TechCrunch Space: Reusable rockets, reusable satellites

Hello everyone, welcome back to TechCrunch Space. I hope everyone who celebrates has a peaceful Easter.

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This week, I sat down with Orbit Fab CEO Daniel Faber to discuss the official launch of the company’s first refueling port to the market. price tag? Only $30,000.

“SpaceX makes rockets reusable, Orbit Fab makes satellites reusable,” he said. “In today’s world, if you run a rocket company and you’re not working on reusable rockets, you’re heading down a dead end. The same goes for satellites: If you don’t make your satellites reusable, you’re just Putting pre-destined junk into orbit.”

Image Source: track factory (opens in new window)

I learned a lot by gaining insight into China’s efforts to attract international partners to its International Lunar Research Station program. As a Westerner who doesn’t speak Chinese, it can be difficult to understand China’s space program, so I always appreciate Andrew Jones’ reporting.

On February 23, 2024, the Long March 5 Y-7 rocket lifted off from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in China. Image Source: Getty Images/VCG/VCG

On April 1, 1960, NASA launched the first weather satellite. It’s strange to think about, since low Earth orbit is rapidly filling up with spacecraft providing reams of useful weather data… but we have to start somewhere. We start with TIROS 1 (Television and Infrared Observation Satellite). This is NASA:

The TIROS program (Television Infrared Observing Satellite) was NASA’s first experimental step to determine whether satellites could be used for Earth research. At the time, the validity of satellite observations had not yet been proven. Since the satellite is a new technology, the TIROS program also tests various design issues of the spacecraft: instruments, data and operational parameters. The goal is to improve satellite applications for making decisions on Earth, such as “Should we evacuate the coast because of a hurricane?”

NASA’s TIROS 1 weather satellite. Image Source: NASA