SpaceNews.com
• Debra Werner
The National Reconnaissance Office awarded contracts to Capella Space, Iceye U.S. and Umbra to expand the U.S. government’s access to commercial synthetic aperture radar data. The awards reinforce the role of private satellite operators in supplying persistent, all-weather imagery for national-security missions.
Space Defense & Militarization
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The National Reconnaissance Office awarded contracts to Capella Space, Iceye U.S. and Umbra to expand the U.S. government’s access to commercial synthetic aperture radar data. The awards reinforce the role of private satellite operators in supplying persistent, all-weather imagery for national-security missions.
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Portugal-based Neuraspace secured €15.6 million from Lince Capital, Explorer Investments, Armilar Venture Partners and the country’s Recovery and Resilience Plan. The financing will support expansion of its AI-enabled space domain awareness and space traffic management platform for commercial, institutional and defense satellite operators.
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Telesat secured its largest-ever Canadian defense contract, valued at roughly $1.63 billion to $1.9 billion, requiring 69 additional Lightspeed satellites for Arctic communications. Separately, the U.S. Space Force awarded $615 million for space-based airborne-target tracking, while Bombardier evaluates a Canadian GlobalEye modification facility.
An increasingly competitive market is forming around in-orbit propulsion, a capability military satellites have historically used sparingly. Growing defense demand is creating new commercial opportunities for propulsion technologies that can extend satellite maneuverability and expand the operational utility of space assets after launch.
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Rocket Lab has secured its largest-ever contract, a $266 million multi-launch deal with the U.S. Space Force for suborbital missile-defense launches. Separately, Japan’s iQPS signed for three dedicated Electron missions, underscoring Rocket Lab’s push across defense and commercial launch markets.
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Canada’s Defence Investment Agency awarded Telesat a $1.9 billion service contract and MDA Space a separate $474 million contract to expand the Telesat Lightspeed constellation with 69 additional Ka-band satellites for Arctic security connectivity. The deal increases network capacity by 44%, with most Telesat payments due between 2026 and 2028.
K2 has been selected to test satellite-to-satellite optical communications for the U.S. Space Force, a technology central to planned missile-warning and tracking networks. The capability is also expected to support the Trump administration’s Golden Dome missile-defense architecture.
True Anomaly said it became the first company to conduct an in-space pursuit of an evading target, as part of VICTUS HAZE. The U.S. Space Force mission is intended to demonstrate operational capabilities for tracking and pursuing maneuvering objects in orbit.
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