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03 Jul 2024 — 5 min read

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SpaceX Wins NASA Launch Contract:

NASA has awarded SpaceX a $69 million contract to launch the Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI) mission. This mission is set for August 2027 and will use a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The COSI mission, featuring a wide-field gamma-ray telescope, will explore energetic phenomena in the Milky Way and beyond. It will study the creation and destruction of matter and antimatter, the final stages of star life cycles, the origins of galactic positrons, nucleosynthesis sites, gamma-ray polarization, and counterparts to multi-messenger sources.
The compact Compton telescope is designed for enhanced sensitivity, spectral resolution, angular resolution, and extensive sky coverage. This mission is a collaboration among UC Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory, UC San Diego, the Naval Research Laboratory, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and Northrop Grumman. The project is managed by a team based at UC Berkeley and is supported by NASA’s Astrophysics Explorers Program at Goddard.
NASA’s Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center oversees the launch services. Bringing together top institutions and advanced technology, the COSI mission aims to deepen our understanding of the universe. By studying gamma-ray sources and their cosmic roles, scientists hope to uncover new insights into the workings of the cosmos and the fundamental processes shaping it.

Redbox Files For Bankruptcy:

The parent company of Redbox, the red DVD rental kiosks, has filed for bankruptcy after struggling financially for several months. Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment (CSSE) revealed in a filing that it is nearly $1 billion in debt, owing millions to entertainment companies like the BBC and Sony Pictures, as well as retailers including Walmart and Walgreens.
CSSE accumulated approximately $325 million in debt after acquiring Redbox in 2022 from Apollo Global Management. The strategy was to transform Redbox into an entertainment powerhouse by merging its DVD rental business with CSSE's free streaming services, such as Crackle, which was previously owned by Sony. However, this strategy failed for several reasons.
Dual Hollywood strikes significantly limited the production of new content, and there was a continued decline in the demand for physical DVD rentals. This decline even led Netflix to abandon its DVD rental business last year. Consequently, CSSE's plans did not materialize, leading to severe financial difficulties and ultimately the bankruptcy filing.

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