April 9, 2026

Vantor to Expand Earth Imaging Fleet with Two More Smallsats (Source: Space News)
Earth imaging company Vantor plans to use smallsats to expand its satellite fleet. The company, formerly known as Maxar, said Wednesday it is making the first major overhaul of its space architecture in nearly a decade by expanding its fleet of 10 imaging satellites. Vantor will add two Vantage high-resolution satellites capable of 20-centimeter imagery and as many as two dozen smaller Pulse satellites producing 40-centimeter imagery designed for more frequent coverage. Together, these assets are intended to provide persistent monitoring without sacrificing image quality, a tradeoff that has long defined the commercial remote-sensing market. The first Pulse satellites are expected to launch in 2027, with the Vantage spacecraft projected for deployment in 2029. (4/9)

Space Force Picks 14 Companies for $1.8 Billion In-Space Satellite Monitoring (Source: Space News)
The Space Force selected 14 companies Wednesday to participate in a $1.8 billion program to monitor activities in geosynchronous orbit. The program known as Andromeda is structured as a $1.8 billion, 10-year contracting vehicle managed by Space Systems Command. It establishes a pool of vendors that will compete for task orders to design and build spacecraft and supporting systems. The selected vendors span a mix of established defense contractors and newer space firms. The program is an effort by the Space Force to broaden its supplier base, pairing large incumbents with venture-backed entrants that have been pushing into national security missions. Andromeda will initially focus on satellites capable of observing activity in geosynchronous orbit, roughly 22,000 miles above Earth, where many of the military's most valuable communications and missile-warning systems operate. (4/9)

Portal Raises $50 Million for Maneuverable Spacecraft Development (Source: Space News)
Portal Space Systems has raised $50 million to accelerate development of its highly maneuverable spacecraft. The company announced the Series A round Thursday, led by Geodesic Capital and Mach33 with participation from several other investors. The funding will allow it to advance development of Starburst, a maneuverable spacecraft bus, and Supernova, a vehicle designed to rapidly move between orbits using a solar thermal propulsion system. The first Starburst spacecraft is scheduled to launch later this year with Supernova to follow in 2027. The company, initially focused on defense customers, is looking to expand into civil and commercial applications along with international customers, particularly in Japan. (4/9)

Apex to Build Larger Satellites (Source: Space News)
Apex is moving to build larger and more powerful spacecraft less than a year after introducing its biggest platform. The company said Thursday it is developing two larger variants of its Comet satellite bus, called Comet Mini and Comet XL. Comet Mini can accommodate payloads from 450 to 1,000 kilograms while the larger Comet XL is optimized for super-heavy lift vehicles such as Starship. The new buses are intended for what the company calls the "most demanding next-generation payloads" that require more power and mass than its existing buses. (4/9)

Albedo Plans Second Satellite, a VLEO Platform for SAR/EW/Comms Missions (Source: Space News)
Albedo, the former Earth-observation startup now focused on satellite manufacturing, plans to fly its second satellite next year. Vicinity, scheduled to launch in 2027, will deploy solar arrays to provide far more power than the solar panels mounted on Precision, the bus that housed Albedo's 2025 Clarity-1 mission. Vicinity is a VLEO spacecraft built for payloads that demand high power like synthetic aperture radar, electromagnetic warfare and communications. The spacecraft, weighing 300 kilograms, is similar in mass to Precision. (4/9)

Lockheed Martin Gets $105 Million From Space Force for GPS Ground Control (Source: Space News)
Lockheed Martin won a Space Force contract to support ground control operations for the next generation of GPS satellites. The $105 million contract announced Wednesday covers launch and on-orbit test support for GPS 3F satellites through March 2030, using the existing Architecture Evolution Plan, or AEP, ground control system. The move follows recent steps by the Pentagon to end development of the Next Generation Operational Control System, or OCX, a program awarded to Raytheon in 2010 that has faced years of delays and cost growth. (4/9)

China Launches Guowang Constellation Satellites on Long March 6 (Source: Xinhua)
China launched another set of satellites for the Guowang constellation Wednesday. A Long March 6 rocket lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center on the 21st flight of spacecraft for Guowang. Official reports did not disclose how many satellites were on the launch but previous Long March 6 launches for Guowang carried five satellites each. (4/9)

Chinese Launches Spacesail Constellation Satellites on Long March 8 (Source: Spacewatch Africa)
China has launched a group of 18 communications satellites from the Hainan spaceport on Tuesday night, deploying the seventh batch of space-based assets of the Spacesail Constellation in orbit. Built by Shanghai-based Innovation Academy for Microsatellites for satellite operator Spacesail, the plate-shaped satellites were carried by a Long March 8 rocket. With this launch, 126 satellites have been lifted into space by six rockets for the Spacesail Constellation. (4/8)

Better SSA Data Needed for Collision Avoidance (Source: Space News)
Improving the accuracy of space situational awareness data and using tighter thresholds can help retire most of the risk of satellite collisions in low Earth orbit. A study by COMSPOC presented at a conference this week found that satellite operators eliminate only 7% of the risk of collisions given the current accuracy of SSA data and use of a threshold of a 1-in-10,000 risk of collision to take action, such as maneuvering. The study found that improving the SSA data accuracy by a factor of 10 and using a 1-in-1,000,000 threshold could reduce more than 90% of the risk. That improved accuracy could come from fusing data from various sources and incorporating spacecraft maneuver plans. (4/9)

ESA Spent ~$96 Million for an Ariane 6 Launch (Source: European Spaceflight)
The European Space Agency has disclosed how much it spent on an Ariane 6 launch. Contracting data released by the agency showed it spent about 82 million euros ($96 million) on the Ariane 62 launch of the Sentinel-1D Earth observation mission last year. ESA used an Ariane 6 for the launch because of delays in the return to flight of the Vega C. (4/9)

SaxaVord Spaceport Lost Over $7 Million with Delayed Launches (Source: Times of London)
A UK spaceport lost more than $7 million last year. Filings by the Shetland Space Center, which operates SaxaVord Spaceport, show the company lost £5.4 million ($7.2 million) in 2025 as customers delayed their launch plans there. The spaceport lost £5.1 million in 2024. The spaceport expects to host several launches this year but lost one of its customers when Orbex went bankrupt earlier this year. (4/9)

What if Dark Matter Came in Two States? (Source: Sissa Medialab)
The absence of a signal could itself be a signal. This is the idea behind a new study which aims to redefine how we search for dark matter, showing that it may not be necessary to find the same “clues” everywhere in order to interpret it. In particular, the study suggests that even if we observe a certain type of signal at the center of our galaxy — an excess of gamma radiation that could result from the annihilation of dark matter particles — failing to detect the same signal in other systems, such as dwarf galaxies, is not enough to rule out this explanation. Dark matter, in fact, may not consist of a single particle, but of multiple slightly different components, whose behavior varies depending on the cosmic environment. (4/9)

Satellite Imagery Reveals Increasing Volatility in Human Night-Time Activity (Source: Nature)
Artificial light at night (ALAN) marks the global impact of humanity. Yet, our understanding of its true ebb and flow has been limited, often based on temporally aggregated satellite data that obscure finer dynamics. Here, using daily night-time satellite imagery and a continuous change detection approach, we created global maps of high-frequency ALAN dynamics. Our findings challenge the prevailing perspective that changes in light radiance are largely gradual and unidirectional. Instead, the nightlights of Earth are surprisingly dynamic, characterized by frequent and coexisting brightening and dimming. On average, each location experiencing change underwent 6.6 distinct shifts over the 9 years.

Driven by this volatility, the cumulative area of total ALAN change comprised 2.05 million km2 of abrupt changes and 19.04 million km2 of gradual changes. Brightening contributed a radiance increase equivalent to 34% of the 2014 global baseline, whereas dimming offset this by 18%. Notably, both brightening and dimming have markedly intensified over the past decade. This evidence of increasing volatility in human night-time activity provides an important dynamic dimension for understanding urban evolution, energy transitions, policy impacts and ecological consequences of rapidly changing illuminated nights. (4/8)

Portal Developing "Fighter Jet for Orbit" (Source: Tech Crunch)
Jeff Thornburg helped turn a government research project into SpaceX’s most powerful rocket engine. Now, he’s trying to do the same thing at his startup Portal Space Systems, which is taking an idea set aside by NASA and turning it into high-powered propulsion for the next generation of spacecraft. Portal, founded in 2021, announced a $50 million Series A funding round Thursday that values the company at $250 million. The round was led by Geodesic Capital and Mach33, alongside Booz Allen Ventures, ARK Invest, AlleyCorp, and FUSE.

The company is developing a technology called solar thermal propulsion. Today’s standard satellite engines either burn chemical fuel or convert the sun’s energy to electricity, using that to power efficient but low-powered thrusters. Portal’s engines would instead concentrate the heat of the sun, using that to heat propellant and move the spacecraft along at high speed. (4/9)

OneWeb Holdings UK Reports Increased Revenue, Reduced Operating Loss (Source: Space Intel Report)
The OneWeb broadband satellite network reported $186 million in revenue for the year ending June 30, 3025, a 44.5% increase following market traction in all its markets, the company said. As part of a broad reorganization following Eutelsat’s purchase of the company in September 2023, OneWeb reduced staff costs by 33%, to $82.8 million; and operating expenses by 17%, to $121.1 million. The Eutelsat purchase did not transfer OneWeb’s headquarters, which has remained in London. (4/9)

FAA Plans April 18 Changeover to New NOTAM System (Source: NBAA)
The FAA will soon take a significant step forward in modernizing the NOTAM service with the shutdown of the existing US NOTAM System (USNS) and cutover to a new and more robust system in the morning hours of Saturday, April 18. The transition will take place between midnight and 4 a.m. EDT. During that time, NOTAMs active prior to the maintenance window will be available via all normal distribution channels. The FAA also recommends using FNS NOTAM search to ensure operators receive the most timely and accurate information. (4/8)

7 NBAA Tips for Navigating Challenging Florida Airspace (Source: NBAA)
Two years ago, as part of its Collaborative Decision-Making initiative, the FAA formed the Florida Task Force to explore ways to mitigate ongoing issues. Members of the NBAA Air Traffic Services (ATS) – who have been working at the FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC) since 2001 – participated in the task force along with representatives from major airlines and regional carriers. Click here. (4/7)

California, for All its Flaws, Continues to Lead in Space (Source: New York Post)
The Artemis II mission is a triumph of the American spirit — and a testament to California’s enduring leadership in the US space program. Californians played a key role in every aspect of the voyage around the moon, which took four astronauts further away from Earth than any human being has ever been. There is Ontario’s own Victor Glover, the mission commander, who played football at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo before joining the space program.

The engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena managed communications with the Orion capsule through the Deep Space Network (DSN). And local Caltech scientists helped design the scientific projects carried out by the mission. The USS John P. Murtha, based at Naval Base San Diego, is in charge of recovering the Orion once it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean.

Whether public or private — through NASA, or SpaceX, or one of many other emerging space start-up companies — California’s role in space exploration and innovation is not only prominent, but dominant. We still boast the world’s top institutions of higher education, as well as the leading centers of scientific research and technological innovation. California attracts talent from around the nation and across the globe, drawn by the opportunity to work with each other in an entrepreneurial environment that is second to none. (4/7)

Why Not Start a Rocket Company? (Source: Marketplace)
David Brancaccio spoke with Sascha Deri, founder and CEO of bluShift Aerospace, a rocket startup based in Maine. Sascha Deri: "So, we're making rocket propulsion systems to ultimately support research in space and to, frankly, take over solid rocket motors in the marketplace. Those motors are used for, you think of the space shuttle strap-on boosters, but also for developing new hypersonic capabilities in the United States, as well as ultimately reaching the stars." Click here. (4/7)

Musk Wants to Turn 700 Acres of Texas Wildlife Refuge Into SpaceX Property (Source: The Barbed Wire)
SpaceX is aiming to acquire 712 acres of land in the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge, amid the protests of environmentalists and activist groups. The proposal would exchange the wildlife refuge land for 692 acres of land in Starbase, SpaceX’s headquarters on the southern tip of Texas. Starbase was officially designated a city in May 2025, after workers living near SpaceX’s rocket launch facility there voted in favor of the measure, according to the Texas Tribune.

A draft of the proposed land exchange was published on March 2, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the National Wildlife Refuge in question, asked the public to submit feedback on the proposal. SpaceX has not said how it intends to use the land, but the proposal acknowledged it is likely they will develop on that land after acquisition. (4/7)

War Has Reached Space, and Europe Isn’t Ready (Source: Parliament)
MEP Christophe Grudler (Renew/FR), the episode underscored a growing vulnerability: “It is absolutely strategic to be in space with strong assets.” However, most European capitals often lack not only the means to respond independently to space-related crises but in some cases even the tools to understand them in the first place.

“If you want to fight against something, you need to know what's happening,” said Grudler. “Today, in Europe, we do not have enough [sovereign] space data. We use American data for space [awareness].” With critical infrastructure — from smartphones and financial systems to energy grids and military communications — reliant on space, disruptions such as jamming, spoofing or direct satellites attacks could cascade across entire societies. (4/7)

ULA's Second Rocket Carrier Ship Launches (Source: Shippax)
Bollinger Shipyards has launched the specialized RoRo SPACESHIP, ordered by United Launch Alliance (ULA). SPACESHIP is the most recent rocket carrier designed and built by Bollinger Shipyards. The vessel follows in the footsteps of ROCKETSHIP, which has been transporting Atlas V components since 2011. SPACESHIP will be used to transport Atlas V and Vulcan rocket elements from the ULA factory in Decataur, Alabama. (4/8)

SDA Makes Second HALO Europa Award (Source: SDA)
The Space Development Agency (SDA) today announced it has awarded a prototype agreement under the Hybrid Acquisition for Proliferated Low Earth Orbit, or HALO, Europa Track 1 solicitation to Capella, an IonQ company, based in San Francisco, to demonstrate advanced tactical waveform performance, adaptive beamforming, and secure tactical communications in low Earth orbit (LEO). (4/7)

Student Experiments Launched on Suborbital Rockets From Sweden (Source: ESA)
After more than a year of design, testing and development, dozens of European university students gathered in March to enact the final stage of their experimental projects in the REXUS 35 and 36 campaign. For two weeks, these students utilised the Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden to prepare and launch their various experiments on sounding rockets. (4/7)