January 3, 2026

K2 Space Corp. Space Raises $250M to Build High-Power “Mega-Class” Satellites at Scale (Source: Startup Times)
K2 Space Corporation, the California satellite manufacturer founded in 2022, closed a $250 million funding round December 2025 at a reported valuation of roughly $3 billion. The company says the capital will accelerate factory scale-up, fund its first Mega-Class launches and back an ambitious production target that aims to shift satellite economics by making much higher-power spacecraft more cost-effective. (12/31)

Amazon Expands Space Coast Footprint With $6.1 Million Land Buy (Source: Talk of Titusville)
Amazon’s recent $6.1 million purchase of 45 acres in Titusville is fueling speculation that the site will support Amazon Leo, the company’s newly rebranded satellite internet service. The acquisition of three parcels along U.S. Route 1 across the Indian River from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, finalized on Dec. 11, places Amazon in a prime position to expand its aerospace infrastructure. (12/31)

SpaceX Prepares to Double Output at Texas Starlink Factory (Source: PC Mag)
Will 2026 bring cheaper Starlink hardware? It will certainly be more plentiful as SpaceX prepares to double the manufacturing output at its Starlink factory in Bastrop, Texas. The Texas factory was originally producing 15,000 Starlink dishes per day, or about 105,000 per week. But the site has since added 1 million more square feet. As a result, "Starlink has ramped up production capabilities to over 170,000 Starlink kits per week across the United States,” or around 9 million dishes per year, SpaceX says . (1/2)

SpainSat NG 2, Launched in Oct, Suffers Anomaly Ascribed to ‘Space Particle’ on Way to GEO; Insured for $400 Million (Source: Space Intel Report)
The SpainSat NG 2 military telecommunications satellite launched in October has suffered a failure that owner Indra Group said was caused by “the impact of a space particle” as the satellite was making its way to  its final position in geostationary orbit. In its Jan. 2 statement, Indra, which as of Jan. 1 is majority-owner of commercial satellite fleet operator Hispasat and the Hisdesat military satellite operator, which owns the satellite, said Hisdesat has implemented a contingency plan. (1/3)

SpaceX Opens 2026 with Launch of Cosmo-SkyMed Earth Observation Satellite for Italy (Source: Spaceflight Now)
SpaceX rang in the new year with a Falcon 9 rocket launch Friday evening from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Aboard was a 1,700-kg (3,748 lb) Earth observation satellite with dual civilian and military use for the government of Italy. The Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation Flight Model 3 (CSG-FM3) satellite is the third out of four such satellites set to deploy into low Earth orbit. (1/2)

After Half a Decade, the Russian Space Station Segment Stopped Leaking (Source: Ars Technica)
A small section of the International Space Station that has experienced persistent leaks for years appears to have stopped venting atmosphere into space. The leaks were caused by microscopic structural cracks inside the small PrK module on the Russian segment of the space station, which lies between a Progress spacecraft airlock and the Zvezda module. The problem has been a long-running worry for Russian and US operators of the station, especially after the rate of leakage doubled in 2024. This prompted NASA officials to label the leak as a “high likelihood” and “high consequence” risk. (1/2)

Globalstar Outlines its Planned 48-Satellite Constellation, Part of a $1 Billion Investment (Source: Space Intel Report)
Mobile satellite services provider Globalstar said its new constellation being built mainly with Apple financing will include 54 satellites, including six in-orbit spares, operating from the same 1,414-kilometer orbit as the Globalstar’s current 24-satellite constellation. In a Dec. 30 filing with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), made as part of Globalstar’s ongoing request for an FCC operating license for the new constellation, Globalstar said the 17 satellites designed to replenish the existing fleet would be launched “by late 2026". (1/2)

2025’s Top VC Funding Rounds (Source: Payload)
2025 was the year of the nine-figure funding round. Several space companies raised mega dollars last year. Here are some of the highlights: Stoke raised a $510M in October and $260M in January. Impulse closed on $300M in June. True Anomaly closed a $260M round in May. K2 closed a $250M round in December, and $110M in February. Apex raised a pair of $200M rounds in April in September. Loft Orbital closed a $170M round in January. Ursa Major raised $100M in November. EnduroSat closed a $100M+ round in October. (1/2)

Starfighters Space Completes $40 Million IPO (Source: Vintage Aviation News)
Starfighters Space announced the completion of its Regulation A Initial Public Offering on December 18, raising $40 million through the sale of more than 11 million shares of common stock. The milestone positions the Florida-based company, which operates a fleet of supersonic F-104 Starfighters from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, to expand its STARLAUNCH programs and meet growing global demand for commercial satellite and payload launches. (12/30)

AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) Soars on Bargain-Hunting (Source: Insider Money)
We recently published 10 Stocks on Fire Ahead of 2026. AST SpaceMobile is one of the best performers on Tuesday. AST SpaceMobile rebounded by 4.49 percent on Tuesday to close at $74.68 apiece as investors resorted to bargain-hunting following a three-day losing streak. Despite the company’s absence of fresh catalysts, the rally reflected strong investor confidence supported by the recent successful launch of its next-generation satellite into low Earth orbit. (12/31)

Forging a Human-Machine Partnership to Power the Next Era of Space Exploration (Source: JHU)
Key to Artemis missions are rovers, satellites, and robotic infrastructure to conduct experiments and remain in contact with Earth. The potential of this technology brought industry leaders to the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center for a workshop focused on human-machine teaming in space, a process where people and systems share work as a team. NASA and other space agencies are developing operations in which astronauts teleoperate robots in orbit and allow humans to oversee robotic tasks, such as docking. This showcases how these human-machine partnerships can expand capabilities. (1/2)

Terran Orbital Selected by Lockheed Martin to Provide Satellite Buses for SDA’s Tranche 3 Tracking Layer (Source: Space News)
Terran Orbital, a leading manufacturer of small satellites primarily serving the aerospace and defense industries, announced today that it has been selected by Lockheed Martin to provide satellite buses for the Tranche 3 Tracking Layer (T3TRK) under the Space Development Agency’s (SDA) Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA). Lockheed Martin will deliver 18 missile-warning, tracking, and defense space vehicles for SDA’s Tranche 3 Tracking Layer. Terran Orbital will supply the satellite bus platforms that form the structural and avionics backbone of the space vehicles. (12/1)

Artemis II Highlights Busy 2026 Launch Plans at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The planned Artemis II launch is the highlight of what will be a busy year on the Space Coast, which just came off a record 109 launches at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. The mission aims to fly from KSC as early as Feb. 5 and no later than April, sending its crew of four on a 10-day trip to ensure their ride, the Orion spacecraft, can support human spaceflight. Then Astrobotic, Blue Origin, Firefly, and Intuitive Machines launch their lunar landers.

Blue Origin, fresh off its successful November New Glenn launch and landing, aims to fly its Blue Moon MK1 lunar lander in the front end of the year. Astrobotic’s large Griffin lander is set to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy from KSC no earlier than July. Intuitive Machines could fly even earlier on its third attempt to stick the landing of its Nova-C lander. It will fly atop a Falcon 9 along with the company’s first lunar data relay satellite, although a target launch date has yet to be announced. Firefly will make its second trip to the moon with both its Blue Ghost lander and Elytra Dark orbital vehicle. The company has not announced its launch service provider or target launch date.

Boeing’s beleaguered Starliner spacecraft will make a cargo only flight to the ISS no earlier than April, launching atop a ULA Atlas V. If successful, Boeing could then be chosen to work alongside SpaceX for the remainder of rotational crewed missions to the space station before its retirement planned for 2030. For now, SpaceX remains the only operational crew option for the ISS. Its next rotational mission is Crew-12 aiming to fly as early as Feb. 15. (12/30)