SpaceNews.com
• Debra Werner
NOAA has selected Spire Global and PlanetiQ to provide radio-occultation data supporting terrestrial weather forecasts and space-weather forecasting. The awards reinforce the role of commercial satellite-derived measurements in supplying data for operational meteorological and space-environment monitoring.
Commercial Space
Latest source-backed stories
As commercial and national missions accelerate, experts warn that discarded rocket stages and other hardware could accumulate on the lunar surface without clearer rules. The debate highlights an emerging governance gap around lunar preservation, mission planning and responsibility for objects left behind.
NOAA has selected Spire Global and PlanetiQ to provide radio-occultation data supporting terrestrial weather forecasts and space-weather forecasting. The awards reinforce the role of commercial satellite-derived measurements in supplying data for operational meteorological and space-environment monitoring.
Australian mining billionaire Gina Rinehart acquired 8 million SpaceX shares during the second quarter, building a stake valued at $1.4 billion. She also invested several hundred million dollars more in U.S. equities, underscoring continued investor access to SpaceX through private-market transactions.
Regulatory filings from Avio provide new details on the FD1 suborbital demonstrator, including its planned flight profile, launch site, testing objectives and recovery concept. The disclosures offer a clearer view of how Avio intends to conduct and evaluate the vehicle’s demonstration mission.
Rapid expansion in space activity is testing decades-old treaties against modern operations, deep-space ambitions and the growing role of commercial actors. As competition intensifies in orbit, governments face mounting pressure to adapt international governance frameworks to a more crowded and complex space environment.
As launch costs decline, spacecraft design is shifting away from mass as the dominant constraint. The emerging trade space centers on surface area, forcing engineers and operators to reconsider how spacecraft are designed, packaged and optimized for increasingly accessible spaceflight.
Reflect Orbital CEO Ben Nowack discusses how the company is addressing growing criticism from astronomers, who have raised concerns about the potential impact of its proposed orbital activities on night-sky observations and the broader astronomical community.
Intuitive Machines said Aug. 13 that it secured a $600 million contract from an undisclosed customer to provide three geostationary-orbit communications satellites. The award expands the company’s satellite business and represents a significant commercial program beyond its lunar exploration activities.
Create a free account to see more recent Commercial Space stories and keep bookmarks in one place.
