Reuters
France’s Mistral raised €3 billion to develop sovereign AI, while Isar Aerospace reached orbit with its Spectrum rocket. Separately, Eutelsat partnered with Skynopy on LEO data downlinking, and Belgium’s Aerospacelab won a €2.4 billion contract to build 264 satellites for the EU’s IRIS² secure communications network.
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France’s Mistral raised €3 billion to develop sovereign AI, while Isar Aerospace reached orbit with its Spectrum rocket. Separately, Eutelsat partnered with Skynopy on LEO data downlinking, and Belgium’s Aerospacelab won a €2.4 billion contract to build 264 satellites for the EU’s IRIS² secure communications network.
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Eutelsat and Infinite Orbits are preparing a life-extension mission for a GEO satellite, while The Exploration Company secured an ESA contract worth up to €760 million for a 2028 Nyx demonstration to the ISS. Separately, NewOrbit announced a 2028 launch slot for its first commercial VLEO mission.
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MBDA and Safran won approval to supply France’s new long-range land-strike capability, while the U.S. expanded military connectivity with 21 PWSA Tranche-1 satellites. Separate awards include up to $4.84 billion for Northrop Grumman’s CIRCM system, $4.7 billion to L3Harris for PAC-3 MSE propulsion and $343.2 million for T56 sustainment.
The inaugural International Space Summit in Paris produced 51 announcements, including the first detailed look at the IRIS² low-Earth-orbit architecture. Former ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet was also named commander of Vast’s PAM-6 commercial mission to the International Space Station.
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Cailabs is introducing shared optical ground-station infrastructure, while ICEYE and Arianespace will evaluate Ariane 6 for sovereign SAR missions. Poland’s EYCORE reported first imagery from its inaugural radar satellite, and BAE Systems and the U.S. Space Force completed a critical design review for Epoch 2 missile-warning satellites planned for 2029.
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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.
York Space Systems has introduced a new satellite platform intended to operate in very low Earth orbit (VLEO). The announcement adds a dedicated satellite-bus offering to the company’s portfolio for missions requiring operations in the increasingly specialized lower orbital regime.
European space executives are calling for policy changes to build a stronger and more profitable industrial base, while Airbus Defence and Space is partnering with Axelspace to broaden access to Earth-observation imagery. Separately, York Space Systems introduced a standardized smallsat platform designed for sustained very-low-Earth-orbit operations.
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