Satellites

Anduril Industries and Impulse Space plan to conduct a high-precision rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) mission in 2026, the companies announced Sept. 16.

AFK Sistema subsidiary Sputnix will design the spacecraft and Roscosmos will provide launch services.

Greece's €130 million ($152 million) program includes €60 million for seven optical satellites.

South Korean rocket provider Innospace says it has signed an agreement to conduct two satellite launches for Media Broadcast Satellite.

Space Norway and Airbus’ SSTL have signed an agreement to jointly pursue business for a new synthetic aperture radar satellite the companies are co-developing.

The Taiwan Space Agency is moving ahead with its first domestically developed communications satellite program.

UK Space Command and U.S. Space Command have conducted the two nations’ first joint military operation in space.

Capella Space parent IonQ has signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy to work on developing and deploying quantum technologies in space.

True Anomaly next year aims to achieve key milestones to underpin the defense space startup’s growth strategy, including the first demonstration of its Jackal spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit.

Amazon is preparing its fifth batch of Kuiper broadband satellites for launch next week.

Astranis has contracted Impulse Space to directly inject its MicroGEO communications satellite into geostationary orbit in 2027 using the Helios kick stage.

HawkEye 360 is gearing up to start deploying a new generation of its electronic intelligence spacecraft that should slash production costs.

The ESA is poised to ask member states to back the European sovereign satellite communications IRIS² program with €600 million in the next funding cycle.

SpaceX is in talks with countries to give them sovereign satellite communications capabilities, says Gwynne Shotwell, the company’s president.

The United Arab Emirates’ Space42 and Viasat are hoping to attract partners in their new direct-to-device global low Earth orbit satellite service venture, Equatys.

Communications satellite operator SES has partnered with startup K2 Space to explore designing next-generation medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellites.

Earlier this summer Maxar posted an image of a Chinese satellite taken by one of its WorldView Legion satellites in low Earth orbit.

Airbus and the French space agency CNES have agreed to extend the life of the two-satellite Pléiades constellation for another two years.

Germany and Spain are among the countries looking to move quickly to get counterspace systems into orbit.

Redwire will serve as the prime contractor on the European Space Agency’s Skimsat program, swapping roles with mission partner Thales Alenia Space.

Germany is drafting a new military space architecture that will help shape the country's development plans, says the head of the German Space Command.

The defense market will become the biggest growth driver for the space-based remote sensing industry, Novaspace analysts estimate.

Laser company Cailabs has raised €57 million in additional financing and plans to test space-to-Earth optical communications with satellite operator SES.

Telesat’s in-development LightSpeed constellation could meet the EU’s needs until the IRIS² communication satellites are in orbit.

The United Arab Emirates’ Space42 and Viasat have agreed to jointly pursue direct-to-device global satellite services.