Associated Press
• Marcia Dunn
NASA’s lunar spacecraft has captured the clearest before-and-after views yet of a roughly 60-foot-wide crater formed when a SpaceX rocket booster struck the Moon in early August. The images were taken a week after the impact from about 60 miles above the surface, requiring flight controllers to reorient the spacecraft.
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NASA’s lunar spacecraft has captured the clearest before-and-after views yet of a roughly 60-foot-wide crater formed when a SpaceX rocket booster struck the Moon in early August. The images were taken a week after the impact from about 60 miles above the surface, requiring flight controllers to reorient the spacecraft.
VinSpace, the recently formed space unit of Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup, has signed a launch contract with SpaceX for in-orbit demonstration satellites. The spacecraft are planned to fly on a 2027 Transporter rideshare mission, marking an early step in Vietnam’s emerging commercial space sector.
Seraphim Space Investment Trust is committing another $30 million to Hubble Network, which is developing a satellite-powered Bluetooth network. The system is designed to let standard, off-the-shelf Bluetooth Low Energy chips connect directly to satellites without cell towers, gateways or custom hardware.
Spire Global reported a 16% year-over-year revenue increase for the quarter ended June 30 and expects full-year revenue to rise 50% compared with 2025. The multi-mission satellite operator said 85% of second-half revenue is already backed by firm orders, while expanding German manufacturing and partnerships with Schaeffler and Diehl.
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SpaceX has recovered the Starship vehicle used on Flight 13 after a 24-day tow across the Indian Ocean to Christmas Island, following the program’s first intact ocean splashdown on July 24. Engineers are traveling to inspect the vehicle and may return it to Starbase for further analysis.
SpaceX plans to conduct its 100th mission of the year on Aug. 18, marking a significant annual launch milestone. The event will be livestreamed, giving industry observers a real-time view of the company’s continuing launch cadence.
Intesa Sanpaolo disclosed for the first time that it held approximately $966 million in SpaceX shares at the end of June, according to a regulatory filing. The disclosure provides a rare view into the Italian bank’s exposure to one of the commercial space industry’s most valuable private companies.
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Globalstar deployed all eight replacement satellites built by Rocket Lab and MDA Space, while Eutelsat completed the first rendez-vous for Europe’s IRIS² programme. Separately, Viasat selected Rocket Lab for a U.S. Space Force GEO satellite, and Finland’s ReOrbit launched a €4.6 million connectivity R&D programme.
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