SpaceNews.com
• Andrew Jones
China completed its ninth and tenth orbital launches of September, placing Guowang and Yaogan-40 satellites into orbit. The missions underscore an intense launch tempo and set the stage for a crowded fourth-quarter manifest as Beijing expands its satellite infrastructure and space activity.
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China completed its ninth and tenth orbital launches of September, placing Guowang and Yaogan-40 satellites into orbit. The missions underscore an intense launch tempo and set the stage for a crowded fourth-quarter manifest as Beijing expands its satellite infrastructure and space activity.
Researchers say they have spent eight years probing satellite systems and recently demonstrated that a commercial satellite could be compromised in orbit. The finding is part of a broader body of work aimed at showing the space industry where cybersecurity weaknesses may threaten spacecraft and mission operations.
NASA pursued an unconventional effort to preserve Swift, combining pressure on the Treasury and rapid, AI-assisted software development. The attempt produced notable technical work but ultimately could not take the observatory further, according to comments from a participant described as “absolutely gutted.”
LiveEO CEO Daniel Seidel discusses the INSPECTEO award’s combination of optical and synthetic-aperture radar data, Berlin’s financing guarantee for the company’s satellites and a more collaborative approach emerging across Europe’s space industry.
High activity
SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare mission is set to carry a prototype Google AI satellite and tensor processing units for in-orbit computing, alongside 130 payloads. The launch comes as Satlyt raises $8 million to develop an open, multi-satellite software platform for orbital data centers, contrasting with SpaceX’s integrated approach.
High activity
SpaceX plans to launch NASA’s four-person Crew-13 mission and the U.S. government’s classified NROL-97 reconnaissance payload from Florida, alongside the Transporter-18 rideshare mission from California carrying Starfish Otter and roughly 130 payloads. The schedule would place all three Falcon-capable launch pads in use within the same general period.
London-based Foundational has raised £8.2 million ($10.8 million; €9.6 million) in pre-seed funding, which it describes as Europe’s largest space-tech pre-seed round. The startup is developing satellite-mounted retroreflectors, automated ground stations and software to improve positioning data for satellites and orbital-debris tracking.
High activity
The U.S. Space Force selected Northrop Grumman and True Anomaly to develop space-to-space ISR satellites by 2028 and finalized a $461.9 million L3Harris satcom contract for executive aircraft. Separately, ICEYE and Nokia are targeting sovereign government-owned LEO communications systems, also expected to begin launching in 2028.
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