Via Satellite
• Anne Wainscott-Sargent
By 2040, the ability to see, decide and act first in a conflict may depend on resilient, networked constellations in orbit. The emerging space-defense environment will be increasingly weaponized and contested, making orbital architecture central to military awareness, decision-making and operational advantage.
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By 2040, the ability to see, decide and act first in a conflict may depend on resilient, networked constellations in orbit. The emerging space-defense environment will be increasingly weaponized and contested, making orbital architecture central to military awareness, decision-making and operational advantage.
Yank Technologies will assess whether satellites can be recharged in orbit using wireless power under a U.S. Space Force small-business contract. The concept could reduce reliance on physical docking during servicing missions, potentially enabling new approaches to satellite sustainment and on-orbit operations.
Denver-based satellite ground-software startup Quindar will manage ground operations for Quantum Space’s maneuverable spacecraft, linking its mission-control platform with a spacecraft designed for in-orbit movement. The agreement highlights the growing role of commercial software providers in operating increasingly capable satellite systems.
High activity
Spain’s PLD Space has extended its Series C funding round by €108 million, bringing the round’s total to €288 million and the company’s cumulative funding to more than $550 million. The capital will support preparations for the first launch of its Miura 5 orbital rocket.
Six missions are scheduled across launch sites in Norway, India, New Zealand and the United States from Aug. 31 to Sept. 6. Isar Aerospace is targeting the second flight of its Spectrum rocket, while ISRO pursues an Earth-observation launch and SpaceX continues Starlink missions from Vandenberg.
All.Space has received a contract from the Defense Innovation Unit focused on increasing production rates for its Hydra satellite communications terminal. The award targets U.S. defense supply-chain capacity, linking satcom equipment demand with efforts to expand domestic manufacturing throughput.
High activity
OHB has won a contract worth more than $1 billion to build the MEO satellite layer of Europe’s IRIS² constellation. Separate agreements cover Italy’s PRISMA Second Generation, constellr’s HiVE thermal-imaging platforms and ESA’s FALCON consortium for tracking uncontrolled atmospheric reentries.
High activity
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has left Earth aboard its mission to study dark energy and the evolving universe. The 300-megapixel observatory will spend roughly three months traveling to the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point, about one million miles away, before beginning its science mission.
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