Business • International • Satcom

Viasat and Space42 Commit Up to $1B to Equatys Joint Venture

Space42 and Viasat agreed to formally establish Equatys, a shared satellite-and-ground-infrastructure company for D2D connectivity and advanced mobile satellite services.

Polaris

State Department Launches New Space-Diplomacy Effort

Alongside the announcement, Rubio also unveiled the SCP’s first project—a two-year, $6.5M effort to bring satellite internet to rural southern Peru.

Business • Startups

Sophia Space, SLI Set Terms for $300M Satellite Leasing Deal

Orbital compute startup Sophia Space and space asset leasing company SLI have set terms for a $300M asset-financing deal.

Military • Startups

Antares Wins $161M Award for Space Nuclear Power

Antares announced today that it won a $161M DoD contract to advance nuclear power for space—which Antares says is the largest DoD space nuclear award to date.

Business • Technology

Tomorrow.io Unveils Next-Gen Weather Forecasting Instruments

Tomorrow.io announced the five instruments that will fly aboard DeepSky—its next-gen constellation built for real-time global atmospheric monitoring.

Business • Startups

Orbital Partners with Reflex Aerospace on ODC Platform

Orbital announced today it has selected German satellite manufacturer Reflex Aerospace as the exclusive platform partner for Orbital-1.

Business • Satcom

AnySignal Lands Spot on Apex Bus Menu

RF startup AnySignal formalized its partnership with bus manufacturer Apex, allowing customers to add its AnyLink network and radios to Apex’s platforms.

Launch • Rockets • VC/PE

Stoke Space Raises $1B Initial Series E Round

Stoke Space Technologies announced today that it has closed an initial $1B tranche of a Series E round, bringing the company’s total capital raised to $2.3B.

Equities • International • Rockets

China’s Commercial Space Sector Is Going Public

A Shanghai listing rule has made orbital flight the price of entry for China’s rocket startups.

Civil • Mars

NASA Taps Blue Origin for Mars Communications Network

NASA selected Blue Origin to develop NASA’s Mars Telecommunications Network, a next-gen comms system for the Red Planet.

Business • Debris

Astroscale Selects Isar to Launch Debris Removal Mission

Astroscale Japan selected Germany’s Isar Aerospace to launch its ADRAS-J2 mission to capture and remove a piece of large orbital debris.

Deep Space

Fermi Explorer Wants to Reach Another Star for $15M

The Starcloud cofounders announced the Fermi Explorer mission, launching humanity’s first mission to Alpha Centauri by 2029, on a $15M budget. 

Civil • Deep Space • Science

Roman Space Telescope Begins Its Journey to L2

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched at 7:26 am ET on Sunday from KSC aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, starting its journey to Lagrange Point 2 and beginning a lengthy commissioning period.