July 9, 2026

Golden Dome Generates Potential Spinoff Opportunities (Source: Space News)
The proposed Golden Dome missile-defense system has companies looking for new business opportunities. The prospect of deploying hundreds or even thousands of satellites for missile warning, tracking, communications and even interception missions has prompted companies to search for opportunities beyond the spacecraft themselves. That includes areas such as satellite refueling, orbital transportation, communications relay networks and in-space servicing, as companies argue those services will be essential to Golden Dome's satellite constellations. However, the Pentagon, which has disclosed few details about the Golden Dome architecture, has not indicated its interest in those other services. (7/9)

SpaceX Sets Booster Reuse Record After Thursday Launch From Florida (Source: Spaceflight Now)
SpaceX set a booster reuse record on its latest Starlink mission. A Falcon 9 lifted off at 5:25 am Eastern Thursday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, putting 29 Starlink satellites into orbit. The launch was the 36th flight of this Falcon 9 booster, designated B1067, which made its first flight five years ago. (7/9)

Starlink Now Used to Track Pets (Source: Space News)
The latest application for Starlink is dog tracking. Pet technology company Fi launched a dog tracker Wednesday that uses T-Mobile's Starlink-enabled T-Satellite service to remain connected across the United States, even outside the telco's terrestrial network. The company said Fi Ultra marks the first consumer product outside smartphones to ship with Starlink Direct-to-Cell as a core feature. The company expects a "meaningful share" of its customer base to upgrade to the Starlink-enabled tracker, especially those in rural regions or who travel in remote areas. (7/8)

Cosmic Rays Could Help Detect Orbital Nukes (Source: Science News)
Cosmic rays could help detect orbiting nuclear weapons. A study published this week discussed how a satellite could determine if another satellite had a nuclear weapon by approaching it with a neutron detector. A surge of neutrons would be a telltale sign that the spacecraft had a nuclear weapon, as cosmic rays would interact with the bomb's fissile material creating the neutrons. Experts caution, though, that the satellite with detectors would have to come very close to the spacecraft to detect the neutron, which would raise concerns. (7/9)

Australian Beach Debris Likely From Launch Vehicles (Source: New York Times)
Spherical tanks that washed ashore on an Australian beach likely came from a launch vehicle. The metallic tanks, about a meter across, washed ashore over the weekend on beaches in Queensland. The Australian Space Agency said it concluded the tanks are pressure vessels from a launch vehicle. It added it believes it has identified the source of the tanks but did not disclose it, saying it was in discussions with international authorities to confirm the source of the tanks. (7/9)

Loft Orbital Books Multiple Launches Aboard MaiaSpace Rockets (Source: European Spaceflight)
US-based satellite operator Loft Orbital has signed a multi-launch agreement with ArianeGroup subsidiary MaiaSpace. Although the announcement provided few details, it did share that the first flight was expected in 2028. (7/9)

New Singapore Space Agency Seeks to Build Up the Country’s Space Industry (Source: Space News)
Singapore's new space agency has signed a cooperative agreement with Japan. At the Spacetide conference this week, the National Space Agency of Singapore (NSAS) signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Japanese space agency JAXA covering potential joint work in areas ranging from space technology to industry development. The agreement is the first signed by NSAS since it began operations April 1. The agency has several mandates, which include growing the country's space industry and developing a national space law. (7/8)

New Horizons Wakes Up 6 Billion Miles Beyond Jupiter (Source: Space.com)
NASA's New Horizons probe has woken up in good health nearly 6 billion miles away beyond Pluto after spending nearly a year in hibernation. Traveling such vast distances between our solar system's most remote objects means New Horizons often cruises for months at a time with little to do other than passively collect data. During these periods, the probe goes into a hibernation mode in which its instruments still collect data, but most other systems power down. (7/8)

Starlink Halts New Sign-ups in Seven Counties as Capacity Exhausted (Source: Business Daily Africa)
Starlink has suspended new customer sign-ups in seven countries including Nairobi, Kiambu, Mombasa, and Machakos after surging demand exhausted available network capacity, signaling mounting pressure on its rapidly expanding connectivity services. (7/8)

Payloads Used to Dictate the Terms of Launch. That’s Finally Changing (Source: Ars Technica)
It wasn’t easy to find anyone outside of SpaceX clamoring for a rocket like Starship just 10 years ago. Today, the space industry can’t wait for Starship to finally deliver. With a payload capacity of more than 100 metric tons (220,000 pounds) to low-Earth orbit, SpaceX’s new rocket is changing the thinking of just about everyone in the space industry. With the unrealized but potentially game-changing benefits of refueling, Starship could carry the same amount of payload to higher orbits, the Moon, or Mars.

Some US satellite manufacturers are adapting for the substantial capacity of the world’s most powerful rocket. This is a reversal of how things usually go in the balance of supply and demand between launch vehicles and satellite operators. Rocket designs have long engineered their vehicles to match trends in the satellite industry. They designed for their customers’ needs, or at least for what their customers were telling them they needed. But in 2026, a new era of abundant super-heavy-lift launch promises to unlock entirely new applications for satellites. (7/9)

Oklahoma's Infinity One Spaceport: Heritage in Motion (Source: Global Spaceport Alliance)
Like many first-generation commercial spaceports, Oklahoma’s facility arrived ahead of the market. The early 2000s brought optimism about commercial spaceflight, but vehicles, regulatory frameworks, and sustainable business models lagged behind early enthusiasm. For years, the spaceport symbolized potential not yet realized, underscoring the gap between infrastructure and market readiness.

Today, that story is shifting. Recently rebranded as Infinity One Oklahoma Spaceport, the site is aligning itself with the realities and growth of the NewSpace era. The name reflects the “Infinity One” flight corridor, a strategic pathway enabling high-inclination orbital access, a clear reminder that geography still matters in spaceflight. More importantly, it signals a transition from aspiration to action. Click here. (7/7)

World's First Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine to Surge Production (Source: Interesting Engineering)
Houston-based Venus Aerospace has raised $91 million in Series B funding to expand production of its rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE), a propulsion technology that could reshape future hypersonic weapons, reusable launch systems and high-speed aircraft. The investment comes a little over a year after the company completed what it describes as the first U.S. flight of a high-thrust RDRE, validating an engine concept that aerospace engineers have pursued for decades. Venus will use the fresh capital to move the technology from flight testing toward full-rate manufacturing for defense and space customers. (7/8)

Exploration Company Expands to Houston (Source: Douglas Messier)
The Exploration Company (TEC) has opened a Rapid Innovation lab in Houston, Texas and acquired a spacecraft propulsion company as it continues to develop its Nyx crew and cargo vehicles to serve space stations in Earth orbit. A full-scale mockup of the company’s Nyx crew capsule sits at the center of the new lab, which is located near NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

TEC aims to provide crew and cargo services to commercial space stations now in development in the United States. The Franco-German company is planning to launch a Nyx cargo freighter to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2028. TEC recently completed a parachute drop test with a Nyx capsule in the Mojave Desert. The test focused the transition from drogue parachutes to the main parachutes that bring the vehicle safely to the ground. (7/9)

Unseenlabs Announces its Second Generation of Satellite for RF Detection Dedicated to Multi-domain Awareness (Source: Unseenlabs)
Unseenlabs announces the deployment of its new generation of satellites (Gen 2), scaling up its space-based radio frequency (RF) detection capabilities from focused maritime domain awareness to broader multi-domain awareness including maritime, land and space. This new generation expands Unseenlabs’ ability to provide actionable data and intelligence services, supporting customers worldwide to make informed decisions in increasingly complex operational and geopolitical environments. (7/8)

Sweden and Oman Compete for Small-Launch Traffic (Source: Space News)
It has been an interesting couple of weeks for spaceport geopolitics. Spaceports, considered the second bottleneck for space access after launchers, have been increasingly debated at the ESA level. The question is a sophisticated one: Does Europe need to finance multiple spaceports, with different sizes and characteristics, to create a system in which Kourou can be complemented by smaller, decentralized spaceports?

On the commercial side, however, the question seems to have a different tone. With the exception of PLD Space, private and smaller launcher operators seem to have already decided to invest in the smaller bets. U.S. company Firefly Aerospace is targeting the first launch of its Alpha rocket from Esrange in Sweden, in 2028. And again, both Germany’s HyImpulse and France’s Latitude signed agreements to use Oman's Etlaq Spaceport.

There is a fair amount of wishful thinking in all this. None of these companies have flown an orbital rocket yet, and signing MoUs is not the same as reaching orbit. Still, it would be interesting and slightly worrying if, after so much bureaucratic debate over “spaceports yes” or “spaceports no,” Oman takes the lead on something Europe could have arranged by itself. (7/8)

Venus Aerospace Raises $91 Million for Hypersonic Engine Development (Source: Space News)
Hypersonic propulsion startup Venus Aerospace has raised $91 million. The company said the new capital will fund engine development and manufacturing as it seeks to scale production of its rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) from flight testing toward operational deployment. The reusable, throttleable engine is intended for a range of missions, including munitions, space launch vehicles, orbital transfer vehicles and lunar landers. (7/8)

Italy's D-Orbit to Support Japan's ArkEdge with Launch Logistics (Source: Space News)
Italian space logistics specialist D-Orbit will provide a series of launches aboard its ION Satellite Carrier for Japanese startup ArkEdge Space. D-Orbit will send ArkEdge satellites to sun-synchronous orbit in 2027 and 2028 on an undisclosed number of missions, the companies announced Tuesday. D-Orbit's ION has completed 23 missions with the most recent ION launched on a SpaceX rideshare mission Tuesday. (7/8)

The Government’s Options to Address Strained Spaceports (Source: Space News)
Industry officials are offering a range of options to deal with strained launch sites. The concepts range from additional funding for spaceport infrastructure improvements to more cooperation among government agencies in dealing with launch site upgrades. The ideas are, in many cases, not new but are getting more attention after the Blue Origin New Glenn pad explosion in May. (7/8)

Apolink Deploys 3U Cubesat to Test S-Band Intersatellite Links (Source: Space News)
Among the payloads on Transporter-17 was the first satellite for data-relay startup Apolink. The 3U cubesat will test intersatellite links in S-band using a novel experimental license from the FCC. That license allows Apolink's cubesat to receive S-band signals from designated partner satellites on an unprotected and non-interference basis, before storing and forwarding them to approved ground stations. The IPoS-TDsM, or Interoperability Protocol over Satellite – Technology Demonstration Mission, is designed to close low-power links at distances of up to about 150 kilometers during line-of-sight passes. (7/8)

Orbit Fab Gets New CEO, New Investment for In-Orbit Fueling (Source: Space News)
Satellite refueling company Orbit Fab has a new CEO and additional funding as it moves from technology development to commercial operations. The company announced Tuesday it hired Peter Shaper, a former CEO of satellite services companies CapRock Communications and Speedcast, while lead investor Stride Capital is providing more than $25 million in interim financing as it works closing a Series B round.

Shaper said he is tasked with taking Orbit Fab's technology to refuel satellites in orbit, with three demo missions planned in the next 18 to 24 months, and turning it into a commercial service with the U.S. government as a likely initial customer. (7/8)

Space Systems Command Awards SES 5-Year Blanket Purchase Agreement (Source: Via Satellite)
The U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command (SSC) has awarded SES Space and Defense a five-year blanket purchase agreement (BPA) for global Ku-band connectivity, including a number of managed connectivity services. (7/8)

VSFB Announces ‘Spaceport of the Future' Industry Day to Drive Large-Scale Infrastructure Modernization (Source: USSF)
Space Launch Delta 30 is scheduled to host a "Spaceport of the Future" Industry Day  on July 29 at Vandenberg Space Force Base. The Industry Day aims to align government and industry partners on a large-scale infrastructure recapitalization effort designed to transform the base into a high-capacity spaceport.

The Industry Day will gather executive-level decision-makers, site leads, and organizations specializing in large-scale infrastructure, power grid expansion, environmental planning, logistics, and venture capital. Topics of discussion will include streamlining contract procurement timelines, exploring public-private collaboration models, and implementing shared-use infrastructure strategies. (7/6)

Blue Origin Reportedly Raising $10B at $130B Valuation (Source: Tech Crunch)
Billionaire Jeff Bezos’ space rocket company Blue Origin is raising $10 billion at a $130 billion pre-money valuation from Coatue Asset Management, Bezos himself, and other large investors. Coatue is expected to invest about $4 billion in the round, which would be Blue Origin’s first external fundraise. Bezos is said to be committing $2 billion, and the other investors will account for the remaining funds, according to the report. (7/8)

AST SpaceMobile Adds Three More BlueBird Satellites to LEO (Source: Space News)
AST SpaceMobile has deployed three additional BlueBird satellites into low Earth orbit, moving ahead of its plan to build a space-based cellular broadband network. The company is targeting deployment of 45 to 60 satellites by the end of the year as it scales capacity in-orbit. (7/8)

Component Anomaly Delays Thaicom 9, Affecting Other Astranis Satellites Too (Source: Space Intel Report)
Thaicom says its Thaicom 9 satellite—previously scheduled for launch in 2024—has been delayed to March 2027 following a power system anomaly identified on one of the four other Astranis Space Technologies micro-GEO satellites that were sharing a SpaceX launch. The issue drives a multi-satellite schedule slip for the cluster. (7/8)

CesiumAstro Files FCC Application for 737-Satellite “Synchronicity” Reconfigurable Connectivity Constellation (Source: Via Satellite)
CesiumAstro submitted an FCC filing for a 737-satellite constellation called Synchronicity to provide reconfigurable connectivity to fixed and mobile satellite users. CesiumAstro, which is based in Austin, Texas, builds software-defined radios and phased arrays and processor systems, and has moved into end-to-end missions. Last year the company announced its Element reconfigurable satellite platform, but this is the first indication it plans to launch its own constellation. (7/7)