June 26, 2026

Amid Government-Wide Spending Growth, Agencies Awarded $179 Billion to Small Firms in 2025, Down From 2024 (Source: FNN)
Federal agencies spent more money on federal procurements in 2025. The Government Accountability Office said in June that the government spent about $793 billion on contracts in 2025, up from $755.1 billion in 2024. So despite all the turmoil in federal contracting over the last year, agencies surpassed the 23% governmentwide goal for awards to small businesses in fiscal 2025. Agencies awarded 28% of all prime contracts to small firms last year. But the total dollars going to small businesses dropped to $179 billion last year from $183.5 billion in 2024. (6/25)

SpaceX Plans to Launch Starlink Mobile Service in the US (Source: Ars Technica)
SpaceX has told investors that it plans to launch a new Starlink mobile service for US consumers, in a move that would upend the country’s multibillion-dollar phone network market. The move would require Starlink to build a new retail offering by selling mobile contracts to individual customers, competing directly with the three big US network operators Verizon Wireless, AT&T. and T-Mobile.

To date, SpaceX has offered more limited direct-to-consumer services in the US, preferring to give telecoms groups such as T-Mobile access to its satellites to supplement their existing network coverage in rural areas. (6/26)

NASA Delivers Braking Engines for ESA Rosalind Franklin Mars Mission (Source: European Spaceflight)
NASA has delivered the first braking engines for the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rosalind Franklin mission to Mars. The braking engines are one of three major contributions NASA has committed to the mission, along with launch services and Radioisotope Heater Units (RHUs) to keep the rover’s instruments warm during cold Martian nights. (6/26)

SpaceX Alum Have Raised $9.2B, New Data Shows (Source: Payload)
SpaceX’s impact on the space industry is much broader than the company’s own achievements. As an organization that’s employed thousands of engineers in its 24-year history, SpaceX has acted as both a breeding ground for high-level talent, and as a launch pad for new ideas. Crustdata found that ~1,330 SpaceX alumni have founded new ventures after leaving the company. Collectively, these founders have raised $9.2B to date. (6/26)

Another 'Star' is Born: SpaceX Names AI Megaconstellation 'Starmind' (Source: Space.com)
Once again, SpaceX has looked to the stars for naming inspiration. Elon Musk confirmed on Tuesday (June 23) that SpaceX will call its planned AI satellite megaconstellation "Starmind". The choice should come as no surprise, as it continues the company's long-running stellar naming theme. Starmind is perhaps the most ambitious of all of these projects. If everything goes according to plan, the megaconstellation will be about 100 times bigger than the current version of Starlink. (6/25)

NASA Selects Rocket Lab to Launch Sun, Earth Science Missions (Source: NASA)
NASA has selected Rocket Lab to provide the launch service for both the agency’s PolSIR (Polarized Submillimeter Ice-cloud Radiometer) and Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor-2 (TSIS-2) missions. The two selections are part of NASA’s Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) launch services contract. This contract allows the agency to award fixed-price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity launch service task orders during VADR’s 10-year ordering period, with a maximum total contract value of $300 million. (6/25)

Infleqtion Teams With Voyager in New Quantum Space Initiative (Source: Via Satellite)
A group of companies and organizations including Infleqtion, Voyager Technologies, Monarch Quantum, Armada, and the University of Colorado Boulder have joined forces to move the U.S.’s quantum space ambitions forward. This week, the partners announced America’s Quantum Space Initiative, to position the U.S. as a global leader in quantum tech.

The initiative is designed to foster collaboration across industry, academia, and government to accelerate innovation, expand opportunities for quantum technologies in space, and strengthen U.S. leadership in next-generation technologies. Founding innovators will help bring together leaders across these disciplines, identify opportunities for technology development, demonstration, and deployment, and accelerate the transition of quantum technologies from pioneering demonstrations to real-world space applications through a Quantum Space Hub. (6/25)

Japan Eyes Sovereign D2D Satellite Network (Source: Payload)
Japan plans to select a proposal this month for its domestically owned and operated D2D satellite network, called J-LEO. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) has already allocated ~$1B in subsidies, covering up to half the total project cost. The winning operator will be required to match that investment with private funds—meaning the full build-out could run to ~$2B.

The autonomy argument: As an archipelago vulnerable to natural disasters, Japan has a clear rationale for pursuing D2D capabilities. Multiple Japanese mobile network operators (MNOs)— including KDDI, SoftBank, and NTT DOCOMO—already provide D2D services in partnership with SpaceX’s Starlink. Yet the Japanese government doesn’t see this option as reliable enough for data sovereignty. J-LEO will be a domestic alternative for LEO D2D comms, reducing dependency on foreign-controlled satellite (read: SpaceX Starlink) networks.

The J-LEO project will require companies to meet the following conditions: Achieve a nationwide rollout by March 2029; Complete all network and data control domestically in Japan; Support video calls on regular smartphones for at least 70% of the day; and Enable free roaming across carriers during disasters. (6/25)

R-Space is Set to Launch Austria’s First Commercial Satellite Aboard Isar Aerospace’s ‘Spectrum’ Vehicle (Source: Spacewatch Global)
Vienna-based newspace company, R-Space, has unveiled AT-Astra, its first fully in-house satellite mission and the first commercial satellite designed and built entirely in Austria. Scheduled for this autumn, the satellite will launch aboard the third flight of Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum rocket from the Andøya Spaceport in Norway. (6/25)

SpaceComputer and Spacemanic Partner on Security Demo Mission (Source: Payload)
Digital security startup SpaceComputer will fly a demo mission of its secure compute architecture on a Spacemanic satellite in 2027. The architecture—dubbed Space Fabric—is SpaceComputer’s solution not only for the growing hacking threats on-orbit, but also for the increasing number of shared-compute modules operating on rideshare sats.

In its demo mission, Space Fabric aims to validate two novel security features that offer assurance and protection to virtual payloads. Space Fabric creates a physical barrier between different payloads on-board the same satellite, by setting up a wall within shared systems to ensure orbital compute operations aren’t tapped or altered. Space Fabric also provides cryptographic proofs to confirm that processes run in orbit were, in fact, run in orbit. (6/25)

House Appropriations Committee Approves $55.5 Billion for U.S. Space Force (Source: Space News)
The House Appropriations Committee on June 24 advanced a fiscal 2027 defense appropriations bill providing $1.07 trillion for the Pentagon, a $234 billion increase over enacted 2026 funding. For the Space Force, the bill allocates about $55.5 billion, including $35.3 billion for research and development, $9.6 billion for procurement, $8.8 billion for operations and maintenance, and $1.78 billion for military personnel. (6/25)

Pentagon Rushes to Allocate $152B Before Budget Cuts (Source: Breaking Defense)
The Pentagon is working quickly to allocate $152 billion from the "One Big Beautiful Bill" by the end of September to avoid an 8.3% cut to any unallocated funds. The bill funds a range of defense initiatives, including nuclear modernization and the Golden Dome system. War Secretary Pete Hegseth has acknowledged the challenge, noting that only $26 billion has been contracted so far, and Elaine McCusker of the American Enterprise Institute emphasizes the importance of utilizing every dollar to address long-term issues. (6/24)

Space Force Relaunches Stalled Antenna Program (Source: Space News)
The US Space Force has relaunched its mobile satellite-control antenna program, originally halted after ending a $1.7 billion AeroVironment contract. This revived effort, under the Satellite Communication Augmentation Resource program, seeks commercially derived phased-array antennas to enhance the aging Satellite Control Network, which currently relies on mechanically steered dishes and faces capacity constraints as the number of satellites increases. The program aims for scalable production and supply-chain resilience, drawing interest from both established defense contractors and emerging commercial firms. (6/24)

Firefly Aerospace Acquires Space-ng AI Company (Source: Douglas Messier)
Firefly Aerospace has acquired Space-ng Inc., a leader in AI-powered vision navigation and autonomous guidance systems whose technology was used to land Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 on the Moon in March 2025. Space-ng brings high-resolution spacecraft cameras and AI compute hardware to Firefly’s Blue Ghost landers and Elytra orbital vehicles to enable advanced space domain awareness, onboard optical navigation, rendezvous and proximity operations, and docking without requiring GPS or GNSS. (6/25)

Small Satellite Operators Confront a Bottleneck to Space Access (Source: Space News)
At least nine SpaceX partners and customers tell SpaceNews that SpaceX is not accepting Transporter reservations beyond late 2028 or early 2029, and the manifest for the next couple of years is nearly full. Some customers said they expect SpaceX will extend Falcon 9 rideshares if its super heavy-lift Starship rocket does not come online as quickly as company leaders anticipate. But the lack of spots — potentially as few as half as many as in recent years — has left satellite companies scrambling to find a way to space. (6/25)

ICEYE to Double Radar-Satellite Capacity by Late 2027 as Demand Surges (Source: Defense News)
Finland’s ICEYE expects to double global production to 100 radar satellites by the end of 2027, the company told Defense News in a clarification of comments by CEO Rafal Modrzewski at a defense-industry conference in Brussels on Tuesday. (6/25)

SpaceX Plans to Build 'Starpipe' Natural Gas Pipeline in Texas to Fuel Starship Rockets (Source: Reuters)
SpaceX plans to begin next month building an eight‑mile (13-km) natural gas pipeline called "Starpipe" to its Texas launch facilities, according to county filings, as the company seeks to ramp up launches of its next‑generation Starship rocket. Starpipe, which will end at SpaceX’s Texas company town of Starbase, is ‌expected to be in service by January 26, according to a document filed last month with the Texas Railroad Commission by SpaceX affiliate Lone Star Mineral Development. (6/25)

Defense Research Facilities are ‘Deteriorating,’ Need Funding Reform (Source: Aerospace America)
The Pentagon’s aging research facilities need infrastructure investments and centralized information-sharing systems, according to a report released by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. The report followed a 90-day review of the Defense Research Enterprise, which includes in-house laboratories, federally-funded centers and affiliated university facilities.

The report found research, development, test and engineering “infrastructure is deteriorating” because authorized military construction projects “continually slip due to the Services’ reprioritizing of scarce” funding. (6/24)

13 Years and $500 Million for a Stage Adapter? Report Justifies NASA Cancellations (Source: Ars Technica)
NASA’s Office of the Inspector General prepared a memorandum on the elements of the Artemis Program that NASA was canceling as its focus shifted to the Moon’s surface. "Over the course of their life cycles, the combined contract values for these efforts ballooned from nearly $2.8 billion to $5.9 billion and NASA extended their contracted delivery dates by up to seven years,” states the report by the inspector general. “However, our projections indicate that if NASA allowed work to continue to completion, the systems would have cost more and taken longer than what was on contract.” (6/24)

China Dumping More Rocket Bodies in Space, Endangering Low Earth Orbit Satellites (Source: Breaking Defense)
China has been abandoning used launcher rocket stages in low Earth orbit (LEO) at an ever-increasing pace, putting both military and commercial satellites in that crowded orbital regime at greater risk of serious debris-creating collisions, according to a new report. Used rocket bodies are among the most dangerous kinds of space junk because they carry residual amounts of fuel that often causes them to explode, thus creating even more on-orbit debris.

The analysis from space monitoring firm LeoLabs found that from January 2021 to January 2025 China has abandoned 51 spent rocket bodies in LEO above 650 kilometers (about 404 miles) in altitude, more than doubling the number for the previous five years to bring the total to 96. (6/25)

Botswana Signs the Artemis Accords (Source: Space News)
Botswana became the 68th country to sign the Artemis Accords during a ceremony at NASA Headquarters. Signed on June 25, 2026, by Minister of Communications and Innovation David Tshere, the nation committed to the transparent, safe, and peaceful exploration of space. (6/25)

Did NASA Just Find Evidence of Ancient Life on Mars? (Source: Space.com)
Could Martian mudstones be holding evidence of ancient microbes? New findings strengthen the case that the Red Planet once held life. New data from NASA's Perseverance rover has revealed complex carbon in two Martian mudstones found in Mars' Jezero crater, the same location where previous evidence of possible ancient life has been found.

Scientists think this macromolecular (meaning large) complex carbon, could hold evidence that ancient microbial life once existed in the same sedimentary material, according to one new paper describing these observations. "Measurements of two mudstones show hundreds of organic detections, making this the most robust organic detection in Jezero crater," the paper reads. (6/24)

ESA Chief Calls for Greater European Space Autonomy as Trust in US Partnership Erodes (Source: Space.com)
The head of ESA has issued a wakeup call to decision makers amid partners canceling missions and geopolitical changes affecting the space sector. ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher stated "Europe has become too exposed to decisions beyond its control." With trust in the U.S. as a reliable partner taking a hit, collaboration with other space actors such as Japan, South Korea and Australia could grow, while Europe also pursues its own capabilities. (6/24)

Is Space Tourism Finally Poised for Liftoff? (Source: New York Times)
The modern space tourism landscape is more robust and commercial than when Dennis Tito took flight in 2001. For one, it is dominated by private, billionaire-led companies: Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin lead the way, though their short-term plans have diverged in recent months. Twenty-five years later, the frenzy surrounding the initial public offering of SpaceX, along with the recent success of NASA’s Artemis II mission, has people dreaming of space travel again. (6/25)

The modern space tourism sector is evolving from suborbital joyrides toward deep-space travel. While Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin dominate suborbital flights, SpaceX aims to send private citizens around the Moon. Virgin Galactic focuses on suborbital spaceplanes, with flights departing from Spaceport America in New Mexico and the company adding new spaceships.

Blue Origin offers suborbital missions from Texas aboard its New Shepard rocket and is expected to resume flights after a stand-down to focus on New Glenn orbital rocket development. And SpaceX is developing its Starship to transport private individuals on week-long loops around the Moon. (6/25)

Capella Validates Mynaric Optical Terminal on Latest SAR Satellite (Source: Via Satellite)
Capella Space validated a Mynaric optical communications terminal on its newest satellite — the first time Capella has deployed an optical terminal. Capella Space released the first synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images from its Acadia-10 satellite on Wednesday, after the satellite launched in March. The satellite is currently demonstrating data transfer at 2.5 gigabits per second in onboard tests. (6/25)

China Schedules Long March 10B Rocket Launch and Recovery Attempt (Source: Space News)
China is preparing for the highly anticipated debut flight of the reusable Long March 10B rocket, scheduled to launch from the Wenchang Space Launch Site this month. The mission aims to conduct China's first orbital booster recovery by catching the rocket’s first stage at sea using an arrestor net. The Long March 10B is a commercial, partially reusable variant of the Long March 10 family. It features a methalox second stage and its first stage is powered by seven engines. (6/25)

UK's Shield Space and Switzerland's ClearSpace Partner to Defend Satellites From Orbital Threats (Source: Space News)
British startup Shield Space plans to combine its autonomous satellite operations software with ClearSpace’s in-orbit servicing capabilities to address emerging orbital threats. The collaboration will focus on integrating cutting-edge technologies designed to protect satellites. One such innovation is the use of compact sensor modules that provide high-performance inertial sensing optimized for aerospace applications. These sensors can help satellites detect and track potential threats in real-time. (6/24)

The Startup Preparing For Space’s Neighborhood Watch Era (Source: Aviation Week)
From a modest workshop in Southern California, a new startup is pursuing the ambitious vision of building patrol-like satellites for critical space infrastructure, much like the guards on alert around valuable facilities here on Earth.

Fortastra, founded last year, is preparing to test its first hardware on orbit to burn down risk on its long-term goal: building a line of satellites to serve as security guards in space for U.S. government, allies and partners, and commercial customers, founder and CEO Mike Smayda told Aviation Week at the company’s headquarters here. The company—with the unofficial tagline “Strength among the stars”—is readying its first two spacecraft for launch later this year on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare, he said. (5/24)