Make it rain (6/15/23)

Good morning. We’re sending good luck to the two astronauts who are about to exit the ISS for a six-hour spacewalk to install an ISS Roll-Out-Solar Array.

In today's edition...
🛰️ Tomorrow.io Series E
📵 The call for open lines with China
📝 The contract report

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Tomorrow.io Closes $87M Series E

Tomorrow.io, a weather intelligence and climate security platform, announced an $87M Series E funding round led by Activate Capital. The investment will be used to accelerate the deployment of its 20-bird constellation over the next 18-24 months.

“We believe Tomorrow.io’s vertically integrated approach and satellite constellation will accelerate a paradigm shift in how millions around the globe use weather to adapt to the impacts of an evolving climate,” said Activate partner Jon Guerster.

Other participating investors include RTX Ventures, Seraphim, Chemonics, SquarePeg Capital, Canaan, ClearVision, JetBlue Ventures, and Pitango Growth.

Busy season: The Boston-based startup deployed its R2 precipitation tracking LEO satellite this week after hitching a ride on the SpaceX Transporter-8 train. R1 was launched in April.

• The two satellites are the first non-NASA precipitation radar birds.

R1 and R2 are designed to observe regional precipitation at a much higher frequency than legacy weather satellites. When the 20-bird constellation is complete, Tomorrow.io will be able to provide near real-time scans of Earth’s weather patterns. The company counts JetBlue, Fox Sports, the Air Force, Ford, and Uber among its customers.

50% chance of rain: The weather-intelligence company is also developing an AI platform, dubbed Gale, to build predictive weather forecasts leveraging its high volume climate data.

Sponsored

Redefining Space Parts Manufacturing

Castheon, an ADDMAN group company, is expanding its production and research capabilities in California. With a $20M investment in the commercial space and hypersonics sector, Castheon aims to be a top provider of critical space parts in North America.

Specializing in 3D printing refractory alloys for extreme environments and advancing additive manufacturing technology, Castheon leads the industry with innovation. Under the guidance of propulsion industry veteran Dr. Youping Gao, their team continues to recruit experts and push the boundaries of space parts manufacturing.

Castheon has moved to a new facility with 40,000 square feet of space for production, R&D, and engineering. This expansion allows for more machines and manufacturing processes, ensuring efficient service to target industries. By consolidating research, development, production, and inspection processes, Castheon achieves industry-leading lead times and accelerates next-generation material development.

Experience the revolution in space parts manufacturing with Castheon. Contact us now to learn more and elevate your projects to new heights.

US Urges Open Comms With Beijing in Orbit

When the US talks to China, China never talks back, according to a senior DoD official.

Lt. Gen. John Shaw, the second in command at US Space Command, said there are “a couple” Chinese email addresses registered with the government’s space-track.org site, which alerts operators about potential collisions in orbit, giving them an opportunity to move their spacecraft.

“When there are conjunctions with Chinese platforms, we send an email. We never get a response,” Shaw said on the second day of the Secure World Foundation’s Summit for Space Sustainability. “As they progress further into the domain, we need to talk.”

Shaw pointed to the Syrian Deconfliction Line—an open line of communication with Moscow during the war in Syria to coordinate and avoid any miscalculations—as evidence that countries who don’t always get along can still communicate in the interest of safety.

Hopes deleted: But Shaw also raised issues with Russia’s actions in space, specifically with the destructive ASAT test it conducted in November 2021 that created 1,500+ pieces of trackable debris. Shaw said that he had information suggesting that the ASAT test was coming, but that because Russia views itself as the senior spacefaring nation, he hoped it would be an offset test, where operators purposely miss their target to avoid the creation of debris.

“I was wrong. I’m sad that I was wrong,” Shaw said. “They didn’t need to. They could have done an offset test….They could’ve and they didn’t.”

Traffic jam: Coordination and responsible action in space becomes even more important as the volume of traffic and number of actors ticks up, something Shaw said he is already seeing.

“If that first space age was like the Arctic Ocean—mostly national security, scientific, not a lot of traffic—the Earth-Moon system of today is like the Mediterranean. There’s just so much going on,” he said.

In Other News

• Apex added its prices to its website, touting the importance of standardization and transparency in the small satellite industry.

• Senators introduced the SPACEPORT Act, which would modernize a federal grant program to encourage the development of more spaceports.

• Scientists discovered the presence of phosphate, a key building block to life, on Satrun’s icy moon Enceladus.

• UAE is looking for private sector participation in its mission to the Asteroid Belt.

• Russia says it has improved its ability to track objects in orbit.

The View from Cape Canaveral

ULA’s Delta IV Heavy is getting ready for its second-to-last flight next week: the launch of a National Reconnaissance Office payload, which can be seen here arriving at the Florida launch pad.