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Max Q: Welcome to the era of MaaS (microgravity-as-a-service)
Hello and welcome back to Max Q!
In this issue:
The International Space Station has a monopoly on in-space research, but the huge surge of interest in commercial space is starting to change that. Atmos Space Cargo, a German startup, is looking to open up the opportunities for life sciences research and manufacturing in orbit with its return capsules that will deliver cargo from space back to Earth.
![atmos](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Sebastian-Klaus.png)
Atmos CEO Sebastian Klaus. Image Credits: Atmos Space Cargo (opens in a new window)
Launcher’s Orbiter spacecraft experienced an anomaly after reaching orbit that will likely result in the premature end of its customers’ missions, including Starfish Space’s Otter Pup demonstration mission.
![launcher orbiter](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/launcher-orbiter-deploying.jpeg)
Image Credits: Launcher
In other news…
- Apex Space, a satellite bus manufacturing startup, has closed a $16 million Series A round co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and new investor Shield Capital as it prepares for its first demonstration mission early next year.
- Continuum Space Systems has raised $6 million to date for its unified platform for end-to-end space mission management.
- Danti emerged from stealth with $2.75 million in funding and plans to build a search engine for location-based data, powered by natural language processing.
- Digantara, an Indian space tech startup that is working on space situational awareness, has raised $10 million in a funding round led by Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India and Southeast Asia) as it plans to kick off commercial space operations and satellite traffic management.
- India has joined NASA’s Artemis Accords, a major step for cooperation in space between the two countries.
- NASA formed new, unfunded agreements with seven major space companies, including SpaceX and Blue Origin, to advance these commercial firms’ technologies and programs that could meet the government’s needs.
- Rocket Factory Augsburg will build a dedicated launch pad at the Guiana Space Center (GSC) in French Guiana, with launches commencing in 2025 — though they still need to get to orbit first.
- Rocket Lab is doubling down on marine recovery of the Electron rocket booster.
- Virgin Galactic will commence commercial service in less than two weeks.
- Zero-Error Systems has raised a new tranche of funding for its patented radiation-hardened semiconductor integrated circuits technology for space and energy management applications.
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