Space.com is an online publication focused on

space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...

exploration,

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

, skywatching and entertainment, with editorial teams based in the United States and United Kingdom. Launched on July 20, 1999, the website offers live coverage of space missions, astronomical discoveries and reviews about skywatching telescopes, binoculars and sci-fi entertainment gear. It is owned by

Future plc Future plc is a British publishing company. It was started in 1985 by Chris Anderson (entrepreneur), Chris Anderson. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History 1985–2012 The company was ...

headquartered in the city of Bath,

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Its stories are often syndicated to other

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

outlets, including CNN,

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

Yahoo! Yahoo (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web portal that provides the search engine Yahoo Search and related services including My Yahoo, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports, y!entertainment, yahoo!life, and its a ...

, and ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

''.

History

Space.com was founded on July 20, 1999, on the 30th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, by former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs and Rich Zahradnik in New York City. Dobbs was CEO and Zahradnik the company's first president. Former astronauts

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aerospace engineering, aeronautical engineer who, in 1969, became the Apollo 11#Lunar surface operations, first person to walk on the Moon. He was al ...

and Sally Ride sat on the board of directors. PaineWebber, Venrock Associates, and SpaceVest were early investors. The company struggled to turn a profit in its early days and when the

dot-com bubble The dot-com bubble (or dot-com boom) was a stock market bubble that ballooned during the late-1990s and peaked on Friday, March 10, 2000. This period of market growth coincided with the widespread adoption of the World Wide Web and the Interne ...

burst in 2000, many felt that it would collapse. Co-founder Rich Zahradnik left his position as president less than two months after the start of the company, former

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

Sally Ride took his place but then stepped down in September 2000. Despite some growth, Space.com was not able to achieve what Dobbs had hoped. On May 14, 2001, he returned to CNN. After Dobbs exited, the company's backers continued to invest capital. As it expanded, Space.com acquired Explorezone.com in November 1999 and Starport.com in June 2000. In October, Space.com also acquired SpaceNews, spacenews.com, and

Florida Today ''Florida Today'' is the major daily newspaper serving Brevard County, Florida. Al Neuharth of the Gannett corporation started the paper in 1966, and some of the things he did with this newspaper presaged what he would later do at ''USA Toda ...

’s Space Online websites from

Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. ( ) is an American mass media holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. It owns the national newspaper ''USA Today'', as well as several ...

for an equity stake in the company. It acquired Sienna Software, the company that produced the Starry Night software. In 2003, Space.com received the Online Journalism Award for Breaking News for its coverage of the Columbia shuttle disaster. In May 2004, Space.com's parent company changed its name from Space Holdings to Imaginova. In November of that year, Imaginova launched

Live Science Live Science is a science news website. The publication features stories on a wide range of topics, including space, animals, health, archaeology, human behavior, and planet Earth. It also includes a reference section with links to other websites ...

to branch out from its space coverage. It also acquired Orion Telescopes in February 2005 and comic book news site

Newsarama ''Newsarama'' is an American website that publishes news, interviews, and essays about the American comic book industry. It is owned by Future US. In June 2020, Newsarama was merged with the website ''GamesRadar+'', also owned by Future US. Hi ...

in October 2007. In 2008, Imaginova sold Starry Night to Simulation Curriculum. In 2009, Imaginova sold Space.com,

, and

to TopTenReviews.com, which then reorganized into TechMedia Network, following the purchase. Space.com was recognized as a Webby Award honoree in 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2014. The company changed its name to Purch in April 2014. In 2018, Space.com—along with other Purch consumer brands—were sold to

. Under Future, Space.com has expanded its news and reviews team across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. It has also grown its telescope, binoculars, and astrophotography reviews and deals coverage, as well as added sci-fi gaming and streaming coverage.

Editors

Tariq Malik is the current Editor-in-Chief of Space.com, with Brett Tingley as Editor, and Mike Wall as Spaceflight/Tech Channel Editor. Photographer Jason Parnell-Brookes is the Cameras and Skywatching Channel Editor, and Ian Stokes is the Tech & Entertainment Channel Editor. Steve Spaleta is the current Senior Producer for video. Previous editors include: Anthony Duignan-Cabrera, Robert Roy Britt, Clara Moskowitz and Sarah Lewin.

Notes

References

Space.com Is Back In Orbit
- ''Forbes Magazine'' 18 January 2006 (accessed 5 June 2006)

- ''Forbes Magazine'' 5 July 2000 (accessed 28 February 2006)

''Media Life'' Magazine 2 January 2001 (accessed 28 February 2006)
Imaginova.com About Us
(accessed 28 February 2006)

External links

Space.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Space.Com Future plc Internet properties established in 1999 American news websites Astronomy websites Space advocacy Websites related to spaceflight

History

Editors

See also

Notes

References

External links