SpaceNews.com
• Hope Hodge Seck
Amazon wants more than 5,000 satellites in orbit, while Blue Origin has proposed another 5,400. Chinese companies have filed plans for vastly larger numbers, and Elon Musk has discussed a constellation of 1 million, intensifying competition for the resources needed to deploy megaconstellations.
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The Pentagon is funding technology to beam solar power from orbit to Earth, pursuing a potential electricity source for military installations that rely on vulnerable fuel supply lines. The effort positions space-based energy as a possible way to reduce dependence on ground-based fuel deliveries.
York Space Systems will integrate a government space domain awareness payload into a spacecraft bound for geostationary orbit, supporting the Space Force’s Tetra 3 and 4 missions. The work marks the company’s first integration of a satellite for GEO.
Meridian Space and Kongsberg NanoAvionics said Oct. 5 they had successfully activated Meridian’s First Customer Link communications payload in low Earth orbit. The companies aim to begin producing flat broadband spacecraft in mid-2027, following in-orbit antenna tests.
Amazon wants more than 5,000 satellites in orbit, while Blue Origin has proposed another 5,400. Chinese companies have filed plans for vastly larger numbers, and Elon Musk has discussed a constellation of 1 million, intensifying competition for the resources needed to deploy megaconstellations.
Former MDA Director Lt. Gen. (ret.) Trey Obering says on-orbit servicing could enhance orbital resilience. His argument puts logistics and sustainment in space alongside the capabilities needed to make Golden Dome succeed, highlighting the role of maintaining and supporting assets in orbit.
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Open Cosmos says it has completed more than 50 satellites for ConnectedCosmos, a sovereign low-Earth-orbit network designed to provide secure connectivity and real-time intelligence. The company plans to deploy more than 96 satellites by the end of 2028, building toward a 192-satellite constellation and global coverage by 2030.
Voyager Technologies has received a $22.4 million Pentagon award to develop flight-ready systems for deploying small satellites. The work advances deployment hardware intended to support U.S. satellite operations, though the available report does not specify a schedule or mission application.
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Launch coverage points to flights from SpaceX, South Korea and China, including a South Korean Earth-observation payload and a Chinese Long March 12 mission. Separately, SpaceX’s Transporter-18 carried Star Catcher’s orbital power-beaming prototype, while NASA and SpaceX targeted Crew-12’s return and NASA named the Crew-14 astronauts for a spring 2027 mission.
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