Episode Details

Main Topics

Satellites

* The USSF awarded Rocket Lab $397M to develop, launch, and operate a constellation of flat-stacked satellites under the Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator program (SB-AMTI). [source]

* Canada’s Defence Investment Agency has awarded Telesat a $2.3B CAD contract to expand the Lightspeed Constellation from 156 to 225 satellites with assets built by MDA as part of the Enhanced Satellite Communications Project - Polar (ESCP-P) program. [source]

* Kreios announced the planned flight of their first VLEO satellite boasting the first air-breathing electric propulsion platform launched into orbit. [source]

* Nornir Space announced their AI based satellite architecture platform. [source]

Setbacks

* EchoStar’s Hughes Network filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as $1.5B debt comes due. [source]

* A SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage collided with the moon. [source]

* Blue Origin traced their New Glenn explosion to a failed oxygen valve. [source]

* Apex’s Nova 1 Satellite failed to communicate on orbit. [source]

Emerging Sectors

* The FCC awarded Xona Space Systems spectrum approval for 258 LEO Position, Navigation, and Timing satellites. [source]

* Neuraspace raised $18M for Space Situational Awareness and Space Traffic Management. [source]

* Redwire signed with SpaceX’s Starfall to fly 32 drug labs to eclipse the ISS program in a single flight. [source]

Business Moves

* Capella, Umbra, and ICEYE won NRO radar data contracts [source]

* Seraphim invested £21M into Pixxel and Zeno Power. [source]

Tech Advances

* SpaceX announced the intent to acquire 130,000 acres of marshland in Louisiana to build a new launch site. [