Space Exploration Obstacles and “Miracle” Solutions

Ill-defined property laws aren’t the only reason prospectors haven’t staked and mined claims in space. They may not even be the most relevant. Here’s a reason with significant mass behind it.

Phantom Space: Running with the Crowd?

Is there anything new and compelling with Phantom Space? Unfortunately, the company’s reasons for existing show a distinct lack of pure imagination.

Radian’s Laden Spaceplane; A LEO Economy?

Not every topic lends itself to Monty Python quotes, but when a serious startup makes it easy…well… Also, some helpful space industry observations from Deloitte.

Another Small Step for Amazon

Last week, a company associated with “new space” activities announced new and expanded space services. Oddly, and unlike many of its ...

Vizzini’s Values, OneWeb, and DoD Protectionism in a Startup Marketplace

Note: The house is sold, so we’re in the middle of moving out. This means (as I’ve noted before) sporadic posting of analyses to Ill-Defined Space during the next couple of weeks--and why there was no post last Thursday. The post might be shorter during this time, too. Nearly a month ago, I wrote up… Continue reading Vizzini’s Values, OneWeb, and DoD Protectionism in a Startup Marketplace

Flying Humans to Space, for Fun, Science, and Profit

As more interest builds up surrounding the NASA/SpaceX launch of people to the International Space Station (ISS) in May, the inevitable (and purely avoidable) references to other yet-to-be-implemented services provided by Virgin Galactic or Blue Origin always seem to surface. Even research groups have offered reports pairing these two very different types of businesses together.… Continue reading Flying Humans to Space, for Fun, Science, and Profit