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• Jeff Foust
Reflect Orbital has purchased two launches from India’s Skyroot Aerospace to deploy satellites it is developing to redirect sunlight to locations on the ground. The agreement links Skyroot’s launch services with Reflect Orbital’s planned satellite-based system, though the articles provide no launch dates or mission details.
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SpaceX’s Starship has reached orbit ten years after Elon Musk publicly unveiled plans for the fully reusable megarocket. The milestone advances the vehicle toward its stated Mars ambition, but the article offers no schedule for reaching the planet, leaving the timeline the central unanswered question.
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Ship 40 has returned to Starbase after surviving splashdown and a difficult recovery at sea. Engineers will study the first recovered Starship upper stage for evidence that could inform future vehicle reusability.
The submitted items describe separate developments: preliminary design and component testing for space-based missile interceptors, an Air Force test of a Sentinel reentry vehicle, a NATO air-defense network demonstration linking German and Swedish systems, and a satellite edge-computing integration. They do not establish a single connected program or event.
Reflect Orbital has purchased two launches from India’s Skyroot Aerospace to deploy satellites it is developing to redirect sunlight to locations on the ground. The agreement links Skyroot’s launch services with Reflect Orbital’s planned satellite-based system, though the articles provide no launch dates or mission details.
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Investor Ron Baron says SpaceX could reach a $50 trillion valuation within 10 years, with Starlink alone potentially valued at $14 trillion to $15 trillion and generating $1 trillion in annual revenue. Separately, space startups attracted a record $20.8 billion in third-quarter funding, with capital flowing to launch providers, manufacturing and other infrastructure, according to Seraphim.
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CSG has acquired a 9.5% stake in MDA Space, marking an expansion of its position in the space industry. The available report does not specify the transaction’s value, timing or strategic terms, leaving the scale of CSG’s intended involvement beyond its equity holding unclear.
Sierra Space’s chief financial officer has left the spacecraft maker after about six months in the role, the company said. The departure comes as Sierra Space pursues a long-awaited initial public offering, adding uncertainty around the timing of its planned move to public markets.
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