SpaceNews.com
• Jeff Foust
As companies develop plans for data centers in orbit, experts are urging the industry to establish safety practices early. The emerging constellations raise unresolved questions about orbital coordination, traffic management and the long-term effects of adding significant infrastructure to an already contested space environment.
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As companies develop plans for data centers in orbit, experts are urging the industry to establish safety practices early. The emerging constellations raise unresolved questions about orbital coordination, traffic management and the long-term effects of adding significant infrastructure to an already contested space environment.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked U.S. President Donald Trump to enable Starlink support for operations targeting ballistic-missile launchers inside Russia. The request would expand the role of commercial satellite connectivity in Ukraine’s military targeting and strike activities.
Satellite imagery has reportedly detected fresh burn scars and active fires at Amazon data centers and at a Saudi oil refinery, indicating continued strikes affecting critical energy and cloud infrastructure. The observations add to the growing body of satellite-based assessments of wartime damage in the region.
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K2 Space has announced a $500 million funding round at a $6.8 billion valuation, more than doubling its valuation in seven months. The satellite manufacturer is preparing to transition from orbital demonstrations to larger commercial and military orders, supported by expanded engineering capacity including a new Seattle hub.
The Scottish Government has signed a one-year, seven-figure contract with Planet Labs for agricultural imagery data, sourced through Computacenter as a reseller. The deal expands the use of commercial Earth observation data to support regional agricultural-related decision-making and monitoring.
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SES will provide LATAM’s multi-orbit, electronically steerable antenna inflight-connectivity solution across more than 60 Airbus and Embraer twinjets, including its future E195-E2 fleet. The agreement comes as SES reports declining first-half revenue and adjusted EBITDA, while saying its Iris² deal is days from completion.
SpaceX argues Starlink Mobile represents a very large total addressable market for direct-to-device connectivity, but commentary from industry observers questions the feasibility of the approach. The concern centers on whether the D2D link budget can reliably deliver service at the scale implied by SpaceX’s market sizing.
Satellite startup K2 Space, focused on building large spacecraft for data-intensive communications and defense missions, has raised $500 million in a new funding round. The investment comes as the company prepares to announce the financing at a reported $6.8 billion valuation.
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