Via Satellite
• Rachel Jewett
Telesat and French photonics company Cailabs will assess space-to-ground optical communications for Telesat’s Lightspeed low-Earth-orbit constellation. The collaboration will examine optical ground stations to support secure government communications and data relay, potentially extending the constellation’s capabilities beyond conventional radio-frequency links.
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Commercial providers are increasingly filling national security space needs that government programs cannot deliver quickly, offering faster development and lower acquisition risk. But the shift from government-owned, purpose-built systems to commercial-first procurement has limits, requiring policymakers to distinguish scalable capabilities from areas where bespoke systems remain necessary.
Telesat and French photonics company Cailabs will assess space-to-ground optical communications for Telesat’s Lightspeed low-Earth-orbit constellation. The collaboration will examine optical ground stations to support secure government communications and data relay, potentially extending the constellation’s capabilities beyond conventional radio-frequency links.
President Donald Trump has ordered a study into establishing a U.S. Space Academy, potentially creating a new service-academy institution alongside the existing military academies. The initiative could shape how the nation develops future space-focused officers and supports the U.S. Space Force.
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Türkiye has signed NASA’s Artemis Accords, becoming the 71st country to join the framework for safe, sustainable civil space exploration. The agreement comes as Ankara advances a national space program that includes plans for a lunar mission, expanding international participation in NASA-led exploration efforts.
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OHB has won a contract worth more than $1 billion to build the MEO satellite layer of Europe’s IRIS² constellation. Separate agreements cover Italy’s PRISMA Second Generation, constellr’s HiVE thermal-imaging platforms and ESA’s FALCON consortium for tracking uncontrolled atmospheric reentries.
President Donald Trump honored the Artemis II astronauts—the first humans to travel beyond the Moon in more than 50 years—with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor and signed an executive order directing NASA to establish the nation’s first U.S. Space Academy at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is set to deliver the first speech by a Commission president dedicated solely to space policy. The address comes as security concerns surrounding satellites intensify, placing Europe’s space priorities and resilience under heightened scrutiny.
Consolidation, shifting business models, sovereign space ambitions and a tougher investment environment are reshaping the global space sector. Industry leaders meeting in Paris are confronting increasingly interconnected pressures across commercial space, national capabilities and capital markets.
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