Hello and welcome back to TechCrunch Space. Let\u2019s jump in!<\/p>\n
Want to reach out with a tip? Email Aria at aria.techcrunch@gmail.com<\/span><\/a> or send me a message on Signal at 512-937-3988. You also can send a note to the whole TechCrunch crew at tips@techcrunch.com<\/a>.\u00a0For more secure communications<\/strong>,\u00a0click here to contact us<\/a>, which includes SecureDrop instructions<\/a> and links to encrypted messaging apps.<\/em><\/p>\n While there are scant details as to the mission profile, I can\u2019t help but feel ultra-intrigued by this news from space station developer Gravitics, which was selected to develop orbital platforms to enable rapid response space missions.<\/p>\n Gravitics co-founder and CMO Mike DeRosa did clarify in an email that the company is not putting a module on a rocket for a tactically responsive launch. Instead, the mission is related to developing \u201cplatforms to enable a new kind of tactically responsive space mission,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Gravitics<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Defense and space startup True Anomaly has laid off around 25% of staff, and canceled its summer internship program, TechCrunch learned.<\/p>\n While TechCrunch could not confirm the total headcount prior to these layoffs, True Anomaly had over 100 employees as of December 2023, it told the\u00a0Denver Business Journal.<\/a>\u00a0Nearly 30 people were cut from the workforce,\u00a0according to a post on LinkedIn<\/a>\u00a0from one of the people let go.<\/p>\n I learned a lot from this deep dive by SpaceNews\u2019 Sandra Erwin and Debra Werner, who explored how the Space Force\u2019s push for a proliferated constellation of satellites is exposing weaknesses in the U.S. industrial base.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> TechCrunch<\/p>\n<\/div>\n On May 1, 1961, the great Alan Shepard became the first American to enter space when he piloted his capsule on a 15-minute suborbital flight. (If his name sounds familiar, it\u2019s because Blue Origin\u2019s suborbital rocket is named after him!)<\/p>\n![\"Image](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/uncle-sam-space-force.jpg\")
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![\"Alan](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/1961_may_alan_shepard_1.webp\")
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