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In this issue:

• Artemis I takes flight
• Gravitics builds “Space Utility Vehicles” for space stations
• News from ispace, Metaspectral and more

It finally happened. After years of preparation and two false starts, NASA’s heavy-lift Space Launch System has finally lifted off the ground and entered orbit. It’s a big win for the space agency — even as it assigns tasks to SpaceX that were once intended for the SLS.

Some pre-launch jitters threatened to scrub the launch, but a “red crew” went to the hot pad to fix something, and a bad Ethernet switch later had to be replaced as well. But it all came together about 40 minutes after the original T-0, and the rocket had a clean (and impressive-looking) climb with no hiccups to speak of. It reached orbit, and from 13 minutes into launch, the various phases, separations, and cutoffs were green across the board.

The SLS is a key part of NASA’s Artemis program, intended to return humanity to the moon “to stay,” as they often insist. That means you have to carry a lot of stuff there, stuff that can take years of transportation with smaller launch vehicles like the SpaceX Falcon 9 and Rocket Lab Electron. NASA used the hashtag we go leading up to launch and, well, now we finally are. And I’m nervous.

The space industry is on the verge of a revolution. Launch costs, which have fallen dramatically over the past five years, will continue to fall as heavy rockets like SpaceX’s Starship and Relativity’s Terran R become operational. In parallel with these developments, multiple private companies have introduced plans to build commercial space stations for science, manufacturing and even tourism.

If space stations are the next phase of orbiting business, they’ll need off-the-shelf parts — and Gravity wants to be the one who makes them. The startup is led by aerospace industry veteran Colin Doughan, who mapped these currents and saw a gap in the market.

Private station operators “need an easy LEGO brick to build in space,” he told businessroundups.org in a recent interview: Versatile, modular hardware to help humanity build in space at scale. Gravitics, which grew out of stealth after announcing a $20 million seed round, calls its building block “StarMax.”

More news from TC and beyond

• ABL Space Systems scrapped two launch attempts this week as the company appears to be flying its RS1 rocket for the first time. (ABL)
• COATING STONE, the NASA spacecraft testing an unusual lunar trajectory for a possible future space station, has entered lunar orbit. (NASA)
• hermeus, a startup developing reusable hypersonic aircraft, completed a major engine test, successfully switching the engine from “turbojet” to “ramjet”. (Defense One)
• ispace will launch its mission to the moon aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 on Nov. 28, the company confirmed. Ispace also reached a deal with Japanese insurers for the world’s first “Lunar Insurance” policy. (ispace/ispace)
• Kayhan room and Morpheus space are collaborating to develop a collision avoidance service for spacecraft. (SpaceNews)
• Metaspectral raised a $4.7 million seed round for its hyperspectral data analytics platform. Tim De Chant dives deep into one use case: recycling. (businessroundups.org)
• NASA psycho SpaceX for a second manned demonstration mission to the moon using the Starship human landing system, to fly in 2027. (businessroundups.org)
• Phantom Space conducted a 60-second hot-fire test as the company plans to launch its Daytona vehicle next year. (Chris Thompson)
• Space perspective, a company developing ballooning to the edge of space, has acquired its first ship to be used as a maritime spaceport. (Space perspective)
• Rocket factory Augsburg will test its Helix engines at the Institute of Space Propulsion in Lampoldshausen, Germany, as part of a new deal with the German Aerospace Center. (Load capacity)
• SpaceX Employees who were fired after writing an open letter criticizing Elon Musk’s leadership have filed an unfair labor practice suit with the National Labor Relations Board. (The New York Times)
• The British Civil Aviation Authority issued the country’s first spaceport license to Spaceport Cornwall, allowing Virgin Orbit to prepare for its upcoming mission. (civil aviation authority)

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