MilitaryPolicy

NDAA 2025: Guard Transfers, CASR, and Commercial Ops

The House’s draft of the fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act would move forward with a hotly-contested plan to transfer space-focused Air National Guard members to the Space Force. 

InternationalPolicy

International Partnerships Complicate Space Registry, State Says

The US needs to communicate better with both the private sector and international partners about objects in orbit as space becomes more global, a State Department official said Thursday.

EOStartups

Exclusive: Pixxel, Enabled Intelligence Team Up

Pixxel and Enabled Intelligence are announcing a new partnership under which the data labeling startup will annotate the space company’s hyperspectral imagery. 

Polaris

Russia Defends Veto of Nuclear Weapon Ban in Orbit at UN

Russia went toe to toe with the rest of the world on Monday at the UN General Assembly, where officials overwhelmingly condemned Moscow’s veto last month of a measure reaffirming that nuclear weapons would not be placed in orbit.

BusinessLEOMilitary

SDA Is Strengthening Space Industrial Base, Execs Say

A five-year-old agency within the Pentagon founded with a mandate to move quickly is stimulating investments that make the entire small sat industrial base more resilient and scalable, according to half a dozen top industry execs. 

VC/PE

Danti Raises $5M, Announces US Military Customers

AI startup Danti raised a $5M funding round to grow the engineering and go-to-market teams for its AI-powered search engine that can sift through large amounts of data, including satellite imagery, CEO Jesse Kallman told Payload. 

International

Artemis Accords Signatories to Meet This Month in Canada

Artemis Accords signatories will meet in Montreal this month to discuss best practices and guidelines for responsible and sustainable space exploration. 

Polaris

Solid US Space Mining Regs Could Attract Investors, VC Predicts

Mining in orbit is getting closer to becoming a reality and, with business prospects protected by policy—at least in the US—one investor is predicting the dollars will start rolling in. 

EuropeInternationalQ&A

A Q+A with the Norwegian Space Agency Chief

Norway is preparing to launch two satellites this summer to boost comms in the Arctic amid increasing tension in the region between NATO allies and Russia, the head of the Norwegian Space Agency told Payload.

Military

True Anomaly, Agile Team on DoD RPO Mission

In-space propulsion startup Agile Space Industries is joining True Anomaly’s team for US Space Systems Command’s dogfighting-in-space challenge, VICTUS HAZE.

Business

Maxar Closes in on the Launch of its WorldView Legion Satellites

Maxar is preparing to launch its first two WorldView Legion EO satellites in the coming days aboard Falcon 9, following years of delays for the new constellation.

Polaris

DC Eyes Beijing’s Investments In Space

Lawmakers across Capitol Hill raised concerns last week that China is gaining on the US in orbit in both the civil and national security sectors.

EuropeInternational

A Q+A With UKSA Chief Paul Bate

The UK Space Agency challenged industry in January to extract and purify water ice on the Moon—and so far, companies have come forward in droves with ideas to solve the problem, according to the agency’s CEO.