Episode Details

Main Topics

Orbital Data Centers

* Nvidia announced their new Vera Rubin chipset, upgrades to Thor and Orin chips to optimize inference per watt, and partnerships with Aetherflux, Axiom Space, Kepler Communications, Planet Labs, Sophia Space and Starcloud. [source]

* Starcloud filed to launch 88,000 satellites for their orbital data centers. [source]

* Blue Origin filed Project Sunrise to launch 51,600 orbital data centers. [source]

Earth Applications

* Lynk Global has filed with the FCC for an experimental license to begin technical validation of a multi-orbit relay architecture. [source]

* Officina Stellare has signed a €1.84M contract with the Barcelona-based Institute of Photonic Sciences to design and build an optical ground station for future laser and quantum-encrypted space-to-Earth communications. [source]

* Raytheon’s contract to build protected satcom terminals contract was raised by $2B. [source]

* ESA awarded OHB Sweden a contract to build 20 small satellites for the EUMETSAT Polar System – Sterna. AAC Omnisys will provide the mission’s microwave radiometers. [source]

* Defence Investment Agency awarded MDA Space a $32M contract to build and operate three ground-based optical observatories for the Surveillance of Space 2 project. [source]

* GomSpace announced its selection as a key industrial partner in a €15.7M research contract awarded by the European Defence Agency under the VLEO-DEF consortium, which aims to develop Europe’s first dedicated military satellite concept for Very Low Earth Orbit. [source]

* Satellogic unveiled their Merlin constellation for daily monitoring at 1 meter resolution. [source]

Rockets

* Under the Launch the North program, Reaction Dynamics was awarded an initial $8.3M tranche under Phase 1 of the Responsive Light-Lift stream, supporting the company’s development roadmap for a maiden orbital launch in 2028. [source]

* Rocket Lab won a $190M c