August 11, 2026

ALL.SPACE to Provide Hydra MAX Terminals to Aalyria (Source: Via Satellite)
ALL.SPACE has won a contract to provide its Hydra MAX terminals to Aalyria. They will be deployed with Aalyria’s Spacetime orchestration software integrated directly with the platform. The two companies announced the deal, Aug. 10. Hydra MAX is ALL.SPACE’s flagship next-generation SATCOM platform, a dual-beam, full-duplex, 500 MHz-per-beam Ka-band terminal for communications-on-the-move, delivering up to 1 GHz of aggregate instantaneous bandwidth across commercial and military Ka-band frequencies. (8/10)

Rwanda Partners with Planet Labs on National Satellite-Data Program (Source: Spacewatch Global)
Rwanda has launched a national program with Planet Labs to provide the company’s satellite data to government agencies and other users. The initiative positions Rwanda among African countries building domestic access to commercial Earth-observation data for public-sector applications. (8/11)

SpaceX’s Proposed 1 Million AI Satellites Raise Climate and Atmospheric Pollution Concerns (Source: Space.com)
A proposal to deploy as many as 1 million AI satellites in orbit could sharply increase rocket-launch emissions and produce concentrated toxic ash as spacecraft reenter the atmosphere. The scale of the data-center constellation raises questions about the environmental limits of orbital computing and satellite disposal. (8/11)

SpaceX Stock Climbs Back To its IPO Price As It Rebounds After Lockup Expiration (Source: IBTimes)
SpaceX has gone back to its IPO price as the stock continues to rebound on Monday. Concretely, Shares gained more than 2.5% at 11:04 a.m. and clocked in at $136.68. They have climbed more than 23% since Thursday, when it stood below $107. The company had already soared more than 15% on Friday after overcoming two major hurdles that many investors expected would send the stock tumbling: the company's first quarterly earnings report as a public company and the largest lock-up expiration since its June initial public offering. (8/10)

CNES Secures Multi-Year Access to Orbitworks’ AI-Enabled Altair Earth-Observation Constellation (Source: Spacewatch Global)
France’s CNES has secured multi-year access to Altair, a 10-satellite Earth-observation constellation being developed and manufactured by UAE-based Orbitworks. The agreement gives the French space agency access to an AI-enabled commercial constellation while expanding Orbitworks’ institutional customer base. (8/10)

NASA Outlines Artemis Progress on Lunar Landers, Habitats and SLS/Orion Hardware (Source: NSF)
NASA has released a series of updates on the Artemis program, spanning commercial robotic lunar landers, technology demonstrations for future surface habitats, and hardware progress on the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft for Artemis III and beyond. Reinvigorated under NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, a suite of programs is working in tandem to lay the roadmap for the return of astronauts to the lunar surface this decade. Click here. (8/9)

USAF Receives Viasat Tactical Gateway (Source: Jane's)
Viasat is preparing for the next round of MOJO Next deliveries following the initial handover to the US Air Force's Air Mobility Command in July. While details on specific units or deployment locations remain undisclosed, the accelerated delivery timeline suggests that further orders and subsequent deployments may follow to address ongoing Air Force operational requirements. (8/10)

Rocket Lab, JetZero Drive SoCal Aerospace Growth (Source: Orange County Business Journal)
Rocket Lab has secured a $266 million US Space Force contract for 12 suborbital launches and a $397 million contract for surveillance satellites, marking its largest launch award to date. JetZero is seeking up to $3 billion in financing from the Export-Import Bank of the US for a $4.7 billion manufacturing plant in Greensboro, N.C. The company has received backing from United Airlines and the US Air Force. (8/10)

BlackSky Gains Undisclosed International Customer (Source: Space News)
Earth imaging company BlackSky has won a multi-year contract with an undisclosed international customer . The contract, announced Tuesday, is a "seven-figure" deal to provide the customer with persistent space-based monitoring and on-demand satellite tasking. BlackSky operates a constellation of Gen-2 and Gen-3 imaging satellites, the latter offering higher resolution. In an earnings call last week, BlackSky cited "exceptional performance" of the Gen-3 satellites for helping it attract new business, particularly from international customers. Revenues from BlackSky's international customers grew 200% year-over-year in the second quarter. The company expects to have eight Gen-3 satellites in orbit by the end of the year and plans to expand the constellation to 12 to 15 satellites. (8/11)

Crider Joins Proteus Space Board (Source: Space News)
Proteus Space, an AI-native aerospace company focused on rapid, end-to-end access to space, has appointed retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Kimberly “Kim” Crider to its Board of Directors. Crider previously served as the U.S. Air Force’s first Chief Technology and Innovation Officer. (8/11)

Shaw Joins Lunar Outpost Board (Source: Space News)
A former Space Force general has joined the board of a lunar rover company. Lunar Outpost announced Tuesday that John Shaw has joined its board of directors. He will represent Industrious Ventures, the venture capital fund that led Lunar Outpost's $30 million Series B round in May. The company develops lunar rovers and won a $220 million NASA contract in May to develop a rover for use by astronauts on future Artemis missions. Shaw retired from the Space Force in 2023 as a lieutenant general, spending his last three years as deputy commander of U.S. Space Command. Shaw, an adviser at Industrious Ventures, also serves on the board of several other space companies, such as SES, Sierra Space and Stoke Space. (8/11)

Japan Launches NavSat on H3 (Source: Space News)
Japan launched a navigation satellite on an H3 rocket on Monday. The H3 lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center and deployed the Michibiki 7 satellite into its planned transfer orbit 29 minutes later. The satellite is part of Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), which provides navigation services to augment other satellite navigation systems. This launch was intended to complete the expansion of QZSS from four to seven satellites, using a mix of geostationary and inclined geosynchronous orbits, but one satellite was lost on an H3 launch failure last December. This was the second H3 launch this year after the vehicle's return to flight in June on a test flight. (8/11)

Virgin Galactic Reduces Lease Payments to Spaceport America (Source: Albuquerque Journal)
New Mexico's Spaceport America says it is facing a funding shortfall after Virgin Galactic cut monthly payments. At a legislative committee hearing on Monday, spaceport officials said the company exercised a provision in its lease agreement to sharply reduce payments while it is not flying from the spaceport. Virgin, which had been paying nearly $190,000 a month in user fees when it was flying from the spaceport, is now paying just $50,000 a month. The spaceport, though, is still providing services for the company, including support for aircraft test flights there. Virgin Galactic is continuing to develop its new suborbital spaceplane and is expected to provide an update on that work during an earnings call Wednesday. (8/11)

India Plans to Commercialize New Spaceport (Source: Times of India)
The Indian government is proposing to commercialize a spaceport that is still under construction. IN-SPACe, the agency that both regulates and promotes India's space industry, has started the process to transfer operations of the Small Satellite Launch Complex to the private sector. The Indian space agency ISRO has been developing the spaceport, located in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, for use by the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle. It could also be used by other small launchers, such as those being developed by Indian startups like Skyroot Aerospace and Agnikul Cosmos. (8/11)

Vietnam's VinSpace to Launch Satellites on SpaceX Transporter Rideshare Mission (Source: Bloomberg)
A Vietnamese company has signed a contract to launch with SpaceX. VinSpace Joint Stock Company said Tuesday it will launch satellites on a SpaceX Transporter rideshare mission in 2027. The company did not disclose how many satellites will be on the launch but said those satellites will test technologies intended for future, unspecified commercial missions. The contract shows there is still some space available on Transporter missions despite reports of a constrained supply of such flights and expectations that SpaceX will stop offering rideshare launches on its Falcon 9 in the next few years. (8/11)

ASI Gets Extraordinary Commissioner (Source: European Spaceflight)
The Italian government has, as expected, appointed an "extraordinary commissioner" for its space agency. The space agency ASI said Monday that Mario Cospito will serve as extraordinary commissioner, or acting head, of the agency after the death in July of its president, Teodoro Valente. Cospito's career started an Italian diplomat who was ambassador to Romania and Sweden. He later served as director of institutional relations for Avio and then an adviser on aerospace policies for Italy's industry minister. (8/11)

Rocket Lab Unveils Deployable GHOST Launch System (Source: Satellite Evolution)
Rocket Lab Corporation has unveiled GHOST: a new globally-deployable containerized launch system to enable suborbital and orbital launches from anywhere in the world. The GHOST (Global Hypersonic & Orbital Spaceport Technology) system transforms Rocket Lab’s Electron and HASTE rockets into a launch-anywhere, launch-anytime capability for multi-launch flight campaigns and critical national security missions. Packaged entirely within standard shipping containers, GHOST deploys complete rockets, launch infrastructure, ground support, and range control systems anywhere in the world. (8/10)

Rocket Lab Cautions of Fresh Risks to Key Neutron Rocket Debut (Source: Bloomberg)
Rocket Lab Corp. shares fell after it signaled a potential new delay with its Neutron rocket, raising the prospect that the vehicle meant to challenge SpaceX’s dominant Falcon 9 rocket won’t fly until 2027. Neutron, a more powerful and larger descendant of its workhorse Electron, is scheduled to be delivered to the launchpad in the fourth quarter as previously planned, but the company stopped short of saying that the vehicle would fly this year. (8/10)

Kepler Books Neutron for 2028 Optical Relay Launch (Source: Space News)
Kepler Communications plans to deploy next-generation optical relay satellites on Rocket Lab’s upcoming Neutron rocket in one of several launches the Canadian operator has slated for 2028. Previous Kepler satellites have shared rides on rockets such as SpaceX’s Falcon 9. Kepler deployed 10 satellites around 300 kilograms each for Tranche 1 of the network earlier this year, as part of the company’s shift away from providing connectivity for remote Internet of Things (IoT) devices with much smaller radio frequency spacecraft around 12 kilograms. (8/10)

Ukraine Warns That Russia is Accelerating Rassvet Satellite Constellation, Targeting Nearly 300 Spacecraft by 2027 (Source: Reuters)
Ukraine’s military intelligence says Russia is deploying Rassvet, a domestic Starlink-style satellite network, faster than planned, with 292 satellites targeted by 2027 and 924 by 2035. Moscow is also reportedly developing Volna-Kupol-Garant, a system designed to disrupt satellite communications at the spacecraft level. (8/10)

Russia’s New Starlink Killer Doesn’t Target Terminals—It Targets the Satellites (Source: Frontier India)
Russia has reportedly developed a specialised electronic warfare system designed to disrupt Starlink communications in a fundamentally different way from conventional battlefield jammers. The Volna-Kupol-Garant’s main objective is not to overpower a Starlink terminal located on the ground. The communication link at the satellite is reportedly targeted by the system, which reportedly directs powerful radio-frequency interference upward. The objective is to temporarily “blind” a Starlink satellite to terminals that operate beneath it. (8/10)

NASA, ESA and Partners Develop Infrastructure for a Viable Lunar Base (Source: Aerospace Global News)
NASA and ESA are defining the infrastructure needed to support a sustainable lunar base. Establishing a long-term human presence on the Moon will require: a network of communications satellites; navigation services; power generation; prepared landing areas;  cargo systems; surface vehicles; and construction equipment. Much of this infrastructure will need to operate robotically before crews arrive. It must also keep working on its own during the long periods between human missions. Click here. (8/10)

MDA Space Reports Double-Digit Revenue and EBITDA Growth as It Expands in the U.S. and Europe (Source: Space Intel Report)
MDA Space reported another quarter of double-digit increases in revenue and adjusted EBITDA, while outlining an international strategy focused on expanding its space hardware and geospatial imagery businesses in the United States and Europe. The company is also widening its portfolio and geographic presence. (8/10)

EnduroSat and Bulgaria to Redevelop Former Military Airbase as Space and Defense Center (8/10)
EnduroSat is partnering with the Bulgarian government to redevelop Dobroslavtsi, a former military airbase, into a space and defense development center. The project is positioned as a new hub for space-sector activity in Europe, linking Bulgaria’s former military infrastructure with emerging commercial space capabilities. (8/10)

International Lunar Consultations: Future-Looking Developments at the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (Source: Space Review)
The UN’s Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Space established an “action team” in 2024 to study how to coordinate lunar activities. Giorgio Cardile offers an update on the team’s work, including challenges they face on space resources. Click here. (8/10)
 
Decisions Without Deciders: Authority at Machine Speed in the Space Enterprise (Source: Space Review)
Space activities increasingly rely on automation and AI to make decisions faster than humans. Bharath Gopalaswamy and Daniel Dant describe how this creates challenges for determining what decisions get made and how. Click here. (8/10)
 
Who Will Believe the Space Logs in 2040? Space Governance and the quantum Audit Problem (Source: Space Review)
Satellite activities are extensively logged, providing an audit trail for tracking down problems or determining blame. Burak Oktenli explains why the rise of quantum computing threatens the integrity of those records and what can be done in response. Click here. (8/10)
 
Seeing Through the Storm: SAR Imagery’s Evolution Beyond Defense Applications (Source: Space Review)
Synthetic aperture radar imagery had long been considered primarily a tool for defense applications. Kateryna Sergieieva discusses how commercial SAR systems have made such imagery available for many civil uses as well. Click here. (8/10)

ispace Receives $73M Grant for Japan’s Space Strategy Fund Project (Source: Douglas Messier)
ispace has been awarded a grant of 11.6 billion yen ($73 million) for its “High-Precision Landing Technology in the Lunar Polar Regions” project, under Phase 2 of the Space Strategy Fund Program administered by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The maximum grant amount remains 20 billion yen ($125.7 million). Since this figure is subject to change based on stage-gate reviews and other factors, it is not yet certain that the full amount will be received.

Led by the United States, lunar exploration is currently accelerating rapidly. Following a December 2025 presidential executive order announcing the U.S. intention to develop a lunar base by 2030, in April 2026, NASA disclosed its plan for 20 lunar landing missions by 2028, and more than 70 missions during the next decade. (8/7)