Satellites

The French and Japanese governments have committed to developing a satellite deorbiting mission in the next five years through a joint industry agreement.

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has awarded Vantor—formerly Maxar Intelligence—a new contract to surveil high-interest objects in space.

The U.S. Space Force has awarded SpaceX two additional missions on behalf of the Space Development Agency (SDA) to launch no earlier than late fiscal 2027.

Rocket Lab says it has received regulatory approval from the German government to acquire optical communications provider Mynaric.

SpaceX launched the 16th Transporter rideshare mission on March 30, carrying 119 small satellite payloads to orbit for government and commercial customers.

The project will develop a compact, low-cost spectrometer that can be deployed across satellites, aircraft, and ground stations.

SpaceX has lost communication with a Starlink satellite on orbit following a March 29 anomaly, the company disclosed on social media March 30.

Space sovereignty has become a major talking point for governments and industry as they adjust to a new geopolitical landscape.

With the proliferation of low-Earth-orbit satellite constellations, the commercial air transport industry is accelerating its move to offer free onboard Wi-Fi.

An industry advocacy organization told Congress its members were “concerned and confused” by the latest pivot in NASA’s post-ISS plans.

Moog and Redwire Space have signed a partnership that will see Redwire supplying its Extensible Low-Profile Solar Array wings for integration with Moog’s Meteor satellite bus.

SpaceX's Starlink constellation surpasses 10,000 satellites with recent launches as company plans orbital data centers and faces space debris concerns.

Laser-based satellite-aircraft links gain traction for future inflight connectivity, offering higher speeds but facing cloud interference and high costs.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is starting to focus on a returning its H3 heavy launch vehicle to the pad.

Spire Global says it has demonstrated single-satellite radio-frequency geolocation.

Russia started deployment of its first national low-orbit satellite internet constellation similar to Starlink or Oneweb.

SES is formally kicking off a new medium-Earth-orbit communications satellite constellation pursuit with an agreement to launch 28 K2 Space satellites.

China is looking to use directed energy to target multiple satellites simultaneously.

Space42 is looking to get the go-ahead for a new generation of Earth-observation systems, while finalizing with Viasat an expansion of Equatys.

United Airlines is now outfitting the mainline fleet with SpaceX Starlink, expecting to have roughly half those airframes done by the end of 2026.

In-space servicing company Katalyst Space Technologies will launch its robotic space vehicle on an Arianespace rocket, marking the first Ariane 6 launch supporting a U.S. Space Force initiative.

Russia is likely going to boost its military space launches in remote sensing to close an emerging capability gap, a U.S. Space Force official says.

Singapore's DSTA has signed a contract with AST SpaceMobile to provide government agencies with space-based cellular broadband connectivity.

Blue Origin is asking the FCC to launch and operate a 51,600-member sat network for space-based data centers and AI computing services.

Airbus Helicopters and Spanish telecoms provider Telefonica will jointly demonstrate the potential use of 5G communications in military helicopters and UAS.