Falcon 9 rocket’s second stage falters; The Japanese missile is approaching the end

Impulse Space raises $150 million. Los Angeles-based startup Impulse Space, led by famed rocket scientist Tom Mueller, has raised $150 million in a new fundraising round led by venture capital firm Founders Fund. CNBC reports. Impulse is expanding its line of orbital transfer vehicles, and so far is building two of them, the smaller Mira and the larger Helios. While rockets carry satellites and payloads into orbit, like a plane carrying passengers to a metro area, space tugs deliver them to specific destinations, like taxis taking those passengers home from an airport.

Take the next step after launch Mueller, who founded Impulse Space three years ago, said the money will boost the company’s growth. “This means that we have obtained sufficient funding through the development of Helios and the upgraded version of Mira and after the first flights of these two products,” Müller told the publication. Impulse flew on its first mission, called LEO Express-1, with the Mira spacecraft carrying and deploying a small satellite, last November. In Mueller’s view, while SpaceX has reduced the cost of launching the mass into orbit, systems for delivering it to space are not available on the market. (Submitted by Tom Nelson and Ken the Ben)

The Polish company receives support from the European Space Agency. Did you know that there is a startup in Poland? Until this week, I admit I didn’t. However, that changed when the European Space Agency awarded Polish company SpaceForest €2.4 million to further develop its Perun rocket. SpaceForest has developed an 11.5-metre-long sounding rocket, capable of carrying payloads of up to 50 kilograms to an altitude of 150 kilometres. European Spaceflight Reports.

Promotion of business companies …So far, the company has completed two test flights, one reaching an altitude of 22 kilometers and the other at an altitude of 13 kilometers. With new funding from ESA, SpaceForest will implement combustion chamber upgrades for its internally developed SF1000 paraffin-fired hybrid rocket engine. ESA was awarded funding as part of the agency’s Boost! initiative. Adopted by Member States in 2019, Boost! It aims to promote the development of new commercial space transportation services. (Submitted by Ken the Ben and EllPeaTea)