Space investor Seraphim injects cash into two firms ahead of London float July 8, 2021 Space technology investor Seraphim Capital has invested into two UK satellite and AI companies ahead of its London IPO float tomorrow, as the UK cements itself within the latest space race. Investing £2m into firms Isotropic Systems, which operates satellite networks and Commodities AI, which deals with space data and artificial intelligence (AI), Seraphim is [...]
Virgin Galactic granted license to take customers to space June 25, 2021 Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic has today received a commercial licence to fly customers into space, the firm announced today. The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has updated its existing licence to fly test missions to include commercial passengers. The decision to grant the company a full license comes after a successful test flight last [...]
LA firm raises £450m to 3D-print rockets to help us live on Mars (really) June 9, 2021 Blackrock and actor Jared Leto are among investors in a $650m (£450m) capital raise by a Californian firm which plans to 3D-print rocket boosters that the founder claims are part of efforts to live on Mars. Relativity Space, founded by Tim Ellis – a former engineer at Jeff Bezos’ space firm Blue Origin – is [...]
Bezos Lightyear: Amazon founder set for space June 7, 2021 Amazon founder Jeff Bezos will join the winner of a competition on Blue Origin’s first human spaceflight, with 20 July the target launchdate. Writing on Instagram, the world’s richest man said that he and his brother Mark would join the winner of an auction on New Shepard’s first suborbital sightseeing trip. Bidding for the final [...]
Ready, set, go: Britain is bound for the next space race May 26, 2021 The UK is bound for a seat in the next space race, the transport secretary has said today, as the government preps for Virgin’s commercial Orbit mission – the UK’s first space-bound flight. The National Space Agency (NSA) confirmed on Monday that spaceflights will soon be a reality as the government has funded spaceports that [...]
UK companies to help plot ‘constellation’ of satellites around the Moon May 20, 2021 UK space companies have begun developing navigation and telecommunication capabilities to put a ‘constellation’ of satellites around the Moon, according to the European Space Agency (ESA) today. With funding from the UK Space Agency, Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), Inmarsat and MDA Space and Robotics have bagged £2m contracts with the ESA for the satellite [...]
The travel industry will not survive without a radical U-turn September 24, 2020 The tourism and outbound travel industries are no strangers to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Across the globe, international and domestic travel has been brought to its knees by the far-reaching impacts of coronavirus, and the ramifications are no clearer than in the United Kingdom. In the last month alone, we have seen the [...]
The travel industry will not survive without a radical U-turn August 27, 2020 The UK has a rich history as a global transport hub. While we all value our holidays as individuals, the value of travel to the UK economy cannot be overlooked. In 2019, the 40.9m overseas visitors who came to the UK spent £28.4bn. While many of us don’t consider the UK economy to be as [...]
Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic spaceship passes construction milestone January 8, 2020 Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic has reached a major milestone in the construction of its next passenger spaceship, it said. All major structural elements have been assembled, and the rocket is standing on its landing gear at Mojave Air and Space Port in California. Read more: Sir Richard Branson set to launch Virgin Galactic IPO [...]
Virgin Galactic shares blast off as Sir Richard Branson’s firm makes New York Stock Exchange debut October 28, 2019 Sir Richard Branson’s space tourism venture, Virgin Galactic, has taken off on the New York Stock Exchange this afternoon, with shares soaring more than eight per cent in early trading. The company completed a merger with a US investment vehicle late on Friday, making it the first commercial space venture to go public. Branson, who [...]