Key PointsIn this articleSpace tourism company on Wednesday announced a deal with subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences to build two additional carrier aircraft to support its coming spacecraft fleet.Virgin Galactic currently has one carrier aircraft, or "mothership," called VMS Eve that is about 14 years old and. The jet-powered mothership plays a key role in Virgin Galactic's flights by carrying the company's spacecraft up to about 50,000 feet altitude to launch.The company said the new motherships are an evolution of the VMS Eve design and will each support up to 200 launches a year. Virgin...…Key PointsIn this articleSpace tourism company on Wednesday announced a deal with subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences to build two additional carrier aircraft to support its coming spacecraft fleet.Virgin Galactic currently has one carrier aircraft, or "mothership," called VMS Eve that is about 14 years old and. The jet-powered mothership plays a key role in Virgin Galactic's flights by carrying the company's spacecraft up to about 50,000 feet altitude to launch.The company said the new motherships are an evolution of the VMS Eve design and will each support up to 200 launches a year. Virgin...WW…

Key PointsCOLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado – , less than a year after reaching space with , hopes to next trade flights with and fly with SpaceX."Hopefully, I'll be able to go up on one of his spaceships one day, and he'll be able to go up on one of ours," Branson told CNBC on Tuesday.Branson , nearly two decades after he founded Virgin Galactic. The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday honored the first-time astronauts of Virgin Galactic's Unity 22 flight crew – Branson, Sirisha Bandla and Colin Bennett – with wings, recognizing them for crossing the 80 kilometer (50 mile) altitude mark...…Key PointsCOLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado – , less than a year after reaching space with , hopes to next trade flights with and fly with SpaceX."Hopefully, I'll be able to go up on one of his spaceships one day, and he'll be able to go up on one of ours," Branson told CNBC on Tuesday.Branson , nearly two decades after he founded Virgin Galactic. The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday honored the first-time astronauts of Virgin Galactic's Unity 22 flight crew – Branson, Sirisha Bandla and Colin Bennett – with wings, recognizing them for crossing the 80 kilometer (50 mile) altitude mark...WW…

The past year saw a flurry of space companies go public through SPAC mergers, giving investors new options to trade the growing industry.But the beginning of 2022 has not been kind to the stocks of many newly public space companies, with several down 20% or more in the first two weeks of the year. Technology and growth stocks – especially companies whose profitability is years away, as is the case with several space ventures – . The . These high-growth stocks are being punished because rising interest rates reduce the value of the companies' .Here is what analysts told CNBC on the changing...…The past year saw a flurry of space companies go public through SPAC mergers, giving investors new options to trade the growing industry.But the beginning of 2022 has not been kind to the stocks of many newly public space companies, with several down 20% or more in the first two weeks of the year. Technology and growth stocks – especially companies whose profitability is years away, as is the case with several space ventures – . The . These high-growth stocks are being punished because rising interest rates reduce the value of the companies' .Here is what analysts told CNBC on the changing...WW…

Key Points' Blue Origin filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office against NASA on Monday, challenging the space agency's award of a nearly $3 billion moon lander contract to SpaceX earlier this month.SpaceX, in a competition against Blue Origin and ' subsidiary Dynetics, was . The HLS program is focused on building a lunar lander that can carry astronauts to the moon's surface under NASA's Artemis missions. For HLS, SpaceX bid a variation of its NASA was previously expected to choose two of the three teams to competitively build lunar landers, making the sole selection...…Key Points' Blue Origin filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office against NASA on Monday, challenging the space agency's award of a nearly $3 billion moon lander contract to SpaceX earlier this month.SpaceX, in a competition against Blue Origin and ' subsidiary Dynetics, was . The HLS program is focused on building a lunar lander that can carry astronauts to the moon's surface under NASA's Artemis missions. For HLS, SpaceX bid a variation of its NASA was previously expected to choose two of the three teams to competitively build lunar landers, making the sole selection...WW…

Key PointsSpaceX founder and CEO remains focused on his vision for the company: Establishing a permanent human presence on Mars, with its Starship rockets carrying people to and from the red planet."We don't want to be one of those single planet species, we want to be a multi-planet species," Musk said on Friday, speaking after  to orbit.SpaceX launches more astronauts into space for NASA"It's been now almost half a century since humans were last on the moon. That's too long, we need to get back there and have a permanent base on the moon — again, like a big permanently occupied...…Key PointsSpaceX founder and CEO remains focused on his vision for the company: Establishing a permanent human presence on Mars, with its Starship rockets carrying people to and from the red planet."We don't want to be one of those single planet species, we want to be a multi-planet species," Musk said on Friday, speaking after  to orbit.SpaceX launches more astronauts into space for NASA"It's been now almost half a century since humans were last on the moon. That's too long, we need to get back there and have a permanent base on the moon — again, like a big permanently occupied...WW…

Key Points SpaceX beat out teams led by Blue Origin and subsidiary Dynetics to win a nearly $3 billion contract to build NASA's next crewed lunar lander."It is one more step, in an exciting group of steps, that will get us to a sustainable human landing system to the moon," Kathy Lueders, the leader of NASA's human spaceflight program, said in the agency's announcement.SpaceX's contract is worth $2.89 billion. SpaceX's win on Friday.SpaceX wins contract for spacecraft to land astronauts on moon: WaPoNASA to begin work on the lunar lander concepts under its Human Landing Systems, or HLS,...…Key Points SpaceX beat out teams led by Blue Origin and subsidiary Dynetics to win a nearly $3 billion contract to build NASA's next crewed lunar lander."It is one more step, in an exciting group of steps, that will get us to a sustainable human landing system to the moon," Kathy Lueders, the leader of NASA's human spaceflight program, said in the agency's announcement.SpaceX's contract is worth $2.89 billion. SpaceX's win on Friday.SpaceX wins contract for spacecraft to land astronauts on moon: WaPoNASA to begin work on the lunar lander concepts under its Human Landing Systems, or HLS,...WW…

SpaceX rolled out its Starlink early access program to the public six months ago, with the satellite internet service growing to more than 10,000 users in the first few months.To get real-life first impressions of the service, CNBC spoke to more than 50 people who have been using Starlink. Those surveyed included households in Canada and 13 U.S. states: California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.The majority of these Starlink users are in rural or remote areas, such as farmland or wilderness, with limited access to...…SpaceX rolled out its Starlink early access program to the public six months ago, with the satellite internet service growing to more than 10,000 users in the first few months.To get real-life first impressions of the service, CNBC spoke to more than 50 people who have been using Starlink. Those surveyed included households in Canada and 13 U.S. states: California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.The majority of these Starlink users are in rural or remote areas, such as farmland or wilderness, with limited access to...WW…

Key PointsTwo aerospace firms accomplished an industry first on Monday, as a small Northrop Grumman spacecraft docked successfully with an active Intelsat satellite to provide service and extend its life.Intelsat's IS-10-02 satellite is nearly 18 years old, and operating well past its expected lifespan, but the Northrop Grumman-built spacecraft called MEV-2 will add another five years of life to IS-10-02, essentially re-fueling the satellite and giving it a new engine for control.2 days agoThe companies hit a milestone in the growing business of servicing satellites while in space."Today's...…Key PointsTwo aerospace firms accomplished an industry first on Monday, as a small Northrop Grumman spacecraft docked successfully with an active Intelsat satellite to provide service and extend its life.Intelsat's IS-10-02 satellite is nearly 18 years old, and operating well past its expected lifespan, but the Northrop Grumman-built spacecraft called MEV-2 will add another five years of life to IS-10-02, essentially re-fueling the satellite and giving it a new engine for control.2 days agoThe companies hit a milestone in the growing business of servicing satellites while in space."Today's...WW…

Key PointsIn this article on Tuesday unveiled the latest spacecraft addition to its fleet, VSS Imagine, with the spacecraft representing the first of its next-generation SpaceShip III class of vehicles.The rollout of VSS Imagine gives the space tourism company a second spacecraft to begin testing, as Virgin Galactic continues to work through final development testing of VSS Unity, with its next spaceflight test expected in May."For us to make the business start to scale, at the places that we're aspiring towards, we need two things: We need many more ships than we have right now and we also...…Key PointsIn this article on Tuesday unveiled the latest spacecraft addition to its fleet, VSS Imagine, with the spacecraft representing the first of its next-generation SpaceShip III class of vehicles.The rollout of VSS Imagine gives the space tourism company a second spacecraft to begin testing, as Virgin Galactic continues to work through final development testing of VSS Unity, with its next spaceflight test expected in May."For us to make the business start to scale, at the places that we're aspiring towards, we need two things: We need many more ships than we have right now and we also...WW…

Key PointsThe global space economy grew last year at the fastest annual rate since 2014, hitting a record of $469 billion, according to a report by the Space Foundation released Wednesday.Total output by the world's governments and corporations in the realm of rockets, satellites and more expanded by 9% year-over-year, the report says.While 2022 has seen a slowdown in U.S. markets and the economy, Space Foundation CEO Tom Zelibor told CNBC that the space economy is expected to weather the storm and continue growing this year."Maybe it won't be this record-breaking number," Zelibor...…Key PointsThe global space economy grew last year at the fastest annual rate since 2014, hitting a record of $469 billion, according to a report by the Space Foundation released Wednesday.Total output by the world's governments and corporations in the realm of rockets, satellites and more expanded by 9% year-over-year, the report says.While 2022 has seen a slowdown in U.S. markets and the economy, Space Foundation CEO Tom Zelibor told CNBC that the space economy is expected to weather the storm and continue growing this year."Maybe it won't be this record-breaking number," Zelibor...WW…