The U.S. Space Force has awarded SpaceX a $1.6 billion contract covering two military launch efforts using Falcon 9 rockets. The award underscores Falcon 9’s role in national-security space access, as SpaceX also prepares to launch three AST SpaceMobile BlueBird satellites from Cape Canaveral.
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The U.S. Space Force has awarded SpaceX a $1.6 billion contract covering two military launch efforts using Falcon 9 rockets. The award underscores Falcon 9’s role in national-security space access, as SpaceX also prepares to launch three AST SpaceMobile BlueBird satellites from Cape Canaveral.
Portuguese space traffic management startup Neuraspace has secured approximately $18 million in fresh funding to expand European space domain awareness and defense capabilities. The investment will support the company’s growth as demand increases for sovereign tools to monitor and manage activity in orbit.
SpaceX is scheduled to launch three of AST SpaceMobile’s large BlueBird satellites early Wednesday, Aug. 5. The mission will expand AST SpaceMobile’s planned direct-to-cell satellite constellation, with the launch available for live viewing.
L3Harris Technologies confirmed the successful deployment of its first perimeter truss reflector aboard ViaSat-3 Flight 3. SpaceX launched the satellite, marking an on-orbit milestone for L3Harris’s reflector technology and the ViaSat-3 satellite program.
Startup Endeavor Optical Networks has emerged from stealth with plans to build an optical satellite network in medium Earth orbit for space-based data transfer. The company’s announcement adds a new entrant to the developing market for high-capacity intersatellite and space-based communications infrastructure.
NOAA will continue evaluating data from Spire Global’s Hyperspectral Microwave Sounder under a $3 million contract extension announced Aug. 4. The agreement extends the agency’s assessment of Spire’s commercial data for potential use in NOAA’s meteorological and environmental observation activities.
A judge has authorized Hughes Satellite Systems Corp. to access noteholders’ cash for the next four weeks, following a two-day court dispute over how the company will fund operations and pay bills while proceeding through bankruptcy.
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