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• Sandra Erwin
The U.S. Space Force is investing $50 million in a startup developing a new method to dispatch small spacecraft from a larger vehicle in orbit. The effort could introduce another approach to moving and deploying satellites after launch, with potential implications for future military space operations.
Commercial Space
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The U.S. Space Force is investing $50 million in a startup developing a new method to dispatch small spacecraft from a larger vehicle in orbit. The effort could introduce another approach to moving and deploying satellites after launch, with potential implications for future military space operations.
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Project-S has emerged from stealth with plans to develop a European space safety layer. The initiative adds a new entrant to efforts focused on improving safety in the increasingly complex space environment, with its ambitions spanning technical and potentially political dimensions of Europe’s space sector.
Indian hyperspectral imaging startup Pixxel has secured $100 million in a funding round co-led by Temasek and Seraphim, bringing its total capital raised to $195 million. The company plans to scale satellite production in India and the United States as it pursues additional government business.
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SpaceX continues expanding assembly, test and launch infrastructure at Starbase as hardware for the company’s 14th flight moves toward the launch pad. The activity signals ongoing preparation for the next vehicle test while construction and operational capabilities develop in parallel.
Stoke Space and Relativity Space are moving launch infrastructure at Cape Canaveral’s Launch Complex 14 and Launch Complex 16 toward their first flights. The progress marks a key step in bringing both companies’ launch sites closer to operational readiness and expanding commercial launch capacity from Florida’s Space Coast.
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German startup Isar Aerospace reached orbit with its Spectrum rocket from Andøya, Norway, deploying satellites on the vehicle’s second flight. The mission makes Isar the first commercial European company to deliver payloads to orbit from continental Europe, advancing the region’s effort to reduce reliance on American launch providers.
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The German startup’s Spectrum rocket successfully reached orbit after lifting off from Andøya Spaceport in Arctic Norway. The milestone marks the first orbital launch from European soil and brings Europe closer to offering satellite customers access to space from within the continent.
Katalyst Space is wrapping up operations on a spacecraft intended to reboost NASA’s Swift observatory. Although the mission did not achieve its original objective, the vehicle became a technology demonstration for satellite servicing, offering an operational data point for emerging commercial in-space support capabilities.
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