ICON Raises $207 Million in Funding to Build Houses on Earth and in Space

ICON, the Austin-based startup that builds homes with its giant 3-D printers using concrete as substrate, has four large-scale 3-D home printers and it has tens of thousands of requests for homes. “It’s sometimes heartbreaking but you have to decide what to say yes to and what to say no to,” said Jason Ballard, Co-Founder, […]

Rocket Maker Firefly Aerospace Lands $75 Million in Funding and Becomes Austin’s Latest Unicorn

Rocket maker Firefly Aerospace has landed $75 million in venture capital funding, giving it a $1 billion valuation, making it Austin’s latest Unicorn. The company’s Series A funding round was led by DADA Holdings, with participation by Astera Institute, Canon Ball LLC, Reuben Brothers Limited, SMS Capital Investment LLC, Raven One Ventures, The XBTO Ventures, […]

NASA’s Mission to Mars Goes Through Mississippi

By LAURA LOREK Founder of Silicon Hills News NASA doesn’t get to Mars without first testing its rocket engines in Mississippi. About an hour bus ride from New Orleans, Stennis Space Center, near Bay St. Louis, is the nation’s largest rocket engine test facility comprising 13,800 acres with another 125,000 acres serving as a perimeter […]

NASA’s On Track to Build the Most Powerful Rocket Ever

By LAURA LOREK Founder of Silicon Hills News NEW ORLEANS – In a former sugar plantation on the eastern outskirts of New Orleans sits one of the city’s hidden gems. NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility is known as the gateway to space. Although most people know New Orleans for Mardi Gras, great Jazz music, art, Bourbon […]

At NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston for Expedition 37 Launch

By LAURA LOREK Founder of Silicon Hills News In July, I went to a NASA Social meetup at Johnson Space Center to learn about Astronaut fitness and wellness in space. At that event, our group met the crew of Expedition 37, including Astronaut Mike Hopkins of NASA, a flight engineer, Cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, Soyuz Commander […]

Space Exploration, NASA Tweetups at SXSW Interactive

NASA Tweetups have gained a cult-like following from space fans. To qualify for one, you must follow @NASA on Twitter. The agency has more than 1.9 million followers. Once NASA announces a Tweetup, you fill out a simple online application which puts your name into a lottery with hundreds or thousands of other people. Since […]