VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Microsoft Corp surprised the tech world on Wednesday with a prototype hologram visor that can bring the Minecraft video game, Skype calls and even the landscape of Mars to three-dimensional life.

Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), founded by Elon Musk, said it has raised about $1 billion in a financing round with two new investors, Google Inc and Fidelity.

A new U.S. spaceship designed to fly astronauts to the moon, Mars and other destinations beyond the International Space Station arrived at a Florida launch pad on Wednesday in preparation for an unmanned test flight next month.

Richard Branson is set to meet his Virgin Galactic space team in California's Mojave Desert on Saturday following the crash of a passenger spaceship being developed by his company that killed one pilot and seriously injured the other.

Billionaire investors in a small, Seattle-area company that aims to one day mine resources on asteroids have not been deterred by an unmanned rocket explosion that destroyed their test satellite, the company said on Wednesday.

Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) will allow users to play podcasts, music and other audio clips direct from their timelines, or message feeds, via a new feature designed in partnership with Berlin-based audio-streaming service SoundCloud.

India's low-cost mission to Mars successfully entered the red planet's orbit on Wednesday, crowning what Prime Minister Narendra Modi said was a "near impossible" push to become the only country to complete the trip on its maiden attempt.

The United Nation's civil aviation body, currently wrestling with how to help airlines maintain safety over conflict zones, is taking first steps toward protection for commercial vessels in space.

NASA will partner with Boeing and SpaceX to build commercially owned and operated "space taxis" to fly astronauts to the International Space Station, ending U.S. dependence on Russia for rides, officials said on Tuesday.

A Space Exploration Technologies Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Sunday to put a commercial communications satellite into orbit.

Boeing Co (BA.N) has completed a key review of its design for a new commercial venture to fly astronauts to the International Space Station, making it the only one of four rival bidders to finish the NASA work on time, company officials said on Thursday.

Washington, US-based software giant Microsoft acquired Wellington, New Zealand-based cloud computing firm GreenButton for an undisclosed amount to incorporate it into the Azure public cloud platform to give companies remote access to software.

After announcing via press conference that its Falcon 9 rocket has successfully made a soft landing in the ocean, Elon Musk expressed his desire for Space X and other private companies to join the bidding for military rocket launch contracts.

After helping 3 million people in the Philippines and Paraguay get access to the Internet, social media giant Facebook launched the Connectivity Lab to build drones and lasers that will help more people get affordable Internet access.

Planetary Ventures, the shell firm that Google infrequently uses for its real estate deals, has won the right to lease Moffett Field and Hangar One.