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Apex Space, led by co-founders Ian Cinnamon and Max Benassi, aims to better produce spacecraft at scale.
Apex has so far raised $7.75 million in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz, alongside other venture investors including XYZ, J2, Lux Capital and Village Global.
“The one element holding everything back is really on the satellite bus side. That is what is slowing everything down – more so than launch, more so than new ideas,” Cinnamon told CNBC.

Co-founders Max Benassi, left, and Ian Cinnamon
Apex Space

A pair of heavy-hitter startup founders is turning their attention to what they see as a key bottleneck in the space industry, and has already won backing from high-profile venture capital.
Los Angeles-based Apex Space, led by co-founders Ian Cinnamon and Max Benassi, wants to better produce spacecraft at scale. The cost of a ride to orbit has been “massively decreasing,” Cinnamon told CNBC, but the satellite bus – the physical structure of a spacecraft that also provides power and movement – “has really not changed much in decades.”

“The one element holding everything back is really on the satellite bus side. That is what is slowing everything down – more so than launch, more so than new ideas,” Cinnamon said.
Apex has so far raised $7.75 million in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz, alongside other venture investors including XYZ, J2, Lux Capital and Village Global.

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Cinnamon previously founded Superlabs, sold to Zynga in 2015, and Synapse Technology, sold to Palantir in 2020. His partner in Apex, Benassi, earned his stripes at Elon Musk’s SpaceX over seven years, working on everything from rockets to engines and more.
They enter an increasingly competitive space subsector of satellite bus manufacturing, with the likes of York Space, which recently reached a $1 billion valuation. But Cinnamon says the market standard is still “handmade” spacecraft that take years to evolve from order to design to delivery.
“We’re not designing a new satellite bus every single time. We’re offering options and we’re going to say no to certain customers that are not a fit – we’re not going to custom design,” Cinnamon said.

A rendering of an Aries spacecraft in orbit.
Apex Space

Apex is starting off with its Aries satellite bus, a 103-kilogram platform that the company says can support a customer payload up to 94 kilograms.
Cinnamon said Apex has already taken on customers for 2023 and plans to scale its manufacturing to five satellite buses in 2024, then 20 in 2025, and up to 100 by 2026.
“From chatting with customers, we are hearing that people who are trying to procure satellite buses are having a very difficult time doing it, where many of the existing providers on the market are actually turning them away and saying they don’t have production slots for them,” Cinnamon said.
Satellites are launching to space at an unprecedented rate, with thousands coming to orbit annually. While Apex wants to produce satellite buses at scale, Cinnamon emphasized that avoiding adding debris to orbit is “critically important.”
“For every satellite bus that we sell – given the fact that we’re mass manufacturing as part of the fundamental design of how we build this – it has to come with a kind of de-orbit capability, and a pathway forward to ensure that it does not add to the space junk problem,” Cinnamon said.

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The IRS has released draft guidance for cryptocurrency and other digital asset reporting for 2022 tax returns.
The agency plans to change the term “virtual currency” to “digital asset” in a question, and provide more guidance on how to answer.
However, experts say that reporting questions still remain for filers and tax professionals.

Jose Luis Pelaez | Getty Images

The IRS is sharing more details on how to report digital assets for the 2022 tax filing year, according to draft instructions.
Since 2019, there’s been a yes or no “virtual currency” question on tax returns, requiring filers to check a box to disclose their taxable crypto activity. For 2022, the agency has changed the term “virtual currency” to “digital asset,” with more guidance on when to check “yes.”

Notably, “digital asset” now includes non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, which grant ownership to items like art, and stablecoins, which are pegged to a real-world asset.
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“I think that’s a good change,” said Matt Metras, an enrolled agent and cryptocurrency tax specialist at MDM Financial Services in Rochester, New York. “People who trade things like NFTs would not think of that as a virtual currency.”
The “broader language” may include new categories, such as taxpayers receiving digital assets from “play-to-earn games,” which have become popular over the past year, he said.

The IRS is always going to be behind the eight ball because they just can’t keep up with how fast the crypto space is changing.

Matt Metras
Cryptocurrency tax specialist at MDM Financial Services

“The IRS is always going to be behind the eight ball because they just can’t keep up with how fast the crypto space is changing,” Metras said.

The draft instructions say filers must check “yes” if they received digital assets as a reward, award or payment for property or services. And the agency may also require “yes” if filers sold, exchanged or gifted digital assets.

Reporting questions remain

Despite the agency’s attempts to clarify guidance on digital asset reporting, questions remain for filers and tax professionals. 
For example, filers aren’t required to submit a gift tax return for transfers under $16,000 for 2022. However, the question requires taxpayers to check “yes” for gifts that may be below that amount, said Andrew Gordon, tax attorney, CPA and president of Gordon Law Group in Skokie, Illinois.
This may cause IRS processing issues without corresponding gift activity elsewhere on the return. Overall, “there still seems to be an education gap for taxpayers,” he added.

The American Institute of CPAs has also expressed concerns over the lack of clarity for taxpayers, referencing the “cryptographically secured distributed ledger” in the instructions, which may confuse filers. 
“We suggest IRS and Treasury keep the question focused on ‘virtual currency’ until proposed and final regulations are issued defining ‘digital assets,'” said Eileen Sherr, director of tax policy and advocacy at the American Institute of CPAs. 
The organization submitted comments to the IRS about the question in late August, asking for revisions and clearer instructions with examples before finalizing the 2022 tax return.

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Beyond Steak is coming to Kroger, Walmart and other grocery stores on Monday.
The announcement comes after a series of executive departures and plans to lay off 19% of its workforce.
Beyond and Taco Bell started testing meatless carne asada using Beyond Steak at restaurants in Dayton, Ohio.

Beyond Steak
Source: Beyond Meat

Beyond Meat is launching a steak substitute in grocery stores on Monday.
The new product will roll out nationwide at more than 5,000 Kroger and Walmart stores, as well as Albertsons, Ahold Delhaize, Jewel-Osco, Sprouts and other local grocers.

The announcement concludes a rocky month for the maker of meat alternatives. Beyond ousted Chief Operating Officer Doug Ramsey after he was arrested for allegedly biting another man’s nose. The company also announced plans to cut 19% of its workforce, or roughly 200 employees, as well as the departure of its chief financial officer and the elimination of the chief growth officer role.
Amid the chaos, Beyond and Yum Brands’ Taco Bell started testing meatless carne asada using its Beyond Steak product at restaurants in Dayton, Ohio.
The Beyond Steak that will be sold in grocery stores comes packaged in bite-sized pieces. It uses faba bean protein as its base and contains 21 grams of protein per serving, according to the company. It also has lower saturated fat content than beef steak and contains no cholesterol. The 10-ounce package will retail for $7.99.
Historically, product launches have boosted Beyond’s sales, driving new and returning customers to try the item. That would be welcome news for the company, which has seen its sales slide and investors lose hope in its long-term growth prospects.
In the second quarter, Beyond reported U.S. grocery sales rose just 2.2% while restaurant revenue was off 2.4%. This year, shares of the company have lost 80% of their value, shrinking its market value to $821 million. At its record high in July 2019, Beyond was valued at $13.4 billion.

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The pandemic shift to eating at home and loading up pantries benefited Beyond and other plant-based meat companies. But many shoppers didn’t stick with eating meat alternatives once the novelty wore off, and inflation has put pressure on budgets, making the more expensive substitutes even less attractive to consumers.
Not all Beyond launches have been a hit. Shoppers weren’t very keen on Beyond Meat Jerky, a meat-free jerky made through the company’s joint venture with PepsiCo. Executives said in August that demand was below its initial estimates. The snack item also has been very expensive for Beyond to produce, putting pressure on its profit margins this year, although that’s expected to wane.
Beyond is expected to report its third-quarter results after the bell on Nov. 9.

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The U.K. is gearing up to install a new prime minister this week — its fifth in six years — following the sudden resignation of Liz Truss, just 44 days into the job.
Truss’ successor will once again be decided by a Conservative Party leadership contest, which could be over as soon as Monday.
Over the weekend, two Tory hopefuls threw their hats into the ring for a stab at the top job: Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt.

Britain is preparing to name its fifth prime minister in six years.
Richard Baker | In Pictures | Getty Images

LONDON — The U.K. is gearing up to install a new prime minister this week — its fifth in six years — following the sudden resignation of Liz Truss, just 44 days into the job.
Truss’ successor will once again be decided by a Conservative Party leadership contest drawn from a short-list of candidates.

This time, however, the process has been fast-tracked into the space of a week, as the party seeks to salvage its credibility and reassure markets after a cataclysmic month of economic turmoil under Truss’ government.
Over the weekend, two Tory hopefuls officially threw their hats into the ring for a stab at the top job. Those include frontrunner Rishi Sunak, who lost to Truss in September’s leadership race, and Penny Mordaunt, who placed third.
Ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson — who was ousted from office in scandal three months ago — said Sunday he had withdrawn from the race in the interests of party unity, despite having previously claimed to have the necessary backing to enter.
The remaining two candidates have since been rallying around fellow members of parliament (MPs) to amass the minimum threshold of votes required to join the final run-off. Here’s how the race is expected to unfold over the coming days — or, potentially, hours.

Monday 24, 2 p.m. — MPs submit their nominations

Candidates have until 2 p.m. London time on Monday to gain the backing of 100 MPs and therefore enter the ballot for party leader.

The threshold is particularly high given that the party is comprised of 357 MPs, and each is allowed to vote for only one candidate. That thus limits the number of possible contenders to three.
As of Monday morning 6 a.m. local time, Sunak had garnered the public support of 155 MPs and Mordaunt had 25 nominations, according to the BBC.
All MPs will have to submit their nominations, by either email or signature, by the 2 p.m. deadline, after which point the results will be revealed.
If just one candidate receives the 100 votes required, they will automatically win the race and become Britain’s next prime minister.

Monday 24, 6 p.m. — First ballot of MPs

If two or more candidates reach 100 nominations, the contest will proceed to an indicative ballot Monday afternoon.
A first ballot of MPs will be held between 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., with the results to be announced at 6:00 p.m.

Britain’s Conservative Party is pursuing a fast-tracked version of the leadership race it conducted earlier this year.
Dan Kitwood | Getty Images News | Getty Images

If there are only two candidates at this stage, it is thought that the one with the fewest number of votes will step down to avoid an online ballot among party members. But that is not guaranteed.
If there are three candidates, the one with the fewest votes will be eliminated and a second ballot will be conducted.

Monday 24, 9 p.m. — Second ballot of MPs

If required, a second indicative ballot of MPs will be held between 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., with the result to be announced at 9 p.m.
At that point, the candidate with the fewest votes may step down. If not, the process will progress to a vote among party members.

Friday 28, 11 a.m. — Party members’ vote closes

Should the process extend beyond Monday, Conservative Party members — which number around 200,000 people representing 0.3% of the British population — will have until Friday 11 a.m. to vote for their preferred candidate in an online ballot.
The process would be a fast-tracked version of the six-week process used to elect Truss on Sept. 5.
The winner will be declared later Friday. Britain’s King Charles will then ask them to form a government, making them the next prime minister in the process.

Monday 31 — U.K. fiscal budget?

The new prime minister will have just days to settle into the job and announce their new Cabinet before the Treasury’s financial budget is set to be announced on Monday Oct. 31.
The statement is set to be closely watched by both Britons and international investors as newly installed Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt attempts to remedy the destruction caused by Truss’ government and his predecessor Kwasi Kwarteng.
However, questions remain over whether the budget will go ahead as planned and, indeed, whether the incoming prime minister will retain Hunt in the role.

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Walmart is relaunching and renaming its best-selling intimates and sleepwear line.
The new brand, Joyspun, debuts as the discounter gears up for the holidays and is attracting more shoppers with its low-priced groceries.
Sales of intimates and sleepwear have grown significantly during the pandemic as retailers catered to consumers’ desire for comfort, better fit and body positivity.

Walmart has rolled out Joyspun, a new intimates and sleepwear line. It will replace one of its most popular apparel brands, Secret Treasures.

Walmart is overhauling one of its most popular apparel lines — its top intimates and sleepwear brand.
The discounter has begun to roll out bras, underwear, socks, pajamas and other items under the new brand, Joyspun, online and in stores. The brand replaces Secret Treasures, a major national line that has been in Walmart’s big-box stores for more than two decades.

Secret Treasures, Walmart’s largest intimates and sleepwear line, drove $1 billion in sales last fiscal year — one of the retailer’s 13 private brands of general merchandise to do so. It also captured the largest customer base across the women’s intimates and sleepwear market in the U.S., with one in five buying from the brand in the 12 months ended January 2022, according to The NPD Group, a market researcher that tracks sales across mass retailers, mall retailers and direct-to-consumer players.
Yet the intimates and sleepwear space has gotten more competitive, especially during the pandemic as people worked remotely and spent more time at home. Now, a larger number of retailers are vying for market share, including shopping mall staples like Victoria’s Secret and American Eagle-owned Aerie, mass retailers like Target and newcomers like ThirdLove, Yitty and Skims.
Many of the newer entrants emphasize comfort, better fit and body positivity.
“It’s a white-hot moment for the intimates category,” said Denise Incandela, executive vice president of apparel and private brands at Walmart U.S. “We wanted to take our leading brand, which was Secret Treasures, and reimagine it to offer the quality and elevated prints and premium design details, as well as a new brand name and colors and packaging and modernize in a way that brings us into the future.”
For the past year and a half, Incandela said, the retailer did consumer outreach that helped develop a line with a wide range of silhouettes, softer fabrics and trendier styles.

Joyspun shoppers will see a more modern spin on basic items from bras to underwear. All of the items sell at a low price point, with bras starting at $11.98. Prices range from $7.98 for a sleep shirt to $34.98 for a quilted robe.
The relaunch could come at a good time. Walmart, the largest grocer in the country by sales, has drawn more high-income customers to its stores as inflation drives up the prices of food. Those shoppers could become a fresh audience for its apparel, particularly if they make more frequent trips to its big-box stores or consider new ways to stretch their dollars.
Joyspun is also hitting Walmart’s stores and websites ahead of the holiday season. Incandela declined to say what percentage of intimates and sleepwear sell during the fourth quarter, but said it’s the biggest sales season for the categories.
Incandela said shoppers will notice new details and innovations, such as bra cups that mold better to a person’s figure, underwear with lace and youthful prints and robes made of plush fabrics. It will also sell gift sets for the holidays, like eye mask and robe combinations.

Walmart has a new look and new name for its top intimates and sleepwear line. Prices for Joyspun range from $7.98 for a sleep shirt to $34.98 for a quilted robe.

Walmart has gone after a bigger share of customers’ closets over the past few years. To that end, it has hired designers and debuted exclusive apparel brands with more style and higher price points. And earlier this year, it launched Love & Sports, a fitness and swimwear brand created by fashion designer Michelle Smith and SoulCycle instructor Stacey Griffith. It also unveiled a virtual fitting room tool that allows shoppers to see how a shirt, dress or another clothing item would look on their own body.
Incandela said she hopes those moves inspire women to think differently about Walmart’s apparel offerings. And “we want her to rethink what she’s got under her wardrobe, too,” she said.
Sales of intimates and sleepwear broadly have cooled down since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic when many consumers replenished their intimates drawers and splurged on pajama sets. Sales of intimates declined by 6% in dollar terms and by 11% in units during the first nine months of 2022, according to The NPD Group. Sleepwear sales dropped by 3% in dollars and were roughly flat in unit sales during that period.
But spending in the categories is still up over pre-pandemic levels, according to NPD. Intimates dollar sales during the first nine months were 15% higher than the same period in 2019. Sleepwear dollar sales are up 52% over that time frame.
Even as some inflation-conscious shoppers watch their spending, items like underwear and socks remain a staple that people must replace, said Kristen Classi-Zummo, a fashion analyst for the NPD Group. She said it is also a popular holiday gift and a part-time uniform for hybrid workers.
“We wear our sleepwear a lot more, so you’re a bit quicker to replenish your pajamas,” she said.
Plus, as people return to holiday parties and social events, they are not only buying dresses and blazers, she said. They also want the shapewear, pushup bras and other items that go with them.

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Warner Bros.’ latest DC Extended Universe film “Black Adam” tallied $67 million at the domestic box office during its opening weekend.
It is the first film since Disney and Marvel’s “Thor: Love and Thunder” to top $50 million during its debut.
Premium formats, including IMAX, Dolby Cinema and large format cinema screens, accounted for around 33% of the film’s domestic ticket sales.

Dwayne Johnson is Black Adam in Warner Bros.’ newest DC film “Black Adam.”
Warner Bros.

“Black Adam” stormed into theaters this weekend, snaring $67 million domestically. It is the first film since Disney and Marvel Studio’s “Thor: Love and Thunder” in July to tally more than $50 million during its debut.
The Warner Bros.’ film also marks star Dwayne Johnson’s largest domestic opening as a leading man.

Premium formats, including IMAX, Dolby Cinema and large format cinema screens, accounted for around 33% of the film’s domestic ticket sales, the studio reported Sunday. These tickets are often more expensive than those sold for traditional screenings and indicated that audiences are looking to watch big movies on the biggest screen possible.
This is a good sign for the film industry, which saw attendance shrink during the pandemic and is currently dealing with a significant lack of new film releases. As of last Sunday, the 2022 box office had more than one-third fewer wide releases compared to 2019 levels. This has led to a more than 30% decrease in box office grosses, according to data from Comscore.
“Black Adam” is one of only four major releases coming to theaters before the end of the year. The others are all Disney films: “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Nov. 11), “Strange World” (Nov. 23) and “Avatar: The Way of Water” (Dec. 16).
The hope from movie theater owners is that films like “Black Adam” can continue to drive traffic to theaters beyond its opening weekend.

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An ambitious race to connect directly from space to devices like smartphones began in earnest earlier this year.
A host of projects and partners – from Apple, Iridium, SpaceX, T-Mobile and AT&T, among others – have come to the fore in 2022.
The potential untapped is spurring a tale of two strategies. For some companies, it means billions spent on what could end up being a losing approach.

Sofia Pitt, CNBC

The race to provide high-speed internet from satellites is well underway – but another, more ambitious competition, to connect directly from space to devices like smartphones, began in earnest earlier this year.
The potential untapped market — which hinges on, but extends beyond, sending a text via space — is spurring a tale of two strategies: Those putting specialized antennae in phones, versus those putting high-powered antennae on the satellites themselves. For some companies, it means billions spent on what could end up being a losing approach.

“The satellite industry is really niche and – if they can tap into connecting billions of smartphones – they can start talking about market sizes that are way greater than they’ve ever been able to address before. Everything before has been in the millions,” Caleb Henry, senior analyst at boutique research firm Quilty Analytics, told CNBC.

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A host of projects and partners – from Apple, Iridium, SpaceX, T-Mobile and AT&T, among others – have come to the fore in 2022, at various stages of development to connect directly to smartphones. It’s long been a dream of satellite communications visionaries, but bulky, specialized and typically expensive satellite phones fell short of mass appeal.
Now, an evolution of technology is revamping the race to perfect space-based communications, according to Patricia Cooper, founder of Constellation Advisory and former SpaceX vice president for satellite government affairs.
“One of the differences [from earlier generations] is the capability of today’s satellites in low Earth orbit, which means that they might be able to deliver more than just a thin kind of text, or almost like a pager, service,” Cooper said.

Diverging tech

SpaceX this summer announced a partnership that would allow T-Mobile users to send messages from places unreachable by terrestrial cell towers, utilizing SpaceX’s second generation of Starlink satellites.

CEO Elon Musk said the larger, upgraded Starlink satellites would feature wide antennae that could transmit directly to a mobile device, with T-Mobile hoping to eventually add voice calling through the satellites.
While SpaceX has launched more than 3,000 first generation satellites so far, adding a direct-to-phone service will require thousands more.
The partnership is similar to those made by AST SpaceMobile. The company last month put its second test satellite in orbit and has deals with mobile telecoms, including AT&T, Vodafone and Rakuten. The satellite company went public via a SPAC last year and has raised nearly $600 million to date.
AST’s network would consist of fewer satellites than the Starlink constellation, but still calls for nearly 250 to be deployed for global coverage.
Private venture Lynk Global likewise aims to provide a cell tower in space from satellites, with plans for a constellation of several thousand in a few years. Lynk has raised around $25 million since its founding in 2017. It’s flown five test satellites to orbit so far.
The company announced it sent “the world’s first text message from a satellite in orbit to a standard mobile phone on the ground” in early 2020.
And while some build out satellite networks, other major players are eyeing Earth-bound innovations, with systems dependent on a specialized antenna in phones.
Apple – the leading provider of satellite smartphone communications so far, albeit in a limited capacity to start – recently announced an emergency feature of iPhone 14 models that leverages the technology. In partnership with Globalstar, the feature allows users to send compressed text messages from iPhone 14s via satellites.
Apple is set to spend more than $400 million to utilize the majority of Globalstar’s network and to add more satellites to it.
Iridium, a long-time provider of satellite communications to specialized phones, has yet to announce a partner for a direct-to-smartphone service. But CEO Matt Desch last month told CNBC at the 2022 World Satellite Business Week conference that his company has been “working on that opportunity.”
Iridium expects to finalize a contract with a smartphone partner by the end of 2022, with Desch having said that “our service is going to be global day one” when it launches.

A ways to go

Companies must overcome key technological and regulatory hurdles to bring these long-envisioned networks to market.
“The services so far are all starting out with the most minimally intensive services that they can provide — and that’s texting,” Quilty Analytics’ Henry noted. “The true testament of what level of service each of these companies will be able to provide is ultimately going to depend on how many satellites they’re able to launch, how powerful the satellites are, and the amount of spectrum they have access to.”
Both Henry and Cooper said the regulatory unknowns around these types of services will be specifically challenging to companies’ networks. Telecommunications is “a heavily regulated area,” Cooper said, and “there aren’t very many scenarios where the rules are first set up for a new technology innovation.”
She also emphasized the true scope of the market, and how lucrative it could be, remains to be seen.
“I don’t think we know how this is going to be paid for. We don’t know whether the market is going to be determined by how much cellular companies will pay satellite companies to partner and invest [in constellation infrastructure], or whether it’s going to be paid by consumers and it’s going to add pennies on your bill and that’s going to flow through to the satellite companies,” Cooper said.
“Until we know that, we can’t know scale,” Cooper added.

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New Jersey is the only state in the U.S. that doesn’t allow customers to pump their own gas — anywhere. There’s always an attendant on duty to pump gas for customers at these full-service stations.
Oregon is the only other state besides New Jersey with a full-service law. However, Oregon’s laws are far less strict and allow certain parts of the state to have self-service gas stations.

“It goes back to the middle of the 20th century,” said Patrick Murray, the director of the Monmouth Polling Institute. “There were forces involved who wanted to protect their interests in terms of the smaller gas owners against mega gas stations that were starting to be built at the time that would require self-service to be profitable.”
Historically, gas stations with attendants were popular in the first half of the 1900s. But by the 1970s, most states had switched over to customers pumping their own gas. As these changes swept the U.S., a state ban on self-service in 1949, known as the Retail Gasoline Dispensing Safety Act, stopped the Garden State from following suit. Oregon passed its own similar law in 1951.
In the original bill, the New Jersey state legislature cited safety concerns and rising costs to consumers as reasons to not transition over to self-service. But every time there’s a spike in gas prices, bills opposing full service start to pop up. Seen as a ‘political third rail’ by many politicians including Gov. Phil Murphy, it’s one of the few legislative debates that doesn’t follow party lines. Every bill has failed so far, but it hasn’t stopped self-serve advocacy groups and politicians from pushing for change.
Watch the video above to find out more about New Jersey’s full-service gas stations, why self-service options don’t find a home in the Garden State, and what’s next for its gas station owners.

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