Launch vehicles, satellite connectivity, earth observation, orbital infrastructure
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.
Rocket Lab lands $266M Space Force contract for hypersonic test launches
Rocket Lab secured its largest contract ever: $266M from the Space Force for at least 12 suborbital HASTE launches from a new Kodiak, Alaska facility, anchoring Pentagon hypersonic testing.
EU Breaks Copernicus Open-Data Pledge Under U.S. Pressure
The European Union ordered a 24-hour delay on Sentinel satellite imagery over the Gulf of Oman at U.S. request, shattering the open-data doctrine that European Earth observation companies had used to compete against American rivals.
FCC opens 225 MHz of Wi-Fi spectrum to satellite uplinks
The FCC's draft order would let billions of existing Wi-Fi and IoT devices connect directly to satellites using unlicensed spectrum, bypassing cellular networks entirely, a vote scheduled for August 6.
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.
India's first private orbital rocket launches Saturday from Dhawan Space Centre
Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram-I lifts off July 18 with 350 kg to LEO, marking India's entry into the private orbital launch market and testing a novel four-stage solid-hypergolic architecture.
Venus Aerospace lands $91M for flight-proven detonation engine
Venus Aerospace closed a $91M Series B for rotating detonation rocket engines, with Lockheed Martin Ventures signaling that defense primes now see detonation-wave propulsion as production-ready.
Pegasus XL launches its last mission to save NASA's Swift Observatory
Katalyst's LINK spacecraft reached orbit today on Pegasus XL's final flight to reboost NASA's 21-year-old gamma-ray telescope before atmospheric drag destroys it.
Firefly Reaches Swedish Launch Site, SSC Space Signs First Defense Contract
SSC Space secured a $21.5M defense contract with Sweden's Defense Materiel Administration, with Firefly Aerospace as the launch vehicle partner. Infrastructure completion was announced on June 30, positioning U.S. orbital launch capability on mainland Europe for the first time.
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.
Satellogic and SynMax fuse satellites with agentic AI for defense GEOINT
Satellogic and SynMax announced a strategic partnership to merge persistent satellite imagery with applied-AI intelligence workflows, targeting U.S. defense agencies with continuous global monitoring starting October 2026.
India's first sovereign satellite IoT chip enters Viasat's labs
WiSig Networks and Viasat began testing an India-developed NB-IoT NTN chipset in UK laboratories, advancing sovereign semiconductor capability in satellite connectivity and Direct-to-Device standards.
Astrobotic's Griffin-1 clears integration, targets Q4 lunar landing
Astrobotic unveiled its fully integrated Griffin-1 lunar lander June 15, positioned as NASA's 'infrastructure-class' cargo workhorse for Moon Base with a 625 kg payload capacity and Q4 2026 Falcon Heavy launch.
NASA Opens Commercial Satellite Data Pipeline to 14 Vendors
NASA expanded its commercial Earth observation procurement to 14 companies across the CSDA On-Ramp 2 contract, structuring long-term federal demand for private satellite data through 2028.
Canada splits C$2.4M ground-segment contracts among three competitors
Canada awarded concept-study contracts to MDA Space, Calian, and Kepler for its next-generation RADARSAT+ ground infrastructure, signaling a competitive down-select before full program spend.
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.
Pentagon picks Viasat, Intelsat to build military SATCOM swarm
U.S. Space Force awards $437.7M to Viasat and Intelsat for first production mini-GEO satellites, signaling shift from monolithic AEHF constellation to proliferated commercial architecture.
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.
Mach breaks the SRM duopoly with $300M and an acquisition
Mach Industries acquires solid rocket motor maker Exquadrum and raises $300M Series C, ending a 30-year two-supplier monopoly that has starved U.S. launch and defense programs of propulsion capacity.
NISAR releases fully calibrated global SAR data, undercutting commercial radar market
NASA-ISRO's NISAR mission released dual-frequency synthetic aperture radar data covering every landmass on Earth every 12 days at 5–10 m resolution, free and open access, directly competing with commercial SAR vendors at medium resolution.
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.
Atlas 5 launches 29 Amazon satellites as New Glenn stays grounded
ULA's Atlas 5 delivered 29 Amazon Leo satellites on May 29, the same day New Glenn exploded, forcing Amazon to rely on four other launch providers to meet a July 30 FCC deadline for 1,618 satellites.
Telenor IoT, Sateliot validate standard NB-IoT over LEO satellites
Telenor IoT and Sateliot completed field tests confirming standard NB-IoT SIM cards work on LEO satellites using 3GPP Rel-17, signaling the first major MNO ecosystem entry into standards-based satellite IoT.
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.