Investors: EchoStar Corporation (seller)
SpaceX acquired approximately 65 megahertz of mid-band spectrum (AWS-4, AWS-H Block, unpaired AWS-3) from EchoStar in a $17 billion transaction approved by the FCC on May 12, 2026.
View article →Investors: Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and 16 additional syndicate banks
SpaceX filed a confidential draft IPO registration seeking a valuation over $1.75 trillion and raising up to $75 billion, merging aerospace, Starlink, and xAI AI operations into a single public entity.
View article →Canada locks $2.3B into Telesat's Arctic LEO network
Canada's Defence Investment Agency committed $2.3B CAD to Telesat's Lightspeed constellation, expanding it by 69 satellites and remaking Telesat's revenue mix to 46% defence by 2032.
Isar Aerospace scrubs Spectrum's second flight test in Norway
Isar Aerospace aborted its second Spectrum rocket launch attempt due to anomalies in the vehicle's fluid systems, delaying Europe's push for sovereign launch capability from the continent.
Starship's First Ignition Abort Blocks Starlink V3, Compounds Artemis Risk
Starship Flight 13 aborted at T-0 when four Raptor 3 engines failed to ignite, halting Starlink V3 deployment and delaying a critical Artemis IV propellant-transfer test.
Rocket Lab shatters responsive space record, deploys orbital interceptor
Rocket Lab launched a spacecraft 16 hours 42 minutes after receiving orders, beating the prior record by 10+ hours, and immediately began rendezvous operations against a target satellite in orbit.
SpaceX goes public as Falcon 9 hits 662 launches, reshaping sector capital
SpaceX listed on Nasdaq June 12, 2026, becoming the first publicly traded vertically integrated launch operator, while simultaneously flying a Falcon 9 mission and executing 69 launches year-to-date.
LandSpace's Zhuque-2E Block 2 launches twice in 30 days, China's D2C race accelerates
LandSpace's methane-fueled medium-lift rocket flew its second consecutive Block 2 mission June 9, carrying competing direct-to-cell broadband satellites from China Mobile and SpaceSail, signaling the country's commercial space consolidation around methalox launch infrastructure.
Rocket Lab launches hypersonic test mission for DoD
Rocket Lab flies an Electron-family rocket on a classified military hypersonic test for the Defense Department, cementing its position as the primary small-rocket provider for suborbital DoD missions.
Ariane 6 flies upgraded booster for first time on June 17
Ariane 6's next mission introduces the P160C Block 2 solid rocket booster, adding 2 tonnes of LEO payload capacity and serving as template for 16 of 18 Amazon Leo launches.
SpaceX booster hits 35 flights, shatters reuse record
Falcon 9 booster B1067 completed its 35th orbital flight today, becoming the first rocket booster ever to reach that reuse milestone and validating SpaceX's durability engineering.
Japan's H3 launches zero-booster variant June 10, testing cost-cut path
JAXA's H3-30 maiden flight on June 10 flies without solid rocket boosters for the first time, targeting $50M per launch and reshaping Asia-Pacific competitiveness after December's failure.
Space Force Awards SpaceX $4.16B to Build Orbital Airborne Surveillance
The Space Force awarded SpaceX a $4.16 billion contract to deploy space-based moving target indicator satellites by 2028, shifting a core ISR mission from aircraft to orbit and threatening legacy airborne platforms.
FCC moves to treat Starlink as substitute for fiber in $4.5B rural subsidy
The FCC's May 20 NPRM proposes treating LEO satellite broadband as a sufficient substitute for terrestrial infrastructure in the High-Cost program, potentially redirecting billions in federal subsidies away from fiber and fixed-wireless providers.
Isar Aerospace plants European small-lift on North American soil
Isar Aerospace signed a letter of intent with Canadian spaceport operator Maritime Launch Services to launch its Spectrum vehicle from Nova Scotia, extending Europe's emerging commercial mid-lift to a second continent.
Blue Origin's New Glenn explodes on pad, freezes Amazon's $1.8B contract
Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket destroyed in a static fire test at Cape Canaveral on May 28, freezing Amazon's 24-mission Leo constellation deployment and threatening the shared BE-4 engine supply to United Launch Alliance's Vulcan.
Anthropic raises $65B at $965B valuation, four-way co-led
Anthropic closed a $65B Series H at a $965B post-money valuation co-led by Altimeter, Dragoneer, Greenoaks, and Sequoia, with $15B from hyperscalers including a $5B Amazon check and direct memory-supplier participation from Micron, Samsung, and SK hynix.
Japan clears stripped-down H3 rocket for first flight in June
JAXA greenlights the H3-30 variant for June 10 launch, a three-engine configuration without solid boosters that positions Japan to compete in the low-cost medium-lift segment.
NightDragon's Six Winners Signal Where Defense VC Money Is Flowing
NightDragon's portfolio dominates the 2026 NatSec 100 list with six companies across autonomous systems, directed energy, and threat intelligence, validating the firm's early-stage bet on defense-first founders.
Starship V3 scrubs on pad mechanics, targets second attempt today
SpaceX's first V3 launch attempt failed due to a hydraulic pin on new Pad 2; Flight 12 reattempts May 22 with redesigned Raptor 3 engines and new Ship architecture.
Avio launches Vega-C solo, reshaping Europe's small-lift market
Avio's first independent launch of Vega-C succeeded May 19, displacing Arianespace and validating Europe's only domestic small-to-mid-lift option against Falcon 9 rideshare competition.
Isar Aerospace targets May launch after four delays
Europe's first private orbital rocket is in active launch window at Andøya after COPV repair; qualification flight carries five CubeSats and defines European commercial spaceflight viability.