Europe Celebrates Its Sovereignty Progress at SmallSat
At SmallSat Europe in Amsterdam, EU officials unveiled a suite of initiatives to cement European sovereignty in orbit. The European Commission proposed reserving at least two‑thirds of satellite spectrum for EU operators, while Italy, Germany and a pan‑European effort announced multibillion‑dollar constellations slated for deployment by 2030. Parallelly, Germany pledged €35 B (~$38 B) for space‑defense, and the €6.5 B (~$7 B) Project Bromo merger aims to consolidate the continent’s prime aerospace assets. Industry leaders warned that procurement reforms are essential to channel funding to emerging startups rather than established primes.
Observable Space Raises $90M Series A
Observable Space, formed by the merger of PlaneWave Instruments and OurSky, closed a $90 million Series A round led by Lux Capital. The funding will expand laser‑communication ground stations, ground‑based sensing, and in‑space optical payload production, including new manufacturing capacity in Detroit....
Space Markets Emerges From Stealth With Coinbase Ventures Investment
Space Markets, a stealth‑mode startup founded in December, announced its public debut and secured investment from Coinbase Ventures. The platform will run on Coinbase’s Ethereum Layer‑2 network and aims to launch futures contracts for orbital commodities such as satellite bandwidth,...
Exclusive: Stellar Alpina Raises $4.5M to Build Rotating Detonation Engines
Swiss propulsion startup Stellar Alpina announced a CHF3.5 million ($4.5 million) pre‑seed round to accelerate development of rotating detonation rocket engines (RDRE). The team, originating from the Academic Spaceflight Initiative, hot‑fired an RDRE in 82 days, surpassing its 100‑day goal. With new...
Aitech Upgrades Its Space Supercomputer
Aitech Systems announced that its S‑A2300 space‑rated supercomputer will be upgraded with NVIDIA’s IGX Thor platform, dramatically expanding in‑orbit AI processing capabilities. The move follows earlier generations, including the 2022 Venus‑class S‑A1760 that flew on a NASA decelerator mission and a...
Op-Ed: Commercial Demand in LEO Is Lacking. The Government Can Help.
The op‑ed warns that commercial demand for low‑Earth‑orbit (LEO) activities remains weak, prompting NASA to retreat from fully funding free‑flying stations and instead finance a modest core module. Without a clear market for in‑space manufacturing, especially in biotech, the United...
Satellogic Lands $18M+ Defense-Monitoring Contract
Satellogic announced a multi‑year, $18 million-plus contract with an undisclosed international defense customer, marking its first large deal since pivoting to persistent‑monitoring services. The agreement leverages the company’s Aleph Observer product, which combines bulk tasking of its NewSat constellation with AI...
SEOPS Will Start Waymaker LEO Rideshares In 2028
SEOPS announced its Waymaker rideshare service for low‑Earth orbit, targeting a first launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 in 2028. The offering features a custom payload adapter that can accommodate larger or irregularly shaped payloads and includes two months of post‑separation...
Better Moon-Tech Tops NASA Stakeholder Wishlist
NASA released its FY26 civil space technology shortfall prioritization, revealing that better Moon infrastructure topped the stakeholder wishlist. Over 450 space community members evaluated 187 proposals, narrowing them to 32 shortfalls, with lunar surface mobility, payload landing, and cislunar transport...
SpaceX Reveals Financial Data Ahead of IPO
SpaceX disclosed $18.67 billion in 2025 revenue in its SEC filing ahead of a June IPO, with a $2.59 billion operating loss but a $6.58 billion adjusted EBITDA. The company broke revenue into three segments: space ($4.09 billion), connectivity via Starlink ($11.39 billion), and AI...
CSF Forecasts Launch Supply Running Low
The Commercial Space Federation (CSF) released a report forecasting explosive growth in launch demand, projecting 6,000‑230,000 satellites per year and up to 7,000 launches annually, which could outstrip current capacity by 2030. The study outlines three demand scenarios—government missions, approved...
York Space Systems to Acquire Solestial
York Space Systems announced a definitive agreement to acquire Solestial, a U.S.-based maker of ultra‑thin, radiation‑hardened solar cells, for an undisclosed price. The deal, expected to close in Q2, marks York’s third acquisition in 2024 following All.Space ($355 M) and Orbion...
Vast Launches Satellite Bus Business Line
Vast, the commercial space‑station developer behind Haven‑1, announced a new satellite‑bus line aimed at the low‑cost, high‑volume, high‑power market serving communications, Earth‑observation and national‑security missions. The first customer has ordered four 15‑kW buses with an option to purchase up to...
Astrolab Unveils Payloads Flying on FLIP Lunar Mission
Astrolab announced that its FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform (FLIP) rover will carry four NASA‑funded payloads to the Moon’s South Pole later this year. The instruments include a multicolor camera and radiometer to map helium‑3, a laser retroreflector for passive tracking,...
Potomac Database Systems Unveils Plans to Amass Lunar Data
Potomac Database Systems announced a three‑pronged strategy to collect commercial lunar data using the Compass impactor satellite, the Pathfinder surface node, and the year‑long Source rover. The company aims to sell these datasets to firms developing Moon missions, positioning data...