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• Jeff Foust
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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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.
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 booked eight missions across five constellation operators for more than $515 million last quarter, including U.S. Space Force and ICEYE missions, as Neutron’s debut shifts to 2027.
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Orbital Eye will use imagery from its COSMIC-EYE satellite system to track construction of TenneT’s 380-kilovolt Rilland–Tilburg power line in the Netherlands. The application puts commercial Earth-observation data to work monitoring an electricity-transmission project; the report provides no details on coverage, schedule or contract value.
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France’s defense procurement agency has selected Airbus Defence and Space and Thales Alenia Space to develop IRIS, the next generation of ultra-high-resolution optical Earth-observation satellites for the French armed forces. The program covers two satellites and is valued at more than €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion).
Application programming interfaces connect software systems and enable users to authenticate across them, making APIs a critical link in space-system cybersecurity. The article characterizes them as an “Achilles heel” that can be easy to hack, underscoring the exposure created at software interfaces.
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