Bloomberg
• Satviki Sanjay
Elon Musk is promoting Starlink as a way to connect India’s underserved rural regions, where more than 11,000 villages reportedly lack 4G, even as the service’s launch remains stalled over security concerns. Separately, Ukrainian officials are seeking approval to use Starlink-equipped drones against Russian ballistic-missile launchers.
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Elon Musk is promoting Starlink as a way to connect India’s underserved rural regions, where more than 11,000 villages reportedly lack 4G, even as the service’s launch remains stalled over security concerns. Separately, Ukrainian officials are seeking approval to use Starlink-equipped drones against Russian ballistic-missile launchers.
California startup Elve has qualified its 100-watt millimeter-wave Traveling Wave Tube Amplifier platform for spaceflight, advancing a high-frequency communications component from development toward use in spacecraft and satellite systems. The qualification marks a program milestone for the company’s space-focused amplifier technology.
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A new National Space Transportation Policy directs the U.S. government to support commercial launch providers and scale national launch and reentry activity to 1,000 missions annually by 2030. The target arrives as SpaceX reaches 100 launches in 2026 and Starlink approaches 11,000 operational satellites.
SpaceX and AST SpaceMobile are reportedly seeking Grain Management spectrum valued at about $6 billion for direct-to-device satellite services, while Muon Space raised $250 million at a $1.5 billion valuation. Muon plans to expand its San Jose factory toward 500 satellites annually by 2027 and deepen defense, NASA and NOAA work.
Sypris Electronics will manufacture power processing units for an unnamed next-generation low-Earth-orbit satellite constellation under a newly announced award. Protoflight production is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2026, with deliveries expected to continue through 2028, signaling a multi-year manufacturing commitment.
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Rocket Lab announced an agreement on June 29 to acquire Iridium, a move that would significantly broaden the launch company’s position in the satellite sector. Analysts are assessing how the transaction could accelerate Rocket Lab’s strategy to build a next-generation space company.
SpaceX’s proposed orbital data centers would place large-scale computing hardware in space, creating a new end-of-life challenge for electronic equipment beyond Earth. The concept resembles asteroid mining in reverse: instead of extracting material from orbit, operators could leave behind increasingly difficult-to-manage e-waste.
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Portal Space Systems has secured a Falcon 9 launch for its first Supernova spacecraft while marketing remaining fairing capacity to rideshare customers through Maverick Space Systems. The company is also preparing to ship its first Starburst satellite to Florida, marking a major step toward operations.
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