FlightGlobal
• Alfred Chua
Korean Air and Asiana Airlines plan to begin offering free Starlink inflight connectivity on selected services from Sept. 15, 2026. Korean Air’s initial rollout covers three Airbus A350-900s and one Boeing 777-300ER, with broader plans to equip the Hanjin Group airlines’ fleets.
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Korean Air and Asiana Airlines plan to begin offering free Starlink inflight connectivity on selected services from Sept. 15, 2026. Korean Air’s initial rollout covers three Airbus A350-900s and one Boeing 777-300ER, with broader plans to equip the Hanjin Group airlines’ fleets.
A €3 billion raise by Mistral, Isar Aerospace’s first orbital success, Eutelsat’s expanded LEO data-downlink partnership with Skynopy and Aerospacelab’s €2.4 billion IRIS² satellite contract underscore Europe’s push to control critical AI, launch, connectivity and secure-communications infrastructure.
Eutelsat will expand and replenish its OneWeb low Earth orbit constellation through 2034 under a deal with Airbus worth about €1 billion. Separately, the UK acknowledged nearly $40 million in spending on SpaceX’s Starshield, becoming the first country outside the US to publicly confirm its use for military and intelligence missions.
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The Exploration Company won an ESA contract worth up to €760 million for a 2028 Nyx demonstration mission to the ISS, while Eutelsat advanced GEO life extension and IRIS² manufacturing plans. NewOrbit also secured a Q3 2028 launch slot for commercial payloads in very low Earth orbit.
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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.
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