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• Jeff Foust
Astra is projecting an early 2027 first launch for its Rocket 4.0 vehicle as it prepares to reenter a launch market facing growing demand and constrained capacity. The timeline marks the company’s latest effort to return to commercial launch operations with a new vehicle.
Commercial Space
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Astra is projecting an early 2027 first launch for its Rocket 4.0 vehicle as it prepares to reenter a launch market facing growing demand and constrained capacity. The timeline marks the company’s latest effort to return to commercial launch operations with a new vehicle.
High activity
Viasat has placed ViaSat-3 F2 into service over the Americas, completing the company’s three-satellite geostationary constellation. The milestone brings the full ViaSat-3 network online for customer data services, following F3’s commercial activation across the Asia-Pacific region and the final commissioning of F2 and F3.
More than three months after SpaceX’s industry-shaking IPO, satellite broadband operators are assessing its far-reaching and mixed effects. The market response is adding pressure to evaluate competitive positioning, financing conditions and long-term strategy across the satellite communications sector.
SpaceX has held internal discussions about purchasing customer and operational data from troubled or defunct startups, according to people familiar with the matter. The proposed approach would give the company a lower-cost source of information to improve its artificial intelligence models.
High activity
SpaceX has moved Starship Flight 14 to no earlier than Sept. 28, pending regulatory approval, after initially targeting Sept. 22. The roughly 10-hour mission would be Starship’s first orbital flight and attempt to deploy 26 V3 Starlink satellites, marking a major test of the vehicle’s launch and in-space operations.
Icarus Robotics completed a four-flight parabolic campaign testing its free-flying robot, advancing preparations for a planned first mission to the International Space Station in 2027. The tests mark a key step in validating the system for microgravity operations ahead of the orbital demonstration.
Impulse Space has raised an additional $308 million in a Series D extension, bringing the total capital secured in the round to $808 million. The financing strengthens the company’s funding position as it advances its commercial space activities.
SatPort Infrastructure will develop, build and host landing stations that connect Telesat’s Lightspeed satellite constellation to terrestrial networks. The companies signed a master services agreement on Sept. 15, establishing SatPort as a ground-infrastructure provider for Lightspeed’s planned connectivity architecture.
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