2025 Europe in Review
We built a word cloud based on the 100+ stories Payload ran on the European space industry this year, and one theme jumped out immediately: a lot of forward-looking language.
Space 2025
The moments that mattered in 2025.
Reentry: 2025 Wrapped
In a magic trick, making something disappear is only part of the act—bringing it back is what earns the applause.
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Common Sense: Avoiding Single-Source Dependency in Government Contracts
Today, as the U.S. Department of War increasingly relies on critical space assets—from satellite communications to reconnaissance platforms—officials should heed Paine’s timeless advice: apply common sense. Entrusting national security capabilities to a single commercial provider contradicts that wisdom, creating vulnerabilities where strategic stability depends on private agendas or individual personalities. Avoiding single-source dependency is not just a strategic choice—it’s a national security imperative.
CLDs: 2025 Wrapped
The space community has long known that the ISS agreement has a 2030 expiration date. But this year, headlines about the end of the station—and debates about America’s presence in LEO—have shifted the focus beyond 2030 to the companies building Commercial LEO Destinations (CLD) vying to be the station’s successor.
Golden Dome: 2025 Wrapped
In 2025, Golden Dome captured the attention of the space industry. It drove hundreds of millions in venture funding, sparked the creation of new hardware (or at least new marketing specifically targeting the program), and secured $25B from Congress.
A year ago, it didn’t exist.
The Moon: 2025 Wrapped
In the long push to get people back to the Moon—and this time, to bring with them long-term, sustainable infrastructure to support an ongoing lunar presence—2025 has been pivotal.