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• Rachel Jewett
Japanese synthetic aperture radar provider Synspective ordered 10 launches on Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket, with missions planned through 2030. The agreement gives Firefly a multiyear launch commitment while providing Synspective a dedicated route to orbit for its SAR satellites.
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Japanese synthetic aperture radar provider Synspective ordered 10 launches on Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket, with missions planned through 2030. The agreement gives Firefly a multiyear launch commitment while providing Synspective a dedicated route to orbit for its SAR satellites.
Iridium is promoting new satellite services while awaiting renewal of a Pentagon contract. The article’s available information does not specify the proposed services, contract value or renewal timeline, leaving the scope of the offering and the stakes of the pending decision unclear.
The defense technology company says it has tested all three systems in orbit. One is an infrared sensor designed to track spacecraft while they pass through Earth’s shadow, extending the company’s announced space-surveillance payload portfolio.
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A robot has autonomously assembled part of a structure in orbit under DARPA’s NOM4D program, marking a first for space construction. The capability could enable spacecraft and structures too large to launch as a single piece, including giant telescopes and solar power arrays.
The spacecraft propulsion companies will collaborate to provide electric thruster systems to European spacecraft manufacturers. The announcement points to a joint supplier offering in a market where spacecraft makers are weighing propulsion options, though the available report gives no details on system specifications, contracts or delivery timelines.
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Rocket Lab raised the base price for a dedicated Neutron launch from $55 million to $70 million, citing strong demand and limited launch capacity. The company says it signed eight missions across five constellation operators worth more than $515 million last quarter, including work for the U.S. Space Force and ICEYE.
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