Via Satellite
• Mark Holmes
Rocket Lab announced an agreement on June 29 to acquire Iridium, a move that would significantly broaden the launch company’s position in the satellite sector. Analysts are assessing how the transaction could accelerate Rocket Lab’s strategy to build a next-generation space company.
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Phantom Space has named Worth Wray chief operating officer, assigning him responsibility for day-to-day operations, efficiency, capital formation and business-process expansion. The appointment comes as the company works to increase production and establish a more consistent launch cadence.
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Rocket Lab announced an agreement on June 29 to acquire Iridium, a move that would significantly broaden the launch company’s position in the satellite sector. Analysts are assessing how the transaction could accelerate Rocket Lab’s strategy to build a next-generation space company.
SpaceX is likely to attempt the first catch of a Starship upper stage using the launch tower within the next few months, CEO Elon Musk said. Musk previously identified late August as a potential window for the milestone, which would advance the company’s reusability ambitions for its next-generation launch system.
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SpaceX has faced a difficult ride on Wall Street, with its shares down 5.74%, even as Elon Musk’s space and artificial-intelligence company accumulates significant wins in Washington. The contrast highlights divergent investor sentiment and political momentum surrounding the company’s businesses.
SpaceX’s proposed orbital data centers would place large-scale computing hardware in space, creating a new end-of-life challenge for electronic equipment beyond Earth. The concept resembles asteroid mining in reverse: instead of extracting material from orbit, operators could leave behind increasingly difficult-to-manage e-waste.
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Portal Space Systems has secured a Falcon 9 launch for its first Supernova spacecraft and plans to sell excess capacity to rideshare customers. The company is also preparing its first Starburst satellite for launch, advancing a two-spacecraft strategy spanning near-term deployment and rapid-response capability.
Muon Space has raised $250 million from Alphabet’s Google and Salesforce Ventures after deploying 11 satellites and opening a California manufacturing facility. The funding strengthens the satellite startup’s capital base as it expands from orbital deployments into in-house production capacity.
SpaceX launched two Falcon 9 rockets from Florida and California on Aug. 15, delivering payloads for Globalstar and the U.S. Space Force just 38.5 minutes apart. The milestone comes as SpaceX prepares its 75th Starlink mission of 2026, underscoring the company’s high-tempo launch operations.
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