Space Times

Main Topics

Defense

* Voyager Technologies awarded a $22.4M Pentagon contract for satellite deployment prototypes. [source]

* Los Angeles based startup Fortastra closed a $30m Series A round led by First In to scale maneuverable spacecraft for on-orbit security. [source]

* US Army awarded $67M in Electromagnetic Warfare to hide forces from orbital surveillance through five Other Transaction Authority Agreements. [source]

Sensing

* Seattle based startup Kapta raised $24M in their Series A round led by Washington Harbour Partners. [source]

* Bay Area SAR startup Array Labs won a $4.47M contract from US Army Devcom to develop distributed 3D Radar satellite technology. [source]

* Hawkeye 360 released the results of their 2024 AFRL SBIR Phase II award to demo RF-sensing SDA satellites in a whitepaper. [source]

Comms

* SpaceX acquired nationwide low-band spectrum license in a deal for Starlink Mobile. [source]

* The FCC announced plans to vote on a proposal to auction off 25 MHz of prime spectrum for D2D applications and to make an additional 482 MHz of spectrum available to supplemental coverage for D2D services in said spectrum range. [source]

* AnySignal announced a new partnership with Andrenam to develop and bring to market underwater acoustic communications modems. [source]

Business Moves

* New York based commercial exchange infrastructure firm Nebex and Mexican Earth Observation company Thrusters Unlimited announce a partnership focused on providing sovereign space programs to Mexico and Latin America. [source]

* Balerion Space Ventures closed the raise of an oversubscribed $200M Fund II. [source]

* SpaceX seeking a $40B debt raise led by Apollo Global Management to finance the purchase of NVIDIA GPUs. [source]

* Blue Origin claimed the $10B round of private funding will support an IPO ‘in the future’. [source]

Tech Advances

* NASA announced a partnership with Axiom Space to develop a ‘Sortie Suit’ on an accelerated timeline to deliver the variant of Axiom’s planned lunar surface suit sooner for NASA’s upcoming Artemis missions. [source]

Main Topics

Launch

* SpaceX’s Starship 14 deployed the first 26 operational Starlink V3 satellites to orbit. [source]

* SpaceX’s Transporter 18 successfully deployed 130 payloads to orbit on the first stage booster’s 25th launch, including: [source]

* Starcatcher’s first space-to-space power beaming satellite Protostar [source]

* Cowboy Space’s space-to-earth power beaming satellite Reason-1 [source]

* TWO Varda in-space manufacturing satellites [source]

* Google’s first on-orbit TPU aboard Planet’s satellite [source]

* Starfish’s first Otter RPO satellite [source]

* Cesium Astro’s first Element-1 communication satellite [source]

* Meridian Space’s first reflectenna customer link [source]

* Deep Blue Aerospace raised $300M to further develop their Nebula-1 and Nebula-2 rockets. [source]

* Z-trak raised an undisclosed amount of funding to facilitate a 2027 inaugural launch of their electric pump rocket. [source]

* Hop Aerospace raised an $11M seed round led by Initialize Capital to further develop and advance rocket-based point-to-point delivery solutions. [source]

* Meridian officially established themselves as a separate business entity from kinetic launch provider Spinlaunch. [source]

* Portuguese startup Omnidea acquired former Scottish launch provider Orbex’s assets, announcing plans for their PrimeNEO rocket. [source]

Infrastructure

* Overview Energy awarded an OECIF contract to develop a homing beacon/targeting beacon solution for orbital solar power transmission to terrestrial targets. [source],

* Momentus demonstrated an AI-enabled LiDAR and imaging suite during a successful RPO maneuver with NASA satellite. [source]

* Lithuanian startup Blackswan raised a $2.9m seed round to advance their product lines’ commercialization and expand to the US markets. [source]

* Italian startup NaviGate verified their 5cm accuracy GPS orbital determination software on-orbit. [source]

* Foundational exited stealth with a £8.2M pre-seed raise for satellite laser ranging. [source]

Compute

* Virtus Solis signed a 100MW 20 year power purchase agreement, extendable to 250MWs of power purchase, with marine data center operator Brae Systems. [source]

* Firefly announced plan to host Starcloud’s data center on their Elytra Moon mission.[source]

* Satlyt raised an $8M Seed round to develop virtual orbital data centers. [source]

* STAR.VISION announced a 1,080+ orbital compute constellation with ~$1.5B in credit backing. [source]

Business Moves

* Voyager Technologies closed $400M+ in convertible senior notes set to mature in October 2032 at a ~$40 price per share representing a ~30% premium on current share prices. [source]

* Astro Digital announced the intent to go public through a SPAC merger at a $587M valuation, raising $180M in the process. [source]

* Varda raised a $251M Series D, bringing total financing to date to $598M. [source]

* Astranis secured a $468M credit facility from the US Export Import Bank. [source]

* ICEYE announced plans to expand product offerings and build sovereign communications constellations with Nokia. [source]

* Parsons wins $85M to build Space Command HQ. [source]

* Charter Space raised $5M seed for space insurance. [source]

Tech Advances

* Viridian awarded a $225k NASA contract to develop VLEO control systems using aerosurfaces. [source]

Main Topics

Imaging

* HEO raised a $25M Series B led by Beaten Zone Venture Partners to further develop their space-based space domain awareness technology. [source]

* Impulse Space awarded a $28M contract from the USSF to fly a Mira spacecraft for GEO based space domain awareness. [source]

* Momentus received a NASA task order contract in support of the FALCON mission to use LIDAR to study Earth’s atmosphere. [source]

* TRL11 selected to supply the imaging system on NASA’s Space Reactor 1 flying to Mars in 2028. [source]

* Hydrosat unveiled their next-generation Osiris constellation to provide higher resolution and coverage area in near infrared and long wave infrared. [source]

Launch

* Space Epoch raised a Series B extension, bringing the total capital raised to $343M USD to launch their reusable medium lift rocket. [source]

* RSAT Space signed a Canadian launch distribution deal with INNOSPACE to manifest customers for their Hanbit Nano, Micro, and Mini launch vehicles.. [source]

* Exolaunch contracted a dedicated SpaceX Starfall mission for in-space manufacturing under their 2029 Return to Earth Program. [source]

Infrastructure

* Katalyst won an OECIF award for their robotic spacecraft to assemble tiles on-orbit into a space based solar power satellite.. [source]

* Vast announced their Lunar Programs Division, applying Haven flight heritage to power, communications, and habitats for Lunar programs. [source].

* Italy committed over $5B to the development of a lunar habitat for NASA’s Moon Base program. [source]

* ClearSpace signed an ESA ARTES contract to advance their Phoenix GEO life-extension mission. [source]

Business Moves

* Hubble Network raised a $200m round Series C round of financing led by Smith Point Capital to expand the deployment of their bluetooth connectivity satellites. [source]

* The Toronto Stock Exchange approved MDA for a share repurchase program totalling 5% of their public float. [source]

* Redwire selected for Space Systems Command’s $980M NITE-STAR IDIQ to provide training solutions. [source]

* ICEYE opened a new operational and laboratory facility in Warsaw, Poland. [source]

Tech Advances

* GHGSat announced their second generation methane imager, boasting twice the resolution and coverage over their first generation satellites. [source]

Main Topics

This week we had the privilege of speaking with Robert Sproles, CEO of Exolaunch, about their announcement of procuring two more launches as part of their expansion into managed rideshare services. If you need to get to space, be sure to check out Exolaunch!

Space Access

* Exolaunch purchased two more dedicated launches for their rideshare program including a Japanese launch aboard a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ H3. [source]

* SEOPS signed a multiple launch service agreement with ISAR for five launches on Spectrum as part of their rideshare program between 2028 and 2030. [source]

* Maverick Space Systems secured capacity for 10 Kepler sats as part of their rideshare program on Portal’s Motus Via Sol mission. [source]

* Impulse Space announced a $308M Series D extension from existing investors to further their development of in-orbit transportation. [source]

Proliferation

* EnduroSat raised $205M in a round led by Riot Ventures and Atreides Management Funds to expand production capacity. [source]

* Vantor selected both Endurosat and CACI to build their 40cm resolution, high-revisit Pulse satellite fleet. [source]

* Elveo Mobile announced a partnership with Apex to scale manufacturing of their D2D satellite constellation. [source]

* Amazon Leo ordered 6 additional launches of Ariane 64 for constellation deployment. [source]

Defense

* US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink confirmed the existence of an ‘on-orbit’ weapon at the Air, Space, and Cyber Conference. [source]

* The Defense Innovation Unit and Space Systems Command awarded GHOST-R prototype contracts to Northrop and True Anomaly to deploy GEO recon capabilities. [source]

* Sedaro awarded up to $45M to expand the USSF’s mission analysis software. [source]

Business Moves

* Open Cosmos raised $348M led by Lightrock, ETF Partners, Institut Catala de Finances, and Entrepreneurs First to expand manufacturing and government services in Europe. [source]

* Thales won contract to build NigComSat-2a geocommunications satellite for Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited. [source]

Tech Advances

* Exotrail qualified a 1KW hall thruster with Safran. [source]

* Space Cargo booked a Starfall mission with SpaceX for on-orbit manufacturing. [source]

Main Topics

This week we had the privelege of speaking with Sophia Space CEO Rob DeMillo about how their orbital data center technology is the best way to scale to the sizes Earth needs in space. Read our coverage on our website, watch the full interview on our YouTube, and check out Sophia Space to learn more!

Comms

* Aerospacelab won a €2.4B contract to build 264 LEO sats for European sovereign communications constellation IRIS2.[source]

* Airbus selected to design and build at least 66 LEO satellites on behalf of Eutelsat for IRIS2. [source]

* TrustPoint ordered 40 satellites from EnduroSat to develop their GNSS alternative PNT constellation. [source]

* stc group partnered with Astranis to develop a dedicated connectivity satellite for Saudi Arabia. [source]

Orbital Compute

* Sophia Space won $300M to provide 10 satellites to SLI. [source]

* Loft Orbital and Marlaan Space announced a $1B program to build the world’s largest AI infrastructure. [source]

* York Space Systems won the contract to build DeepSky for Tomorrow.io’s early warning weather constellation. [source]

* Pixxel raised $100M in Series C funding led by Temasek and Seraphim for edge compute enabled satellite manufacturing in India and the US. [source]

* Orbital selected Reflex Aerospace as their exclusive satellite platform partner for their planned space data center constellation. [source]

Infrastructure

* Eutelsat selected Infinite Orbits to provide a GEO life-extension mission. [source]

* Antares selected for a $161M DoD contract to advance space nuclear power. [source]

* NewOrbit scheduled the flight of their first VLEO mission in 2028. [source]

* Eclipse Space announced new platforms for D2D, broadband, and ODC use cases. [source]

Business Moves

* Stoke raised a $1B Series E led by Point 72 Ventures and Spark Capital. [source]

* The Exploration Company raised a $450M Series C led by Bessemer Venture Partners to develop their Nyx human capsule and Storm rocket engine. [source]

Tech Advances

* Muon Space test fired the first zinc solid hall effect thruster on-orbit. [source]

* Besxar completed testing of semiconductors on orbit to validate their technology for manufacturing computer chips on-orbit. [source]

Main Topics

This week we had the privlege of interviewing Matthew Feldman, Co-Founder and CTO of Viridian Space Technologies, to learn all about their air-breathing electric propulsion for VLEO spacecraft! Catch an excerpt in this episode and subscribe to catch the full interview when it drops later this week.

On September 10th we’ll be at Space Social SF, be sure to RSVP and join us to meet all the space companies operating in the San Francisco Bay Area!

Launch

* Isar Aerospace successfully conducted their Spectrum vehicle’s second launch out of the Andoya Space Complex in Norway. [source]

* Astroscale Japan selected Isar Aerospace for the ADRAS-J2 mission to de-orbit a rocket body. [source]

* Spanish startup PLD Space added €108M to their Series C raise, now sized at €288M, to fund the deployment of their Miura rocket. [source]

* German launch company HyImpulse Technologies secured over €50M to scale commercial suborbital and orbital launch operations. [source]

Comms

* NASA awarded Blue Origin a $700M firm-fixed-price contract to deliver a high-performance Mars telecommunications orbiter to NASA by the end of 2028. [source]

* OHB won a nearly €1B IRIS2 contract for the development and production of 18 satellite platforms for the Secure Connectivity Program. [source]

* The British Government Commercial Agency selected Open Cosmos as an approved provider for the £8B Sovereign Comms Framework. [source]

* SpaceX petitioned the FCC to block Viasat’s GEO birds from interfering with Starlink constellation. [source]

Space Mobility

* York Space Systems unveiled their new VLEO platform leveraging their LX/V-class satellites. [source]

* Fermi Explorer was announced as Starcloud CEO Philip Johnston’s non-profit to send a satellite to Alpha Centauri, it’s crowd-funded, so if you want your name onboard then donate on their website. [source]

* Samara Aerospace received a $1.22M NSF SBIR Phase II award for their novel attitude control technology. [source]

* Juno Propulsion was awarded a $1.2M NSF SBIR Phase II award for their novel rotating detonation propulsion technology. [source]

Business Moves

* Diffraqtion expanded their raise to $10M adding Lockheed Martin Ventures as a supporter of their quantum camera technology. [source]

* Indian startup Kepler Aerospace raised $8M led by Ashva Capital for the development of their ISR constellation. [source]

* Nade Space raised $4.4M in a round led by Abstract for their onboard automated FDIR technology. [source]

Tech Advances

* Elve reached TRL8 on their 100W mmWave space traveling wave tube amplifier. [source]

* Bepicolombo began its Mercury approach 8 years after launch, jettisoning its orbital transfer first stage. [source]

* Yank Technologies wins USSF contract to study near-field wireless satellite charging. [source]

This week we interviewed Troy Morris, Co-Founder and CEO of Kall Morris Inc, on their recent STRATFI win, hear how they plan to use that money for on-orbit servicing!

Main Topics

Launch

* SpaceX announced plans for a $100B Starship launch site in Louisiana. [source]

* Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket has successfully completed its first Geostationary mission. [source]

* China’s Long March 6C fragmented on orbit, generating 10s to 100s of fragments from the event. [source]

* China’s Chang’e-7 moon rover mission was delayed indefinitely. [source]

* Space Angel won a $1.75M grant from the Western Australian government to support plans for new spaceports. [source]

Government

* Tomorrow.io won a 5 year, $49M, IDIQ NOAA contract to provide advanced weather modeling services. [source]

* Spire Global won a $28M NOAA contract to advance hyperspectral microwave sounding technology. [source]

* Leolabs was awarded a $20M USSF contract for their mobile space tracking Scout radar system. [source]

* The SDA announced the intent to resume Tranche 1 Transport Layer deployments for the PWSA. [source]

* York Space Systems announced their selection to join the USSF’s Space Data Network Backbone (SDN-B) program. [source]

Infrastructure

* Beyond Reach Labs unveiled their large format solar array deployment platform: Flarewing. [source]

* Constellr selected Space Inventor to expand their constellation and supply microsatellite platforms. [source]

* Kepler launched their commercial optical data relay service aboard their optical data relay constellation. [source]

* Northstar Space agreed to host 11 SDA terminals on future Kepler satellites. [source]

* Bioorbit was selected for Germany’s SPRIN-D Orbital Bioworks challenge. [source]

* Edge Aerospace and Redwire established U.S. manufacturing partnership. [source]

* Star Catcher signed Aethero as a power-beaming customer. [source]

Business Moves

* Ursa Major announced their public listing through a SPAC with Bleichroeder Acquisition Corp. III at a valuation of approximately $2.3B. [source]

* Astrum Space announced plans to SPAC through Black Space Acquisition III Co. at a $1B valuation. [source]

* CesiumAstro acquired 1Aardvark for their autonomous mission capabilities, and announced their undisclosed Series D raise. [source]

* MDA announced the founding of Launchpad Ventures, an investment vehicle focused on investing in Canadian space and defense companies. [source]

* India’s Inspecity raised a $10.5M Seed round of funding. [source]

Tech Advances

* NASA launched the Nancy Grace Roman telescope to study dark matter. [source]

* Veoware successfully demonstrated their miniCMG on Planet’s Pelican platform. [source]

* Infleqtion was awarded a $20M NASA contract for a mission flying their quantum gravity sensor. [source]

We’ll be at Small Sat this week providing press coverage, so be sure to reach out if you want to meet up!

Main Topics

Launch

* Chinese startup LandSpace successfully landed the first stage of their ZhuQue-3 rocket after delivering the Honghu 03 satellite into orbit. [source]

* SEOPS Space announced the expansion of their Waymaker program to include a second Falcon 9 launch provided as a rideshare solution in 2028. [source]

* Portal Space announced a dedicated Falcon 9 launch, and an exclusive partnership with Maverick Space Systems to auction off and manage third party rideshares for the half they’re not filling. [source]

* Stoke Space planning $1B Series E raise to accelerate the development and production of their fully reusable Nova rocket. [source]

Infrastructure

* Chinese startup SpaceSail raised a $1B Series B round for the acceleration of their Qianfan communications constellation. [source]

* Lynk and Omnispace announced the completion of their merger to form Elveo Mobile focused on winning and delivering on the D2D market. [source]

* Firefly announced that their Blue Ghost lander will host Zeno Power Systems’ nuclear radioisotope thermal generator. [source]

* Muon closed a $250M Series C to scale their space infrastructure platform, termed their Mission Foundry, in a round led by Eclipse Capital. [source]

Government

* York Space and Rocket Lab were both selected for and onboarded to the Space Systems Command’s Nite-Star training program, part of the $981M space test-and-training program announced at the beginning of the month. [source; source]

* Viasat selected Rocket Lab to build a GEO Satellite for USSF SSC’s Protected Tactical SATCOM-Global (PTS-G) program. [source]

* Katalyst and NASA announced the intent to abandon rescue and orbit-boost of the Swift space telescope. [source]

* USSF released the 2026 STRATFI winners including awards for Starcatcher, Agile Space Systems, Antares Nuclear, EO Solutions, Hydrosat, Kall Morris Inc., Method Security, Muon Space, Scout Space, Sedaro, and Think Orbital [source]

Business Moves

* Viennese electric propulsion startup Enpulsion announced plans to acquire British propulsion company Lift Me Off. [source]

* Starcloud raised $250M at a $2.3 B post-money valuation in a round led by Manhattan West, notably including investment from Nvidia and Cisco. [source]

* StarRF closed a Pre-A+ round of funding led by Luxin Venture Capital to develop RF observation satellites primarily for maritime monitoring. [source]

* Letara raised $16M for their hybrid rocket satellite thruster, led by Headline Asia and JIC Venture [source]

Tech Advances

* NASA opened the human research program to fund research into human effects of short term (weeks to months) lunar habiation. [source]

* NASA announced the Techleap Prize for Orbital Clarity to fund research into better atmospheric drag models to improve satellite tracking. [source]

This week we had the privelege of interviewing Justus Kilian, Partner at Space Capital, hear an excerpt in the podcast, and subscribe to be notified when the full video drops later this week!

Main Topics

Launch

* Kepler selected Rocket Lab’s Neutron for their first dedicated launch. [source]

* Rocket Lab established a German presence with Rocket Lab Germany. [source]

* Rocket Lab unveiled the GHOST Deployable Launch System. [source]

* Astra announced plans to raise $250M. [source]

* Gitai announced their expansion into solid rocket motors from space robotics. [source]

* Chinese iSpace announced the kickoff of their Series E Raise. [source]

Comms

* Aalyria and ALL.SPACE announced their partnership to bring Hydra MAX terminals into operational deployment for USG hybrid architectures. [source]

* Astrolight and ATMOS announced partnership to demonstrate laser link capability from a satellite to a return capsule. [source]

* Firefly’s SciTec awarded a $94M USSF contract for ground radar digitization. [source]

* Cesium Astro acquired Jariet Technologies for mmWave RF System-on-a-Chip semiconductors. [source]

* Intuitive Machines won a $600M contract for 3 GEO satellites. [source]

Defense

* Impulse selected for Victus SALO Phase III using their Mira spacecraft for rapid orbital responsivity. [source]

* Astranis unveiled their Perceptor GEO platform for space domain awareness. [source]

* The DIU and SDA have awarded initial Deorbit-as-a-Service contracts to Katalyst, D-Orbit Space, and Firefly. [source]

* USSF awarded 5 companies $60M for multi-vendor satellite data network tests: Amazon LEO, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Rocket Lab, and York Space Systems. [source]

* Space Kinetic won a $50M OTA from the USSF for space maneuverability and architecture technology. [source]

Business Moves

* Gravitalab entered liquidation. [source]

* Blackstar Orbital announced their intent to SPAC at $380M. [source]

* Open Cosmos Atlantic won an ESA ERS-EO contract potentially worth €25M. [source]

* Galaxeye acquired StarOps for spacecraft engineering skillset. [source]

Tech Advances

* Matsing detailed a new manufacturing technology to improve satellite antenna performance. [source]

Main Topics

Satellites

* The USSF awarded Rocket Lab $397M to develop, launch, and operate a constellation of flat-stacked satellites under the Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator program (SB-AMTI). [source]

* Canada’s Defence Investment Agency has awarded Telesat a $2.3B CAD contract to expand the Lightspeed Constellation from 156 to 225 satellites with assets built by MDA as part of the Enhanced Satellite Communications Project - Polar (ESCP-P) program. [source]

* Kreios announced the planned flight of their first VLEO satellite boasting the first air-breathing electric propulsion platform launched into orbit. [source]

* Nornir Space announced their AI based satellite architecture platform. [source]

Setbacks

* EchoStar’s Hughes Network filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as $1.5B debt comes due. [source]

* A SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage collided with the moon. [source]

* Blue Origin traced their New Glenn explosion to a failed oxygen valve. [source]

* Apex’s Nova 1 Satellite failed to communicate on orbit. [source]

Emerging Sectors

* The FCC awarded Xona Space Systems spectrum approval for 258 LEO Position, Navigation, and Timing satellites. [source]

* Neuraspace raised $18M for Space Situational Awareness and Space Traffic Management. [source]

* Redwire signed with SpaceX’s Starfall to fly 32 drug labs to eclipse the ISS program in a single flight. [source]

Business Moves

* Capella, Umbra, and ICEYE won NRO radar data contracts [source]

* Seraphim invested £21M into Pixxel and Zeno Power. [source]

Tech Advances

* SpaceX announced the intent to acquire 130,000 acres of marshland in Louisiana to build a new launch site. [source]