TechCrunch Space: Feeling a little Impulse-ive

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Story of the week

Impulse Space has been having a great year. Case in point: This week alone, the startup announced the close of a $150 million Series B round and a $34.5 million contract from the U.S. Space Force for two ultra-mobile spacecraft missions. 

Impulse is one of a handful of startups betting that the future of space operations will look way more maneuverable and dynamic than it does today. The startup, founded by ex-SpaceX CTO of Propulsion Tom Mueller, is developing a line of orbital transfer vehicles (OTVs) that can adjust satellite positions in space after they’re launched by a rocket. While a handful of other firms are working on OTVs, Impulse says its products are differentiated by their chemical propulsion systems that offer very high delta-v, or change in velocity, capability.

Launch of the week

Well, United Launch Alliance (ULA) launched its Vulcan Centaur rocket for the second time ever — and while the rocket reached orbit, the rocket boosters emitted a bit of a … flash … on the way there. According to some smart analysis of the launch livestream video, around 35 seconds after liftoff, a piece of debris seems to fall away from one of the solid rocket boosters and the plume noticeably changes. The ULA is hailing the mission a success; provided the U.S. Space Force agrees, the company will now be able to start chipping away at the profitable national security missions it has in its backlog.

Watch the launch at the video below:

This week in space history

This week, let’s feast our eyes on some beautiful images captured by NASA spacecraft.

From NASA: “On Oct. 9, 2008, just after coming within 25 kilometers (15.6 miles) of the surface of Enceladus, NASA’s Cassini captured this stunning mosaic as the spacecraft sped away from this geologically active moon of Saturn.”

I still remember when Cassini ended its 20-year mission in September 2017, with the spacecraft plunging itself into Saturn’s atmosphere. (If you want to get misty-eyed, check out this video from the Mission Control Center on that fateful day.)