Max Q: Acronyms rule everything around me – TechCrunch

Max Q., welcome back! This issue:

• NASA sees a future in nuclear energy on the Moon
• Epsilon3 ends funding for the space industry OS
• News from AWS, SpaceX, and More

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NASA is a cool piece of news. said that it’s contracting three suppliers for nuclear fission energy system concept designs for use on the lunar surface. Lockheed Martin and Westinghouse were the three successful bidders. IX (a joint venture between Intuitive Machine and X-Energy), was also selected. Each will work with partners to develop “initial concepts,” and will receive around $5 million for that work, which is expected to take around 12 months.

NASA is proud to partner with the Department of Energy on this project. The specs include a 40-kilowatt power generator capability capable of producing that power for at most a decade. That’s about what a full charge on a current entry-level Nissan Leaf contains — but as a fission generator it would obviously provide that continuously.

Although it may not seem like much at first, if deployed in groups to support lunar bases, it could help solve many of the problems of the prolonged moon occupancy that NASA plans to eventually establish through its Artemis program. This program seeks to return humanity to the largest natural satellite for ongoing science missions.

Epsilon3, founded by SpaceX veteran Laura Crabtree and Max Mednik of Epirus in early 2021. Former Googler Aaron Sullivan was also involved. The idea to create an operating system for modern space industry was simple. The company has secured $15 million in new capital led by Lux Capital. Participation from Moore Strategic Ventures (of which Epsilon3 a graduate), MaC Venture Capital and MaC Venture Capital are also included.

To be clear, Epsilon’s OS isn’t seeking to innovate on Windows or macOS; instead, it wants to improve the software tools that have been used in the space industry for decades. Although the company is still young, many companies are already using its software. “We looked at year to date launches, and 20% of those teams are using Epsilon3,” Mednik told TechCrunch.

Image Credits Epsilon3

More news from TC & beyond

• Arianespace The Ariane 5 rocket successfully launched from a European Spaceport in French Guiana. Two geostationary communications satellites were also carried aboard the rocket.
• AWS On the Axiom mission, the International Space Station sent a Snowcone storage and edge computing device to space.
• China Successfully launched a Kuaizhou-1A rocketIt sent the Tianxing-1 satellite into orbit. It marked China’s twentieth launch this year.
• Isar Aerospace, a German rocket startup, signed a launch services agreement with Italy’s D-Orbit It will send its orbital transport vehicle into space no later than 2023.
• NASA How do you prepare? two alternate timelinesArsTechnica obtained leaked documents that indicated that the agency is planning for major delays in its Artemis program.
• OneWeb Is it aiming to resume launchesLaunch agreements with SpaceX Ltd. and NewSpace India Ltd. were signed in the fourth quarter. The company’s operations experienced a major hiccup after Western sanctions on Russia prohibited the use of Soyuz rockets.
• Sierra Space Has signed a Memorandum of Understanding Spaceport America to potentially use the latter company’s New Mexico site as a landing site for Sierra’s Dream Chaser space vehicles.
• SpaceX called on the U.S. Federal Communications CommissionInvestigate whether Dish Network and RS Access (an affiliate of billionaire Michael Dell) submitted misleading reports regarding the best use of the 12-gigahertz frequency spectrum. SpaceX said5G networks could share the band with orbital broadband constellations, which could cause Starlink service to be interrupted for users.
• SpaceX Is setting up shopAustin. The company is hiring for two roles, in addition to taking control of nearly 50 acres in Bastrop County, transferred from Elon Musk’s other company, The Boring Company.
• The U.K. government Is it launching a Space Sustainability PlanTo collaborate with the private sector to establish sustainability standards and to encourage sustainability and investment in UK’s space sector.
• Viasat Stockholders approved the acquisitionBritish satellite communications company InmarsatIn a deal worth $7.3 billion, SpaceX has previously objected to the deal.

Photo of the Week

Image CreditsImage Credits via Getty Images: HUM Images/Universal Images Group

This photo was taken by astronaut Bruce McCandless II on February 7, 1984. In this photo he’s approaching his maximum distance from the Space Shuttle Challenger. Far out.

Aria Alamalhodaei brings Max Q to your attention. You might enjoy Max Q and would like to share it with a friend.