Know What's Happening in SpaceTech
Know What's Happening in SpaceTech
SpaceTech Pulse
EMAIL DIGESTS
Daily
Every morning
Weekly
Tuesday recap
EMAIL DIGESTS
Daily
Every morning
Weekly
Tuesday recap
Northwood Space, a Los Angeles‑based ground‑infrastructure provider for space missions, secured $100 million in Series B financing. The round was led by Washington Harbour Partners and co‑led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from several space‑focused venture firms. The capital will fund accelerated delivery of its end‑to‑end ground stack, expand global network capacity, and support rapid transition of high‑capability missions. Northwood’s Portal phased‑array system can track satellites across LEO, MEO and GEO without mechanical movement and recently demonstrated a full‑array installation in under 24 hours.
German defense: We're moving fast on brdbnd constellation; it'll be interoperable w/ @defis_eu #Iris2. Goal: Strengthen @NATO &EU alliances. Can German industrial base can digest the massive govt investment so quickly? #EuropeanSpaceConf @bundeswehrInfo.https://t.co/X4UYXIDL4C https://t.co/G7lKeNKBIK
The Essential Reading Series on exoplanets compiles a curated bibliography that spans introductory guides, technical handbooks, and interdisciplinary volumes, illustrating the field’s rapid evolution from early gas‑giant discoveries to the hunt for Earth‑like worlds. Highlighted titles cover detection techniques, habitability...
The winners from NASA’s Vascular Tissue Challenge are taking their Earth-based research to space.
West Virginia University researchers are creating AI-powered digital twins that replicate each astronaut's movement and muscle activation patterns to monitor neuromuscular health during long‑duration microgravity missions. By combining motion‑capture, wearable sensors, virtual‑reality tasks and physics‑based simulations, the models can predict...
Alpha Impulsion, a Franco‑Italian space startup, won a €950,000 EU prize for its autophage rocket concept that consumes its own structure as fuel, eliminating upper‑stage debris. The design promises roughly a 40% reduction in liftoff mass, translating into comparable launch‑cost...
Northrop Grumman’s upgraded five‑segment solid rocket boosters are slated for NASA’s Artemis II, the first crewed flight of the Space Launch System, targeted for early February 2026. The twin 177‑foot boosters generate 3.6 million pounds of thrust each, contributing 7.2 million pounds—about 75 percent of...
The Dark Energy Survey (DES) has released its final results, summarizing a decade of observations that mapped hundreds of millions of galaxies and uncovered sixteen nearby dwarf galaxies. DES measurements of supernovae and galaxy clustering have provided the tightest constraints...
SWISSto12 has secured €73 million from European Space Agency member states via the ARTES HummingSat partnership, bringing its recent funding total to over €100 million. The capital will accelerate the development and industrialisation of its compact, software‑defined geostationary communications platform, HummingSat, with...
Purdue University is expanding its 2027 all‑Boilermaker suborbital mission, Purdue 1, by adding two autonomous research lockers that will fly aboard a Virgin Galactic spacecraft. One locker will test laser‑assisted semiconductor and metal manufacturing in microgravity, while the other will study...
A team of NASA and university scientists used combined 1‑D chemistry and 2‑D hydrodynamic models to probe Jupiter’s deep atmosphere. Their simulations reveal that Jupiter contains roughly 1.5 times more oxygen than the Sun, and that internal circulation moves far...
SpaceX is slated to launch its penultimate Falcon 9 of the month from Vandenberg, carrying the Starlink 17‑19 payload that will place 25 satellites into low‑Earth orbit. Among them is the company’s 11,000th Starlink satellite, a milestone since the first...
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced a plan to spend billions of dollars on commercial weather data over the next decade, expanding contract horizons from the current five‑year model to up to ten years. The strategy emphasizes greater transparency,...
NASA announced that SpaceX’s Crew‑12 mission will launch on Feb 11, moving up from the previously planned Feb 15. The crew of four—NASA’s Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA’s Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev—will replace the three‑person crew left after...
The Canadian Space Agency has released a Request for Proposals to develop a modern ground‑segment concept for the upcoming RADARSAT+ synthetic‑aperture‑radar constellation. The initiative builds on a 2023 federal investment of $1.012 billion aimed at replenishing the current RADARSAT Constellation Mission...
The U.S. Space Force is rolling out SWORD, a cloud‑enabled synthetic training platform that replicates contested space operations, including orbital dynamics, electronic warfare, cyber effects, and adversary tactics. Demonstrated in large‑scale exercises like Space Flag, SWORD blends digital models with...
NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) conducted a special observation run from Jan. 15‑22, 2026, capturing interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as a bright, fast‑moving dot with a faint tail. The spacecraft measured the comet’s apparent magnitude at about 11.5, providing a rare photometric...
Researchers from ICCUB, IEEC and IAC published the most extensive observational study of massive runaway O‑type stars in the Milky Way. Using Gaia astrometry and IACOB spectroscopy, they examined 214 O‑type runaways, measuring rotation speeds and binarity. The analysis shows...
The Government Accountability Office warned that the Space Development Agency’s Tracking Layer, part of a $35 billion low‑Earth‑orbit missile‑tracking constellation, is advancing faster than its technology and management can support. GAO says SDA overestimates technology readiness, lacks an architecture‑level schedule, and...
The Chilean government halted AES Andes' INNA renewable‑energy project near the Paranal Observatory after astronomers warned it would raise light pollution by up to 35 percent and introduce ground‑vibrations that could cripple the Very Large Telescope array. Led by Nobel laureate...
Struggling to find the right talent in the space industry? Tap into a highly engaged audience of engineers, analysts, and specialists already working at the forefront of space innovation. Get your jobs in front of the people who matter most....
SpaceX is reportedly preparing a 2026 initial public offering, having engaged four major Wall Street banks to manage the process. The company recently completed a tender offer that placed its valuation at $800 billion, with market speculation that the IPO could...
Astronomers using Subaru’s wide‑field camera have identified an extended stellar distribution around the Ursa Minor dwarf spheroidal galaxy, revealing a population of main‑sequence stars beyond its tidal radius and aligned along a newly detected minor axis. The authors argue this...
U.S. Space Command to bring commercial firms into classified wargame on nuclear threats in space https://t.co/7TKTS5aGvh https://t.co/7GOzPcphLG
U.S. Space Command announced that, for the first time, commercial space firms will join classified tabletop wargames addressing nuclear threats in orbit. The initial exercise, slated for March, will explore U.S. response options to a potential deployment of weapons of...
Space Command’s case for orbital logistics: Why the Pentagon is being urged to think beyond launch https://t.co/dNiv94z7N9 https://t.co/0hkd5mGVDN
Western University’s team, led by Professor Jayshri Sabarinathan, has been awarded a $3.8 million Phase 0 contract by the Canadian Space Agency to build a Dual Sensor Multispectral Imager (DS‑MSI) for a lunar utility rover. The DS‑MSI integrates visible‑near‑infrared and short‑wave infrared...
On the 40th anniversary of the Challenger disaster, the author uncovered that a lot of bright‑red “Remove Before Flight” tags purchased on eBay in 2010 were originally affixed to external tank ET‑26 for the STS‑51L mission. The tags bear “ET‑26”...
An international team led by Cyril Tasse and Cornell’s Jake Turner introduced Multiplexed Interferometric Radio Spectroscopy (RIMS), a method that mines existing low‑frequency radio archives to reveal minute‑by‑minute variability of hundreds of stars simultaneously. Applying RIMS to over 1.4 years of LOFAR LoTSS...
Elon Musk is reportedly planning SpaceX’s initial public offering for June, aiming to sync the date with his June 28 birthday and a rare Mercury‑Venus‑Jupiter alignment. The Financial Times says the IPO could raise at least $50 billion, valuing the company at...
A joint University of Hong Kong‑UCLA study published in Nature Communications identifies Alfvén waves as the primary energy source that drives Earth’s auroral displays. By analyzing particle trajectories and electric fields, the researchers showed that these plasma waves continuously feed...
Ariane-6 secured a new launch contract to deploy the Galileo L18 pair of second‑generation navigation satellites for the European Union. This marks the rocket’s fifth GPS‑type mission for the EU, underscoring Brussels’ commitment to European launch sovereignty despite higher costs...
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captured a vivid infrared image of the young star cluster Pismis 24 in the Lobster Nebula, while the Chandra X‑ray Observatory overlaid red, green and blue bursts indicating high‑energy activity from massive stars. The composite picture,...
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have identified a galaxy, MoM‑z14, that existed just 280 million years after the Big Bang. The object is unexpectedly bright—about 100 times brighter than models predicted for such an early epoch—and shows unusually high...
ESA wrapped up Day 2 of the 18th European Space Conference in Brussels with Director General Josef Aschbacher delivering a second keynote on space resilience and security. The agency’s directors participated in media interviews, student meetings, and panels covering Earth observation,...
Scientists have introduced autonomous optical alignment methods for satellite‑based entanglement sources, comparing a heuristic algorithm with a reinforcement‑learning (RL) approach. The RL agent achieved an AUC‑max of 0.9119, far surpassing the heuristic's 0.7042, and converged within a 60‑minute operational window....
NASA’s Juno spacecraft recently measured the thickness of Europa’s ice shell, data that will inform the upcoming Europa Clipper and ESA’s JUICE missions. The findings highlight Europa’s potential habitability, a core focus of NASA’s three‑decade‑old Astrobiology Program. However, the official...
A new ResearchAndMarkets.com report projects the satellite quantum‑internet market to reach $1.82 billion in 2026, up from $1.37 billion in 2025, representing a 32.9% compound annual growth rate. The market is expected to expand to $5.63 billion by 2030 with a sustained 32.6%...
GAO: "DOD is overestimating the readiness of some parts critical to this system, such as the spacecraft. This has resulted in unplanned work—adding time to contractors’ schedules."
Luxembourg‑based OQ Technology is preparing its first dedicated C‑band direct‑to‑device (D2D) satellite, slated for launch mid‑year, to connect unmodified smartphones from low‑Earth orbit. The move follows successful S‑band IoT tests and a planned dual‑band S/C payload later this year. Simultaneously,...
China set for crewed lunar tests, record launches, moon mission and reusable rockets in 2026 https://t.co/SRz6ry5HmO https://t.co/wTtpwQaXpz
The rapid growth of satellite mega‑constellations means thousands of spacecraft are de‑orbited each decade, releasing heavy‑metal and black‑carbon particles into the stratosphere. Harvard physicist John Dykema warns that these emissions can alter sunlight absorption, disrupt stratospheric circulation, and accelerate ozone...
Cellares, a San Francisco‑based Integrated Development and Manufacturing Organization, secured $257 million in Series D financing. The round was led by BlackRock and Eclipse, with participation from T. Rowe Price, Baillie Gifford, and other institutional investors. The new capital lifts total funding to $612 million...
Palladyne AI secured a contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory to develop its HANGTIME program, aimed at unifying autonomous systems across space, air, maritime and land. The effort will deploy the company’s patented SwarmOS™ platform to enable drones, ships...
Airbus Defence and Space announced a partnership with European startup Skynopy to integrate its software‑defined ground‑station technology into the Pléiades Neo Earth‑observation constellation. The collaboration targets reduced latency between image capture and upload to Airbus’ OneAtlas platform. Skynopy’s approach centralises...
Researchers conducted a multi‑wavelength campaign on the accreting millisecond X‑ray pulsar MAXI J1957+032, covering its 2022 and 2025 outbursts and quiescent intervals. Timing analysis revealed a 3.19 ms spin period, ~1.01 h orbital period, a spin‑down rate of –0.0573 pHz s⁻¹ and a dipolar magnetic...
The FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation licensed 205 launches and re‑entries in 2025, a 25% rise over 2024 and 12% above its own forecast. The agency projects licensed operations could double by 2029, pushing the total past 1,000 within...
BepiColombo’s Mio instrument recorded whistler‑mode magnetic waves—dubbed “birdsongs”—during six Mercury flybys between 2021 and 2025. These chirping waves mirror Earth’s chorus radiation but are confined to Mercury’s dawn side where solar‑wind compression intensifies the field. The waves act as electron...
Terran Orbital announced it will supply the Nebula satellite bus for Mitsubishi Electric’s Low‑Earth‑Orbit (LEO) demo mission, featuring a Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and optical terminal payload. The bus delivery is scheduled for 2027, with an 18‑month development window and...
A new study by the European Space Policy Institute and Aerospace Corporation’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy finds that the term “commercial” in space procurement has become a catch‑all, masking divergent practices in the United States and Europe. The...
