Posted: Sun, Sep 14 4:09 AM ET (0809 GMT)
Satellite manufacturer Apex has raised $200 million, vaulting the company’s valuation to more than $1 billion. The company announced Friday a Series D round led by venture capital firm Interlagos. The funding will allow the company to scale up production of its lines of satellites and bring more component manufacturing in-house. That includes leasing a second facility adjacent to its existing Los Angeles factory to increase satellite production rates by 50%. Apex is also acquiring the Hall Effect thruster technology from satellite propulsion company Phase Four.

Related Links:

•  SpaceNews article
•  Reuters article
•  Apex press release

Posted: Sun, Sep 14 4:07 AM ET (0807 GMT)
It took four tries, but a Falcon 9 finally launched an Indonesian communications satellite Thursday night. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 9:56 pm EDT (0156 GMT Friday). It placed the Nusantara Lima satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit about a half-hour later. The launch was originally scheduled for Monday but scrubbed because of weather, which also postponed a Tuesday launch attempt. SpaceX called off a Wednesday launch for undisclosed reasons. Nusantara Lima, a Boeing 702MP spacecraft, will be used by Indonesian operator PSN to provide broadband services from 113 degrees east in GEO.

Related Links:

•  Spaceflight Now article
•  Florida Today article
•  Space.com article

Soyuz launches Progress cargo spacecraft to ISS
Posted: Sun, Sep 14 4:06 AM ET (0806 GMT)
Russia launched a Progress cargo spacecraft Thursday. A Soyuz-2.1a rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 11:54 am EDT (1554 GMT),...

Falcon 9 launches first SDA Transport Layer Tranche 1 satellites
Posted: Sun, Sep 14 4:04 AM ET (0804 GMT)
The Space Development Agency launched the first satellites for a communications constellation Thursday. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California...

NASA announces discovery of a potential biosignature of past life on Mars
Posted: Sun, Sep 14 4:02 AM ET (0802 GMT)
NASA officials said a Mars rock sampled by the Perseverance rover offers the best evidence yet of past life on Mars, even as plans to...