SpaceNews.com
• Debra Werner
HawkEye 360 announced multiple contracts worth approximately $18 million with customers in the Middle East. The agreements expand the commercial satellite company’s regional business, underscoring continued demand for space-based capabilities among customers in the region.
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HawkEye 360 announced multiple contracts worth approximately $18 million with customers in the Middle East. The agreements expand the commercial satellite company’s regional business, underscoring continued demand for space-based capabilities among customers in the region.
The UK has established its first dedicated space squadron within the Royal Air Force to protect satellites vital to everyday life. The unit will focus on disrupting, degrading and denying hostile activity targeting British interests in space, marking a significant expansion of the country’s space-defense posture.
U.K. Defense Secretary Wes Streeting said satellites are critical to national intelligence gathering and missile-warning capabilities, and now underpin almost one-fifth of the U.K. economy. His remarks frame space infrastructure as both a defense priority and an increasingly consequential component of national economic activity.
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Alphabet’s Google plans to launch a prototype satellite for the first in-orbit test of Project Suncatcher, its effort to assess large-scale AI computing in space. Google also plans two experimental satellites with Planet by early 2027 to evaluate technology for a potential orbital AI computing network.
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Starfish Space has completed its first full-scale Otter satellite-servicing spacecraft and assigned it to a customer mission, following two orbital tests of smaller prototypes. The vehicle is slated for Transporter-18 and will demonstrate close inspection and docking technologies for inoperable satellites under NASA’s SSPICY mission.
Hubble Network has raised $200 million in Series C financing, bringing its total funding to $300 million and valuing the company at $1.6 billion. The round follows a $70 million Series B completed in September 2025, underscoring continued investor backing for the company’s development.
Direct-to-device satellite connectivity is approaching a market inflection point, but operators’ reliance on mobile network operators may constrain growth. Reaching customers beyond carrier distribution could determine whether D2D develops into a scalable extension of terrestrial cellular networks or remains a limited connectivity enhancement.
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Saab is positioning itself across multiple defense domains as the RBS15 Mk4 anti-ship missile nears operational readiness for Sweden’s Gripen fighters and the company signs space-focused MoUs with SSC Space, OHB Sweden and Ericsson. Separately, India has ordered additional SAT-SAAW glide bombs for its air force.
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