investigate a mishap that occurred during the flight that carried company founder Sir Richard Branson. The FAA cleared Virgin Galactic to return to flight after completing the investigation.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Rocket Lab’s acquisition of an aerospace software company is one of a series of deals it is considering, enabled in part by going public.

Rocket Lab announced Oct. 12 it has completed the purchase of Advanced Solutions, Inc. (ASI), a Colorado-based engineering company that develops flight software, simulation systems and guidance, navigation and control (GNC) systems. Rocket Lab is paying $40 million for the company, along with a potential bonus of as much as $5.5 million depending on ASI’s financial performance in 2021.

ASI and its team of nearly 60 employees will remain in Colorado under the leadership of ASI’s founder and chief executive, John Cuseo, supporting its existing customers while also incorporating its capabilities more closely into Rocket Lab’s overall business.

“By coming together, we will continue to serve our customers and innovate in our areas of expertise, including space software and GNC, but now with more rocket fuel in the tank to play with,” Cuseo said in a statement. “We look forward to also becoming an integral part of Rocket Lab’s Space Systems business, supporting Photon missions, satellite components, and space and ground software.”

In an Oct. 13 interview, Peter Beck, chief executive of Rocket Lab, said his company was familiar with ASI because it was a customer. “We used their software in some of our projects,” he said, adding that the “chemistry was right” between the companies.

“Software is a really difficult niche to fill,” he said, particularly in aerospace where there are few “pure play” companies devoted exclusively to software. “Having 50 people with a huge amount of experience with complex programs made this a no-brainer.”

The purchase of ASI was not Rocket Lab’s first acquisition. In the spring of 2020 it acquired Sinclair Interplanetary, a manufacturer of smallsat components such as reaction wheels. The deal is the first, though, since Rocket Lab went public in August by completing its merger with a special purpose acquisition company, Vector Acquisition Corp.

One of the reasons why Rocket Lab went public, Beck has previously said, was to make it easier to do acquisitions like this. “Could we have done this as a private company? Probably,” Beck said, citing the Sinclair example. “But certainly being a public company makes it easier to do these deals.”

Beck and other company executives have talked about acquiring other companies that have products or technologies complementary to its launch vehicle and spacecraft programs. In a September earnings call, Adam Spice, chief financial officer of Rocket Lab, said the company had about a half dozen potential deals under consideration.

“There’s a lot of mom-and-pop bootstrapped companies where they’re founder-controlled,” Spice said. “They’re really nice businesses that are reasonably integratable, they’re digestible from that perspective. They’ve also had a focus on profitability, so you’re not picking up what are typically ventured-funded cash-burning operations. We’re seeing quite a bit of opportunity.”

Beck confirmed in the interview that the company has up to a half dozen deals in various stages of consideration. “There are some really fantastic companies out there that, when combined with Rocket Lab, can really scale,” he said.

Some companies have approached Rocket Lab about a sale, but Beck said more potential deals involve companies it is already working with. “We’re doing very targeted, very methodical acquisitions,” he said. “We’re not trying to buy everything.”

The companies Rocket Lab considers buying also need to have similar cultures and ways of working, he said, with an emphasis on quality. “The bar is high in who we hire and even more so in who we acquire.”

DENVER, Oct. 21, 2021 – Nanoracks, in collaboration with Voyager Space and Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT], has formed a team to develop the first-ever free flying commercial space station. The space station, known as Starlab, will be a continuously crewed commercial platform, dedicated to conducting critical research, fostering industrial activity, and ensuring continued U.S. presence and leadership in low-Earth orbit. Starlab is expected to achieve initial operational capability by 2027.

To meet U.S. government, international space agency, and commercial needs in space, these industry leaders will develop Starlab specifically to enable the growing space economy and meet pent-up customer demand for space services such as materials research, plant growth, and astronaut activity. Together, these companies bring unparalleled experience in commercial space utilization, engineering design and performance, technology innovation, and investment strategy.

“Since the beginning, Nanoracks has sought to own and operate a private space station to fully unlock market demand,” says Jeffrey Manber, CEO and Co-Founder of Nanoracks. “Our team has spent the last decade learning the business of space stations, understanding customer needs, charting market growth, and self-investing in private hardware on the ISS like the Bishop Airlock. Nanoracks and our team are excited to work with NASA and our friends across the world as we move forward with Starlab.”

NASA recently announced the Commercial Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) Destination (CLD) project to support the development of private space stations. CLD will stimulate a multifaceted LEO economy and provide science and crew capabilities in LEO before the International Space Station (ISS) retires.

Nanoracks will prime the Starlab development effort, leveraging over a decade of experience as the pathfinder of and global leader in commercial ISS utilization. Voyager Space, the majority shareholder in Nanoracks, will lead strategy and capital investment, and Lockheed Martin, a leader in developing and operating complex spacecraft, will serve as the manufacturer and technical integrator.

The basic elements of the Starlab space station include a large inflatable habitat, designed and built by Lockheed Martin, a metallic docking node, a power and propulsion element, a large robotic arm for servicing cargo and payloads, and a state-of-the-art laboratory system to host a comprehensive research, science, and manufacturing capability. Starlab will be able to continuously host up to four astronauts for conducting critical science and research.

“We’re excited to be part of such an innovative and capable team—one that allows each company to leverage their core strengths,” said Lisa Callahan, vice president and general manager, Commercial Civil Space at Lockheed Martin. “Lockheed Martin’s extensive experience in building complex spacecraft and systems, coupled with Nanoracks’ commercial business innovation and Voyager’s financial expertise allows our team to create a customer-focused space station that will fuel our future vision. We have invested significantly in habitat technology which enables us to propose a cost-effective, mission-driven spacecraft design for Starlab.”

Nanoracks’ Starlab business model is designed to enable science, research, and manufacturing for global customers, and bring added value to long-duration sovereign astronaut missions. Starlab will also serve tourism and other commercial and business activities.

“Voyager Space is highly confident in the Starlab business model and its ability to be commercially sustainable and well capitalized,” says Dylan Taylor, Voyager Space Chairman & CEO. “Voyager Space sees numerous synergies leveraging the capabilities across our organization’s operating businesses, as well as within the Lockheed Martin ecosystem. We see this partnership as just the beginning of our work together.”