Top 5 of 2025: Europe
This year, Europe took major steps to break out on its own in space, including investing in sovereign tech, forging new relationships, and gaining an appreciation for dual-use hardware.
Top 5 of 2025: Civil Space
Between budget cuts, staff reductions, and leadership changes, it’s been a chaotic and unpredictable year for the space agency.
Build Your Space Policy To-Read List
If you’re looking forward to the holidays to cozy up with a good book, we’ve got you covered.
The Policy Questions Facing a Lunar Economy
Once engineers solve the technical problems that stand in the way of a thriving lunar economy, it’s up to policymakers to set industry up for success on the Moon’s surface.
Exolaunch to Deploy 22 Sats on SpaceX Twilight Mission
SpaceX is ready to bring customers on a sunset cruise.
SDA Awards $3.5B in Tranche 3 Tracking Layer Contracts
The Space Development Agency awarded $3.5B in contracts on Friday to continue building the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA)—-a missile-tracking, military-supporting, multi-layer constellation that’s been several years in the making.
Space Missions Are Getting More Complex – Ops Software Must Keep Up
As space missions evolve beyond single-satellite deployments to multi-vehicle constellations, in-space servicing, and lunar exploration, the operational burden placed on engineering teams has grown exponentially. With that shift comes a new imperative: Mission operations software must be as advanced and agile as the hardware it supports.
HawkEye 360 Closes $150M Financing Round, Acquires Innovative Signal Analysis
HawkEye 360 has been using its eyes in space for years to provide valuable insights on radio frequency (RF) sensing data for the defense sector. Now, as demand signals from the military are on an upswing, the company is taking growth even more seriously
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.
ICEYE, Rheinmetall Land €1.7B German Defense Contract
The joint venture owned by Finnish EO firm ICEYE and German arms maker Rheinmetall has turned on its money-printing machine.
Trump Signs Space Superiority Executive Order
President Donald Trump laid out a clear vision—and timeline—for America’s next steps in space in an executive order signed Thursday afternoon.
Reentry: 2025 Wrapped
In a magic trick, making something disappear is only part of the act—bringing it back is what earns the applause.
