A weekly newsletter published to the community highlighting the news of the week and letting you know who our podcast guest is that week. We will look ahead to the coming week to see what's happening and let you know.
A Strategic Acquisition for Quantum Space, and More Power for Astro Digital.
Sunday, September 28, 2025 • Duration 15:49
A technology that allows a single system to operate in both high-thrust chemical and high-efficiency electric modes has been acquired by Quantum Space. This strategic acquisition from Phase Four, which also includes an integration and test facility in Los Angeles, strengthens Quantum Space’s ability to deliver highly maneuverable, persistent, and cost-efficient platforms for its national security, civil, and commercial customers and enabling missions from low-Earth to geostationary orbit and on to and cislunar space.
Phase Four’s multi-mode capability expands the utility of the Quantum Space Ranger platform. It combines rapid maneuvering for responsive missions with efficient station-keeping and phasing, and simplifies refueling by using a single propellant. This added agility supports faster response times, more versatile mission profiles, and longer-duration presence in orbit.
The newly acquired Los Angeles facility positions Quantum Space in a central hub of the nation’s space industrial base. The facility includes a large high-bay integration area, advanced environmental test chambers, machine shops, clean room, and a mission development laboratory.
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Financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2025 have been released by Firefly Aerospace. The results are the first to be released by Firefly following it’s IPO last month, which CEO Jason Kim said “reflects the bold culture of our generational company, which delivers on the most challenging missions in space.”
During the company’s second fiscal quarter, Kim testified before Congress on the success of Blue Ghost Mission 1 and the critical future of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. During the earnings call posted to the Firefly website, Kim outlined details of their next three planned lunar missions.
“Blue Ghost Mission 2, values at $130 million, will deliver our lander to the far side of the moon, marking the first such mission by a U.S. lander. The structures for this mission have entered assembly in our spacecraft cleanroom after completing their crucial integration readiness review earlier this year,” Kim said. “The first payloads arrived, with Australian company Fleet Space delivering its Spider payload, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory delivering their user terminal. We are also conducting SPECTER engine testing in preparation for Blue Ghost Mission 2. In December, NASA awarded Firefly’s third Blue Ghost contract, valued at $180 million. Our team completed the systems requirements review, allowing us to move forward with the design and development of the lander system. And as you will hear more about later, NASA awarded a $177 million contract for Blue Ghost Mission 4 in July. All of these missions support the growing NASA CLPS initiative which recently received a $250 million budget increase for FY 2026.”
Firefly expects FY 2025 full-year revenue to be between $133 million and $145 million.
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A strategic transition for the Dream Chaser spaceplane has been announced by Sierra space. Dream Chaser’s first flight will be a free-flyer, demonstration mission, which is expected to prove the technology and deliver critical data to NASA.
Sierra Space is prioritizing first-flight readiness with Dream Chaser, targeting a launch in late 2026 to align with expected launch vehicle availability. Sierra Space and NASA worked together to reach this mutually beneficial agreement that provides greater mission flexibility for Dream Chaser’s first flight. This flight aims to demonstrate critical capabilities for NASA’s ISS resupply and future Commercial LEO Destinations (CLD) missions and position Dream Chaser as a national asset available for future national security and defense demonstrations.
The company says they believe in Dream Chaser’s adaptability as an orbital, hypersonic spacecraft and rapid deployment, commercial testbed is critical to addressing the nation’s evolving priorities and emerging threats.
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Coming up, a power deal for Astro Digital. But right now, why not take a minute to become a paid subscriber to The Journal of Space Commerce. Whether you’re a space professional, investor or an enthusiast, paid subscribers have first access to premium articles and podcasts focused on the new space economy. Just visit www.exterrajsc.com on Substack, and help keep The Journal of Space Commerce independent as we chronicle, cajole and, when necessary, critique the commercial space industry.
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Satellite manufacturer Astro Digital has signed an agreement with startup Star Catcher to buy power in support of their “mission-as-a-service” model.
This partnership enables ESPA-class platforms like Astro Digital’s Corvus XL to scale from single-kilowatt buses to 10+ kW powerhouses, without expanding the satellite’s footprint. Jointly offering this capability means customers can have more powerful and cost effective missions, from single satellites to full constellations.
Star Catcher CEO Andrew Rush said the Astro Digital deal is an important one for the company.
(Andrew Rush) The deal that we’ve done with Astro Digital, namely them entering into a power purchase agreement with us is a big deal for us at Starcatcher because they’re one of the first customers just to sign up and say, hey, we’re gonna use this power beaming service and we’re actually gonna put some ready money on the table to reserve the utilization of this going forward. And this is a big validator for us, right? This is an even stronger sort of mission pull signal, market pull signal, showing that folks really value and want to use a power rated space.
(Ex Terra Media) Is this something that you’re getting a lot of traction on? Are you hearing from other folks that are at least interested if not ready to put pen to paper yet? So that’s right.
(Andrew Rush) We’ve had a lot of activity, a lot of interest, a lot of velocity that’s only gotten faster over the last year. I think when I was last on the podcast, we had maybe a dozen letters of intent signed from various folks and we had not yet inked any of these power purchase agreements. We now have more than three dozen letters of intent signed and we have multiple power purchase agreements signed with various firms. And we’ll be announcing those in the coming, in the future.
(Ex Terra Media) We were talking offline just a little bit about your upcoming demonstration at Kennedy Space Center. What’s that going to involve and what’s your timeline on it?
(Andrew Rush) We are on the doorstep of our largest ground-based demonstration of power beaming yet.
We really take a crawl, walk, run approach to technology development at StarCatcher. We start in the lab and then we do integrated tests and then we went to the Jacksonville Jaguars football stadium and did a 100 meter demonstration. We’ve done some kilometer scale validation of the technology more recently.
And in October, we’re going to go down to the shuttle landing facility and use the four and a half kilometer runway there to do a multi kilowatt, multi kilometer optical power beaming test campaign. And then once that test campaign concludes, then we will, you know, we’ll be sharing the results thereafter.
This announcement comes on the heels of Star Catcher’s $12.25 million Seed Round in July 2024, and a successful power beaming demonstration at the Jacksonville Jaguars’ EverBank Stadium, in March 2025. The company is gearing up for a large-scale demonstration at Space Florida’s Launch and Landing Facility later this year
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The 2025 Fast Company Innovation by Design Awards have recognized the Kayhan Space Satcat space traffic management platform. Satcat was the only space project honored across all categories this year, highlighting the growing importance of user-centric design in the space industry.
Kayhan developed Satcat to address one of spaceflight’s most urgent challenges: traffic coordination in increasingly congested Earth orbit. Hyun Seo is the Chief Product Officer at Kayhan Space. He developed the Satcat software.
“We’re striving to be the best Space Object catalog. And how we do that is through several different facets. One is the public aspect, where people can go look up certain satellites. And there are many websites that do that, but I think what is very nice about Satcat is indexed so you can search by orbital parameters or by metadata like who owns it, or what businesses own it. And then the other aspect is, behind a login, both free and paid actually, we provide to satellite operators conjunction analysis tools for them to do risk assessment as well as actual mitigation.”
Seo says data on satellites is gathered from multiple sources.
“We have partner networks that we work with for, I think the proper term is uncooperative RSOs like debris, for example. Or RSOs that you just can’t contact the operator for. And then we would do our own orbit determination, as well as just slightly post-processing to get it into the system. And obviously the owner-operators can upload their own ephemera that they generate from their GPS and GNSS data.”
An RSO is a Residential Space Object. Kayhan Space will be featured on The Journal of Space Commerce Podcast on October 16th.
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A new report titled “Redshift: The Acceleration of China’s Commercial and Civil Space Enterprise and the Challenge to America” has been released by the Commercial Space Federation.
The report offers a thorough review of China’s civil and commercial space activities over the past decade following the announcement of their “Space Dream” and implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative. Redshift outlines China’s plans and policy pronouncements, highlights achievements realized by 2025, and assesses the resulting risks to American commercial and strategic interests during this period of intensifying competition between the U.S. and China in orbit.
This report provides an open-source compendium and analysis of China’s goals and progress across six sectors of the space ecosystem: Spaceports and Infrastructure // Launch and Reentry // Remote Sensing (RS) and Space Situational Awareness (SSA) // Satellite Communications (Satcom) and Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) // Commercial Low Earth Orbit (LEO) // and Space Exploration.
The report was developed in collaboration with Arizona State University (ASU) and led by ASU NewSpace Initiative Research Analyst Jonathan Roll with support from BryceTech and Orbital Gateway Consulting.
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In depth this week, two technology titans are poised to compete for a share of a market that will reshape global communications infrastructure. Amazon’s Project Kuiper is edging closer to commercial deployment while SpaceX’s Starlink will continue to accelerate its global expansion, setting the stage for a scenario that institutional investors may not be able to afford to ignore.
The global satellite market has reached an inflection point, with analysts projecting explosive growth from just over $362 billion in 2025 to approximately $729 and-an-half billion by 2034, representing a compound annual growth rate of just over 8 percent. More specifically, the satellite mega-constellations market is projected to surge from $5 and-a-half billion in 2025 to $27.3 billion by 2032, exhibiting a remarkable CAGR of just over 25.5%.
The mega-constellation sector, represented by companies like Kuiper and Starlink, exhibits classic infrastructure investment characteristics that institutional investors seek: high barriers to entry, natural monopoly tendencies, and strong network effects.
Starlink’s vertical integration strategy, leveraging SpaceX’s launch capabilities, has created significant cost advantages. Its phased-array antenna technology delivers latency around 20-40 milliseconds with speeds commonly ranging from 100-250 Mbps. More critically, the service has achieved proof-of-concept for next-generation capabilities.
Amazon’s Project Kuiper represents a different strategic approach, leveraging the company’s existing cloud infrastructure and enterprise relationships. With 102 satellites in orbit as of August 2025 and aiming for 3,236 total satellites, Kuiper expects to launch its commercial service by the end of this year. Kuiper’s integration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) creates unique value propositions for enterprise customers. This ecosystem approach could prove particularly attractive to large organizations already invested in AWS infrastructure.
The next five years will determine which operators achieve sustainable competitive positions in the NGSO market. An estimated 70,000 LEO satellites are expected to be launched over the next five years, representing unprecedented growth in space-based infrastructure.
The integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities into satellite operations could create new service categories and revenue opportunities. Advanced beam-forming technology and dynamic spectrum management will enable more efficient satellite utilization and improved service quality.
Paid subscribers can read the full analysis on The Journal of Space Commerce under the “In Depth” tab.
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And those are some of the top stories we covered for you on The Journal of Space Commerce this week. Space Commerce Week is a production of Ex Terra Media. You can get daily updates on space commerce by subscribing to The Journal of Space Commerce on Substack at www.exterrajsc.com. And please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Whether you’re a space professional, investor or an enthusiast, paid subscribers have first access to premium articles and podcasts focused on the new space economy. Just visit www.exterrajsc.com and help keep The Journal of Space Commerce independent as we chronicle, cajole and, when necessary, critique the commercial space industry.
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Building International Partnerships in Space Commerce
Sunday, September 21, 2025 • Duration 11:54
Representatives from the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) joined U.S. government and European Union (E.U.) colleagues in Washington, D.C. recently for the 13th U.S.-E.U. Space Dialogue.
DOC attendees included representatives from NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, the Office of Space Commerce, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Deputy Assistant Secretary for International and Space Affairs Juan Caro led the DOC delegation’s participation.
Over two days of meetings, the U.S. and E.U. delegations discussed topics ranging from spaceflight safety and space security concerns, to reducing barriers to trade and commerce in the space sector.
During a roundtable involving E.U. government officials and U.S. space industry, association, and academic sector representatives, the U.S. participants were afforded the opportunity to learn more about the European Commission’s draft EU Space Act, and to provide candid perspectives and feedback directly to E.U. leaders about the draft text in an effort to strengthen person-to-person trans-Atlantic space sector relationships.
The 14th iteration of the Space Dialogue will be held in Brussels.
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The FAA has cleared the Firefly Alpha rocket to return to flight following the Flight 6 mishap on April 29.
According to the company website, a thorough investigation was conducted in conjunction with the FAA, while at the same time an Independent Review Board of multiple government agencies, customers, and industry experts was assembled. The findings confirmed Firefly’s flight safety system performed nominally through all phases of flight. Both Alpha stages landed safely in the Pacific Ocean and the launch posed no risk to public safety.
Alpha Flight 6 lifted off and ascended nominally through stage separation. Alpha’s first stage then experienced a rupture milliseconds after stage separation. The pressure wave hit Alpha’s second stage, leading to the loss of the engine’s nozzle extension and substantially reducing stage two thrust. The second stage was able to recover attitude control and continued to ascend to an altitude of 320 km (≈200 miles) until running out of propellant. The vehicle was three seconds short of achieving orbital velocity and five seconds short of the target payload deployment orbit.
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SES Acquires Intelsat, and the Ax-4 Mission Returns from the ISS
Sunday, July 20, 2025 • Duration 09:57
On April 30, 2024, SES and Intelsat announced an agreement for SES to acquire Intelsat for a cash consideration of $3.1 billion, or about €2.8 billion. The transaction was subject to receipt of relevant regulatory clearances and other relevant requirements which all have now been obtained.
The acquisition has been in the works since at least 2023, when the two companies revealed that they had been discussing the combination. Those discussions ended in June of 2023, but in April, 2024, SES announced that it would be acquiring Intelsat in a transaction consisting of cash and "certain contingent value rights."
The combination creates a strengthened global satellite operator with an expanded fleet of 120 satellites across two orbits, including approximately 90 geostationary (GEO), nearly 30 medium earth orbit (MEO) satellites, strategic access to low earth orbit (LEO) satellites, and an extensive ground network.
SES remains headquartered in Luxembourg and is publicly listed on the Paris and Luxembourg stock exchanges, while maintaining a significant presence in the United States with its primary North American office in McLean, Virginia.
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Varda Space Industries recently announced a Series C fundraising round, bringing the total amount of capital raised by the microgravity-enabled life sciences company to $329 million. The $187 million fundraise was led by Natural Capital and Shrug Capital, with participation from Founders Fund, Peter Thiel, Khosla Ventures, Caffeinated Capital, Lux Capital, and Also Capital.
Since launching their first mission, W-1, in 2023, Varda has completed three successful launch and return missions, with a fourth, W-4, currently in orbit and a fifth expected to launch before the end of the year.
Varda's orbital laboratories are the first to process materials outside the International Space Station and mark the beginnings of commercial expansion into low Earth orbit. Due to the lack of gravity, materials such as the active pharmaceutical ingredients in medicines crystallize differently than they would on Earth, creating novel drug formulations that would otherwise be impossible.
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Accessing Satellites from your Mobile Phone, and A Curveball is Thrown at OSC
Sunday, July 13, 2025 • Duration 23:21
The FCC has approved a joint request from T-Mobile USA and SpaceX to waive several regulatory requirements, allowing more consumer smartphones to access satellite-based services under the Supplemental Coverage from Space (SCS) initiative.
The waiver permits handsets certified before June 29, 2024—but not yet authorized under satellite-specific rules—to connect to the Starlink satellite network via T-Mobile’s terrestrial infrastructure. This move aims to extend emergency and basic messaging services to remote and disaster-affected areas where traditional cellular coverage is unavailable.
T-Mobile and SpaceX argued that many compatible devices are already in use, but those devices can't access SCS because manufacturers have not updated their equipment certifications. The FCC agreed that denying access would be against the public interest, especially during emergencies, and emphasized that the waiver applies only to non-security-risk devices not listed on the FCC’s Covered List.
The decision follows successful emergency deployments of SCS services during hurricanes in Florida and North Carolina and wildfires in California, where no harmful interference was reported.
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NASA has awarded a contract to Momentus to support the demonstration of a Power Processing Unit (PPU) for Hall Thrusters. Based upon CisLunar Industries’ Modular Configurable Electric Power Converter (MCEPC) technologies, the PPU is designed to advance high Delta V Dynamic Maneuver and in-space assembly (ISAM) operations.
Under the new contract, managed by NASA’s Flight Opportunities program based at the Armstrong Flight Research Center, Momentus will host a payload from CisLunar Industries to conduct in-orbit testing of next-generation PPU technology and power management systems. This payload will be among several that Momentus will carry aboard its Vigoride 7 Orbital Service Vehicle, scheduled for launch no earlier than February 2026 on a SpaceX Transporter mission to Low Earth Orbit.
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New Zealand Launches, But Australia Doesn't
Sunday, July 6, 2025 • Duration 09:44
The 68th Electron rocket was launched last weekend, deploying a single satellite to space for a confidential commercial customer. The mission was the second of two launches for Rocket Lab from the same launch site in less than 48 hours, a new launch record for the company.
The ‘Symphony In The Stars’ mission lifted-off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand on June 28th to deploy a single spacecraft to a circular Earth orbit. The mission was the first of two dedicated launches for the new customer on Electron booked less than four months ago, with a second mission scheduled before the end of 2025.
Rocket Lab has now completed four launches in June for commercial satellite constellation operators.
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ESA has selected Rocket Lab to deploy the first pair of satellites for a future navigation constellation for Europe, LEO-PNT. The company will launch two Pathfinder A spacecraft for ESA, provided by European satellite prime contractors Thales Alenia Space and GMV, from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 no earlier than December 2025.
The spacecraft will be deployed to low Earth orbit as part of a mission to test a new approach of providing location, direction, and timing services from satellites in low orbit. The demonstration mission will assess how a low Earth orbit fleet of satellites can work in combination with the Galileo and EGNOS constellations in higher orbits that provide Europe’s own global navigation system.
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But across the Tasman Sea in Australia, the Gilmour Space Eris Rocket remains on the ground waiting for its first test flight. In a statement posted on the company website, Gilmour Space said that they had made the "tough call to postpone this week’s launch. This pause to give us a longer, more flexible launch window for our first test flight, and our team a chance to rest after an intense few weeks of testing and prep."
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In the early morning hours Monday, SpaceX lofted another 27 Starlink satellites into orbit just before 2:00 am. The launch marked a milestone for the booster that was used. It was the 25th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched CRS-24, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13F, OneWeb 1, SES-18 and SES-19, and now 21 Starlink missions.
Later Monday morning, ULA launched the second batch of satellites for Project Kuiper from Launch Complex 41 just before 7:00 am. There are six remaining Kuiper missions on the Atlas V rocket, building up to 38 high-cadence, rapid fire launches on the next-generation Vulcan rocket. ULA will deliver more than half of the Project Kuiper constellation’s 3,200 satellites, through what is recognized as the world’s largest commercial launch agreement.
The action then shifted to the west coast, where SpaceX launched the Transporter-14 mission fron Vandenberg Space Force Base carrying 70 payloads. Those included cubesats, microsats, re-entry capsules, and orbital transfer vehicles carrying three of those payloads to be deployed at a later time. It was the 26th flight for this particular Falcon 9 booster.
But the international crew of the Ax-4 mission had to wait an additional day before beginning their trip to the International Space Station. Axiom-4 had been scheduled for launch earlier this month, but was delayed first by a technical issue with the booster for the mission, and later by a leak in the Russian module of the ISS. They finally got off the ground and on their way to orbit early in the morning on Tuesday. The Ax-4 crew will be aboard the ISS for as long as two weeks carrying out more than 60 scientific experiments.
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In Washington, the to conduct multiple operations of its Winnebago reentry capsule until its current license expires in 2029. Enabling as many missions as an operator wants under one license is a key streamlining element of the Part 450 commercial space launch and reentry licensing rule.
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Rocket Launch Fees and Honda Tests a Reusable Rocket
Sunday, June 22, 2025 • Duration 10:22
You've heard of the "Big Beautiful Bill" ... also known as the Budget Reconciliation Act. One of the provisions in that bill is for space companies to pay a fee for launching rockets beginning next year. According to the text of the bill in both houses of Congress, starting in 2026, the Secretary of Transportation would impose fees on each space launch or reentry under a license or permit.
The fee will be the lesser of a specified amount per pound of payload weight, which increases annually from $0.25 in 2026 to $1.50 in 2033, with further adjustments based on the consumer price index, or a fixed amount per launch or reentry, starting at $30,000 in 2026 and increasing to $200,000 in 2033, also adjusted annually based on the consumer price index.
The Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) would collect the fees, and deposit them into a dedicated fund to be used for administrative expenses. Some 70 percent of the collected fees would be available for the Office's expenses without further appropriation and without fiscal year limitation.
The potential impact to the commercial launch industry is additional costs for each launch or reentry, calculated based on payload weight or a fixed amount. This could significantly impact their budgets, especially for frequent launches. Companies would need to incorporate these fees into their financial planning and pricing strategies, potentially leading to higher costs for their customers.
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Meanwhile, a bill recently introduced in the U.S. Senate would streamline the application process for commercial space launches and the licensing of private remote sensing space systems or satellites.
The "Licensing Aerospace Units to New Commercial Heights" (LAUNCH) Act would require the FAA to streamline the application of regulations for commercial space launches and reentry requirements by eliminating duplicative efforts and taking industry feedback into account. It would also elevate the Commercial Space Transportation office to report directly to the Secretary of Transportation, and require the Transportation Secretary to report on flight safety and workforce collaboration.
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Another Launch for Rocket Lab, but Ax-4 Mission Postponed
Sunday, June 15, 2025 • Duration 11:19
The 66th Electron rocket launched by Rocket Lab has deployed the latest satellite to orbit for Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space, Inc. (iQPS). The ‘The Mountain God Guards’ mission was Rocket Lab’s second launch in less than a month for iQPS and its fourth overall with 100% mission success.
The deployment of the QPS-SAR-11 was relayed to the early-morning YouTube audience by Rocket Lab Mission Control and Senior Communications Manager Murielle Baker ... backed by some new-age music produced specifically for the event.
Baker: "Great callout there from mission control. That is payload deployment confirmed and mission success for Electron. And welcome to orbit QPS-SAR-11. Congratulations to the whole team at iQPS and another bird in the sky for your constellation. And once again, congratulations to the Rocket Lab team on another successful launch, because that is 66 total Electron launches in total now and our eighth mission of the year, with our next Electron mission less than two weeks away from Launch Complex 1 again."
With this mission, Electron has now deployed half of iQPS’s constellation of satellites operating on orbit. Another four dedicated missions with QPS-SAR satellites are scheduled to launch on Electron across the remainder of this year and 2026.
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Over on this side of the planet, SpaceX stood down from the planned launch of the Axiom Space Ax-4 mission to the International Space Station twice this week. The culprit was a liquid oxygen leak identified during post static fire booster inspections. SpaceX says that once the issue has been remedied – and pending Range availability – a new launch date will be announced.
This will be the first flight for the Dragon spacecraft supporting this mission, and the second flight for the first stage booster, which previously launched a Starlink mission. Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage will land on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
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A Lunar Landing Attempt, and a Social Media Spat Over SpaceX
Sunday, June 8, 2025 • Duration 12:05
ispace suffered another setback Thursday when the HAKUTO-R Lunar Lander was apparently lost during its landing attempt.
Telemetry was lost from the lander about 65 seconds before the scheduled landing time. After a tense half hour, the ispace commentators on the company live YouTube stream said that the mission control team had been unable to establish communications with the lander.
"We haven't been able to confirm, but MCC members will continuously attempt to communicate with the lander. And we will be reporting to you the latest state in the media interviewing that's scheduled in a few hours. So we need to never quit the lunar quest," the moderators said through a translator.
ispace released a statement late Thursday saying that, based on the currently available data, the Mission Control Center has been able to confirm the following: The laser rangefinder used to measure the distance to the lunar surface experienced delays in obtaining valid measurement values. As a result, the lander was unable to decelerate sufficiently to reach the required speed for the planned lunar landing. Based on these circumstances, it is currently assumed that the lander likely performed a hard landing on the lunar surface.
After communication with the lander was lost, a command was sent to reboot the lander, but communication was unable to be re-established.
The result was almost exactly the same as the previous ispace attempt to land on the Moon in April, 2023. On the HAKUTO-R Mission 1, telemetry was lost with the lander just before it was scheduled to land on the lunar surface.
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The FAA is requiring SpaceX to conduct a mishap investigation for the Starship Flight 9 mission that launched on May 27 from Starbase, Texas.
All Starship vehicle and Super Heavy booster debris landed within the designated hazard areas. There are no reports of public injury or damage to public property.
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Fly, Learn, Repeat ... and Nuclear Power in Space
Sunday, June 1, 2025 • Duration 11:37
SpaceX has a mantra: Fly, Learn, Repeat. And there will be a lot for SpaceX to learn from the ninth test flight of Starship, which ended with the loss of both the booster and 'Ship'.
Starship’s ninth flight test lifted off at 6:36 p.m. CT on Tuesday from Starbase, Texas. The Super Heavy booster supporting the mission made the first ever reflight in the Starship program, having previously launched on Starship’s seventh flight test in January 2025. The booster performed nominally until it reached the splashdown coordinates in the Gulf of America, and the landing burn was initiated. Dan Huot is part of the SpaceX Communications team.
Huot SOT "Ignited for our landing burn. It may have ended with that landing burn. It does look like we lost telemetry from the booster once we starten in to that landing burn. We just heard confirmation that the booster did demise. So the booster's flight ending before it was able to get through landing burn, but again we were not bringing that back, we expected it to make a hard splashdown in the gulf. We were getting data back that entire time through that high angle-of-attack flight, so that was something that was really vital for us to get from this re-use. First re-flight of booster in the books."
Ship continued on and reached an orbital altitude, but when the deployment of starlink analogs was attempted, but payload bay doors failed to open properly, and then attitude control of Ship was lost.
Huot SOT "As you can see from some of the views and some of the telemetry we are in a little bit of a spin. We did spring a leak in some of the fuel tank systems inside of Starship which a lot of those are used for attitude control. So at this point we've essentially lost our attitude control of Starship. We are still on a path toward reentry, We are suborbital so no matter what, we are going to reenter. However, this lowers the chances this will be a controlled reentry."
Contact with Starship was lost approximately 46 minutes into the flight, with all debris expected to fall within the planned hazard area in the Indian Ocean. Elon Musk said on X that he expects the cadence of launches of Starship to increase as the flight test program proceeds, but it will be at least in part up to the FAA when the next next launch will occur.
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The ground-based video, onboard telemetry, post-flight empirical testing and Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis corroborated excessive heat from Plume Induced Flow Separation as the most probable root cause of the mishap. Alpha Flight 6 flew a higher angle of attack than prior missions. Plume-induced flow separation intensified heat on the leeward side reducing structural margins, causing the booster to rupture from stage separation induced loads.
Fortunately, the corrective actions are straight forward: increase thermal protection system thickness on Stage 1 and reduce angle of attack during key phases of the flight. Corrective actions have already been implemented.
Firefly is now working to determine the next available launch window for Alpha Flight 7.
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The inaugural flight of the Cygnus XL spacecraft, an expanded version of Northrop Grumman’s vehicle with 33% more cargo capacity than the previous variant, has arrived at the International Space Station. NG-23 carried over 11,000 pounds of equipment, science experiments and supplies to the crew aboard the space station.
Arrival at the station was delayed by a day. On Sept. 16, the Cygnus XL spacecraft’s main engine shut down earlier than planned during two orbit-raising burns for its space station rendezvous. NASA and Northrop Grumman delayed its arrival while flight controllers assessed an alternate approach plan. The early shutdown was triggered by a conservative software safeguard. The spacecraft was cleared for its approach to the orbiting laboratory early Thursday.
The resupply mission is carrying dozens of research experiments that will be conducted during Expedition 73, including materials to produce semiconductor crystals in space, and equipment to develop improvements for cryogenic fuel tanks. The spacecraft also will deliver a specialized UV light system to prevent the growth of microbe communities that form in water systems, and supplies to produce pharmaceutical crystals that could treat cancer and other diseases.
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Coming up, a new process for building on orbit. But right now, why not take a minute to become a paid subscriber to The Journal of Space Commerce. Whether you’re a space professional, investor or an enthusiast, paid subscribers have first access to premium articles and podcasts focused on the new space economy. Just visit www.exterrajsc.com on Substack, and help keep The Journal of Space Commerce independent as we chronicle, cajole and, when necessary, critique the commercial space industry.
Space infrastructure company Rendezvous Robotics recently closed its Pre-Seed round and emerged from stealth. The company is developing modular, autonomous in-orbit assembly systems.
The company's patented TESSERAE technology was invented at MIT by Dr. Ariel Ekblaw, incubated at the Aurelia Institute, and spun out as Rendezvous co-founded by Ekblaw alongside Phil Frank and Joe Landon.
For more than six decades, space infrastructure has been limited by what can be folded up to fit inside rocket fairings. Rendezvous plans to launch modular tiles to assemble systems and infrastructure in space. Its patented flat-packed modular tiles and autonomous swarm robotics assemble directly in orbit using electromagnetic formation flying. The autonomous modules dock, correct mistakes, and can reconfigure over time — creating infrastructure beyond what is currently available: scalable, reconfigurable, and resilient platforms for national security, commerce and exploration.
Rendezvous has secured $3M in pre-seed funding led by Aurelia Foundry and 8090 Industries, with participation from ATX Venture Partners, Mana Ventures, and a group of other significant angel investors. The company plans to demonstrate its 5th-generation technology on the ISS in early 2026.
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A payload built by students at California Polytechnic State University has been successfully flown aboard the Dawn Aerospace Aurora spaceplane, reaching a speed of Mach 0.79 and an altitude of 37,000 feet.
The flight was the first time a U.S. student-built experiment has flown aboard Aurora, and marked a major milestone for university-led research in reusable spaceplane development.
Cal Poly’s payload was designed to test whether student-built hardware could withstand the rigors of high-altitude, spaceflight-like environments. Using a modified data system from Bolder Flight Systems, the mission focused on proving that the team could build and operate a payload ready to integrate with a commercial spaceplane.
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In Depth this week, the commercial space industry stands at a critical juncture as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) implements sweeping regulatory changes under Part 450 licensing requirements, driven by recent Executive Order mandates that promise to reshape the competitive landscape for launch and reentry operations.
The commercial space transportation sector represents a rapidly expanding market segment within the broader space economy, with industry estimates suggesting the global space economy ranges from approximately $400-500 billion, though definitions and methodologies vary significantly across sources. FAA aerospace forecasts project dramatic expansion in U.S. operations, with high-case scenarios anticipating growth from approximately 183 operations in FY 2025 to as many as 566 operations by FY 2034—potentially totaling 4,010 authorized space operations over the decade ... a threefold increase that could stretch existing infrastructure and regulatory systems to their limits.
Part 450 licensing creates multiple layers of competitive advantage that extend beyond operational flexibility to encompass strategic positioning, capital efficiency, and market responsiveness. The regulatory framework's performance-based approach allows operators to demonstrate safety through engineering analysis rather than prescriptive compliance, enabling innovation in vehicle design and operational procedures.
Part 450 licensing also serves diverse commercial space applications that span traditional satellite deployment, emerging in-space services, and next-generation exploration missions. The regulatory framework's flexibility accommodates rapid evolution in mission profiles and technological capabilities that characterize the modern space economy.
The FAA Part 450 regulatory overhaul represents a pivotal moment for commercial space industry evolution, with implications extending across the entire space economy value chain. The March 10, 2026, transition deadline—when all legacy licenses expire—creates both opportunity and risk for industry participants and their investors.
Paid subscribers can read the full analysis on The Journal of Space Commerce under the "In Depth" tab.
Also in-depth, check out our investor spotlights on Lightspeed and Caffeinated Capital; company spotlights on Dawn Aerospace and Indra Sistemas, and a look at how Space Systems are transforming Defense and Commercial Markets.
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Space Commerce Week is a production of Ex Terra Media. You can get daily updates on space commerce by subscribing to The Journal of Space Commerce on Substack at www.exterrajsc.com. And please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Whether you’re a space professional, investor or an enthusiast, paid subscribers have first access to premium articles and podcasts focused on the new space economy. Just visit www.exterrajsc.com and help keep The Journal of Space Commerce independent as we chronicle, cajole and, when necessary, critique the commercial space industry.
Varda also operates a hypersonic testbed for government partners, working to utilize the W-series reentry vehicle to advance new technologies. The reentry capsules reach Mach 25 on their journey from space to Earth, offering a valuable, real-world flight environment for testing subsystems such as thermal protective materials, navigation, communication, and sensors.
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You can't buy it yet, but Firefly Aerospace has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relating to a proposed initial public offering of shares of its common stock. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined.
Firefly intends to list its common stock on the NASDAQ Global Market under the ticker symbol “FLY.”
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, J.P. Morgan, Jefferies, and Wells Fargo Securities are acting as lead bookrunning managers for the proposed offering. Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank Securities, and Cantor are acting as joint bookrunners. Roth Capital Partners and Academy Securities will serve as co-managers.
A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective.
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Coming up, the Ax-4 private astronauts have returned safely to Earth. But right now, why not take a minute to become a paid subscriber to The Journal of Space Commerce. Whether you’re a space professional, investor or an enthusiast, paid subscribers have first access to premium articles and podcasts focused on the new space economy. Just visit www.exterrajsc.com on Substack, and help keep The Journal of Space Commerce independent as we chronicle, cajole and, when necessary, critique the commercial space industry.
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After undocking from the International Space Station on Monday, the Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) crew safely splashed down off the coast of California aboard SpaceX Dragon “Grace” early Tuesday.
This marks the first time astronauts from India, Poland, and Hungary have conducted a mission on the International Space Station. For each of these countries, this mission has realized the return to human spaceflight, with all three nations sending astronauts to space for the first time in more than 40 years.
Over the course of their 18-day mission aboard the orbiting laboratory, the Ax-4 crew conducted more than 60 scientific experiments across a wide range of disciplines, including life sciences, materials research, Earth observation, and technology demonstrations. These investigations represented the interests of 31 countries, underscoring the mission’s global impact in advancing science and innovation in microgravity.
The crew also participated in over 20 outreach events, connecting with a diverse global audience that included government officials, students, researchers, the media, and aspiring astronauts.
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A strategic investment aims to leverage space technology to tackle global challenges in water scarcity and food security. Source Agriculture Corp, a land acquisition and agricultural technology investor, is backing Hydrosat, a company with a vision of increasing food production while significantly decreasing water use.
The company has already launched two satellites into orbit with SpaceX, and is now serving customers on over 4 million acres in 43 countries. Hydrosat's technology has demonstrated the ability to provide up to 30% water savings, a 50% increase in crop yields, and a 30% reduction in electricity usage, marking a transformative leap in sustainable farming practices.
Through its satellite-enabled solutions, Hydrosat offers field-level and regional analytics that empower governments, farmers, and businesses to make informed, data-driven decisions.
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A memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been signed between Japanese startup SpaceData and Redwire, signaling Redwire’s expansion of international collaboration into the Japanese tech sector.
Through the agreement, Redwire and SpaceData plan to identify opportunities to integrate SpaceData into Redwire’s digital ecosystem to support current and future missions to the International Space Station (ISS). They will also explore combined solutions that will allow them to support NASA Commercial Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Destination utilization components, systems, and software.
Additionally, the two companies will explore future collaborations for Cislunar, Lunar and Deep Space missions and services. Redwire will look to leverage SpaceData’s artificial intelligence (AI) for space and robotics capabilities.
The mission will validate the technology’s performance, with real-time data transmissions to Momentus mission operations, enabling updates to PPU operating conditions in support of NASA’s ISAM objectives.
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The CubeSat market size is projected to reach $1.65 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 15.6% from 2025 to 2033. According to a new report from Grand View Research, the market growth is primarily driven by the increasing demand for low-cost satellite missions, rising adoption of CubeSats for Earth observation and remote sensing, and advancements in miniaturized satellite technologies.
The surge in demand for earth observation and remote sensing is unlocking new revenue streams for the CubeSat industry. Government agencies and private firms are investing in compact satellites to monitor agricultural patterns, climate change, and urban development.
Rising interest in space-based Internet of Things (IoT) applications is also expected to accelerate the development of CubeSat constellations. Industries like agriculture, maritime, and energy are increasingly relying on satellite connectivity for asset tracking in remote locations.
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The first deployment test for a Redwire Roll-Out Solar Array (ROSA) for the lunar Gateway’s Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) has been completed. The Gateway ROSAs will generate an unprecedented 60kW - making these the most powerful ROSAs ever built.
The robust power supply will allow Gateway to offer extensive capabilities for sustained exploration and research in deep space, potentially enabling ambitious activities such as resource extraction and utilization, while also providing peaceful space domain awareness and enhancing astronaut safety.
Redwire was contracted by Maxar, the prime contractor for PPE, to develop two ROSA wings. The pair of PPE ROSAs will undergo additional testing in the coming months, with delivery planned in the fourth quarter of this year.
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This week on The Journal of Space Commerce podcast, I talked with Mary Glazkova, CEO of Mission Space. A hardware and software company that is an emerging player in space weather intelligence, Mission Space is developing real-time monitoring and forecasting solutions that safeguard both Earth-based and space-based infrastructure.
The company's flagship technologies include a Space Weather Operation System (SWOS) forecasting platform, and the Zohar Satellite Constellation.
Glazkova said that Space weather has measurable and very immediate effects on systems we rely on every day. "For instance, airlines like Delta or United sometimes reroute or delay flights due to the risk of space weather. Another example is power grids. Magnetic storms overload transformers. It damages hardware and forces shutdowns."
Headquartered in Miami with a European presence in Luxembourg, Glazkova says Mission Space aims to be the “NOAA” of the commercial space era.
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A letter written by a group of commercial space industry companies and associations has been delivered to Representatives Hal Rogers (R-KY) and Grace Meng (D-NY), the Chair and Ranking Member respectively of the House Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Commerce, Science, Justice and Related Agencies, concerning funding for the NOAA Office of Space Commerce.
The signatories of the letter urge the committee leadership to appropriate sufficient funding for the Office of Space Commerce (OSC) in the Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations bill. Specifically, they call for the committee to fund OSC at $65M, the Fiscal Year 2025 appropriated level, and urge the Subcommittee to ensure continued execution of funds appropriated to OSC in Fiscal Year 2025.
The proposed NOAA OSC appropriation is $10 million, which would essentially eliminate funding for TraCSS and other programs. Coordination of space traffic would possibly be given back to the Department of Defense, or farmed out to commercial entities.
I talked this week to Audrey Schaffer - vice president for Strategy and Policy at Slingshot Aerospace and a spokesperson for the Commercial SSA Coalition; Madeline Chang, Director of Policy for the Satellite Industry Association; and Steve Jordan Tomaszewski, vice president of Space Systems at the Aerospace Industries Association. To start the conversation, Audrey Schaffer gave us an overview of the issue.
Audrey Schaffer
You know, Tom, as your readers well know or your listeners well know, space is becoming increasingly crowded. So much so that we are at the point where we really need, space traffic coordination system to help provide information to satellite operators on potential collisions they might encounter and to help deconflict the resulting maneuver so we don't accidentally make things worse. The office of space commerce was charged with that mission back in two thousand eighteen with a space policy directive three that transitioned responsibility from the Department of Defense who had been doing the mission to the Department of Commerce in recognition that while this may be an inherently governmental function, it is not a military function.
Fast forward, it took about five years for the commerce department to really be funded for this mission. And in the eighteen months or so since they were, they've made significant progress in establishing a traffic coordination system for space. Just a few weeks ago, the final details of the administration's fiscal year twenty twenty six budget were released. And in that budget, they proposed, essentially cutting eighty five percent of the Office of Space Commerce's funding, a total of fifty five million dollar cuts, and really, you know, essentially removing this space traffic coordination mission from commerce.
So we all came together, as representatives of the commercial space industry to advocate for restoring that funding. In addition to the demands on, space traffic and the need for space safety in order to assure that the services that we all depend on from space are continue to be available, we also don't wanna back slide this mission back to the defense department where they have higher priority things to focus on, like growing space threats. And finally, we, you know, the time, to set international norms and standards on space traffic management is really now, and lacking a government system that can go toe to toe with other international systems and really shape those rules and norms, we're concerned that the US is gonna lose its leadership in this critical domain.
Ex Terra Media
So what has been the rationale for making such a huge cut in the office of space commerce? Have they told you why that it goes from, what was it, sixty five million down to ten million? Yeah. You know, I think all of us have poked around, in Washington, law, various sources to try and uncover. And, honestly, there's not a clear answer. As far as I can tell, this might just be something that got caught up in a larger set of cuts that were made to certain agencies.
Audrey Schaffer
It doesn't seem to really have a key like, a critical policy rationale, which is exactly why, you know, we put together this letter, advocating for this issue to congress. We were concerned that, you know, it is actually a relatively small amount of money, only fifty five million, but it will have an outsized impact on the commercial space industry. And we didn't want it to get overlooked just because, you know, perhaps it was an error.
Ex Terra Media
Steve, from the aspect of the aerospace industries association, what does this kind of a cut mean for, for your members and people that are involved in the aerospace industry?
Steve Jordan Tomaszewski
The concern about this potential cut, would be an impact on, potential impact on space safety.
In the space industry, safety is our North Star, and making sure that satellites are operating in a safe and predictable manner is really underpins the entire space industry, and protects our satellites, for government purposes, but also for private sector purposes. The potential cuts here are really a big swing from where we've normally seen support, for the Office of Space Commerce and for the TraCSS program. The office has had, bipartisan support, for years, and our association as well as the other associations that have, signed on to this particular, letter of support, have just made that case that having an office that is able to, really provide that, collision avoidance and space traffic coordination, is really a sound, bedrock principle for for the entire industry.
Ex Terra Media
So, Madeline, some of the things that I've read include that this might be a function that was better handled at the commercial level by companies or a company as opposed to by the government. What's kind of the position of the satellite industry association? Can this be something that's privatized, or is it something that the industry as a whole needs to be run by the government?
Madeline Chang
Yeah. I mean, I think there are a lot of differing opinions on to what extent the government should be involved. But one thing that I really wanna emphasize is that the industry has been really involved in the development of tracks. Right now, it's in beta testing, and all of our many of our members had participated in the beta test so far, and they're excited to see when it opens in the next couple months. And the other thing I will say is that this is one of the government programs that just for a little bit of money will really open up the floodgates for a lot of private sector investing.
And space right now is going to get a lot more crowded in the next couple of years. Since TraCSS was first proposed, the number of satellites in the north orbit has more than doubled. There are over twelve thousand satellites on orbit now, and there are set to be a lot more largely on constellation deployments in the next couple of years. And so it's important for operators, and for investors in new space companies to know that satellites are able to share information on where they are and avoid other satellites and that there's that communication going on, both within, like, both within the US industry and also with international operators.
Ex Terra Media
Audrey, did you have something you wanted to add?
Audrey Schaffer
Yeah. I did, if it's alright. I mean, I wanted to go back to your question about, you know, this narrative that the commercial sector can do this mission. And in fact, I mean, the company that I'm with, Slingshot Aerospace, is one of the companies that does space situational awareness and space traffic coordination. We are a member of the Commercial SSA Coalition, which is a signatory to this letter.
That coalition represents all of the major US and s and all of the major US SSA companies, including optical providers, radar providers, analytic providers, etcetera. So our view on this is absolutely the private sector has the technologies to bring to bear for this mission, but we are also aligned that it needs government funding and a government wrapper in order to have the impact it needs on the industry. We need that government investment in order to bring these technologies into use for the private sector operators that are relying on the office of space commerce.
And so it's, you know, it's not a mistake that the commercial SSA industry is behind this letter as well.
Ex Terra Media
So the letter's been sent. What kind of a timeline are you looking at? Do we have any idea when this goes to committee, when the appropriations committee is gonna be meeting? And we'll get into some of the impacts or how we can make an impact in a little bit. But what kind of is that timeline?
Steve Jordan Tomaszewski
Couple of key things happening in the near future, is we are expecting, that senate appropriators, will be discussing, overall impacts, for civil space to include, the Office of Space Commerce, this week.
But this is going to be, you know, part of the overall fiscal fiscal year twenty twenty six, appropriation cycle, and budget development cycle. The other thing though that we highlighted in the letter, is making sure that we're not gonna do any programmatic changes, that would have severe impacts, and, really kind of cut the program short before congress has the opportunity to weigh in. So, you know, we're urging congress to support the Office of Space Commerce in this particular case.
But then also, it's important that the administration allows this program to continue to get off the ground, with the near term goal of getting past the beta user stage as Madeline previously mentioned, and having some widespread adoption.
Ex Terra Media
I know that both AIA and SIA are advocacy organizations, and you're going to do what it is that you do to talk to the members of congress and see about getting these things changed. But what can an individual industry professional do to try to influence the outcome of this legislation?
Audrey Schaffer
I mean, I Tom, I think, you know, everybody raising awareness of this issue, whether that's on LinkedIn, whether that's in meetings with, with congressional leaders, you know, just showing that this funding is vital.
And in fact, you know, obviously, industry associations are critical in terms of their role in representing large swaths of companies, but individual companies can go to Capitol Hill as well and talk to their members about the importance of this funding for their program. You know, I think anything we can do to raise the visibility of this issue, especially over the next couple of weeks, will be really important for influencing that legislative process.
Anybody else?
Madeline Chang
I'll add there that, I mean, the amount of funding is really small. It's tremendously small, but it'll have a really large impact. And something I like to say is that it's less than half the budget of the Minecraft movie. And it's also, you know, sixty million. It's three episodes of severance. Like, it's … such an amazing office, and the program that they're working on is going to set norms for how we operate in space for the next couple decades.
Ex Terra Media
Steve, anything to add?
Steve Jordan Tomaszewski
We really want American leadership in space as the bottom line here. And, I think as was previously mentioned, the more folks are aware about this particular office and this particular program, the better. It really does have an outsized impact. You know, if you're a military member right now, you're rooting for this program because you want a non department of defense agency to take over this primary responsibility.
If you're a company, you wanna make sure that the US government is equipped with the latest and greatest innovation, from the private sector, which is what this program was really starting to get going here. And as an individual, if you wanna continue to use space services, and all the benefits that space provides from helping to predict the weather, communications, and even for national security purposes, you want there to be a good safe environment.
So, that's the bottom line is I think a lot of folks are seeing the benefits of this, and it's gonna be something that really has brought folks together, a lot in the last couple of years.
Ex Terra Media
Anything that I've missed?
Audrey Schaffer
Yeah. You know, I raise two additional points, kind of very different. The first one is about just kind of hitting this international leadership point one more time. You know, if you look at the history of air traffic control, the United States had a very heavy hand in shaping the system that we all benefit from today when we travel, you know, transatlantic flight from here to Europe.
And the air traffic controllers of the world all have to speak English. And that's because those were the regulations that were put in place when the system was first created. I'm very concerned that if we don't have a US space traffic control system, if you will, the traffic controllers in space in the future are not gonna be required to speak English. They'll be required to speak French or maybe Mandarin Chinese because those are the two countries that are developing their own space traffic coordination systems intended to serve global users.
We should not let the US take a back seat to China in space traffic management. So that's point one. Point two, and this is kind of a completely different point, but one I wanna just foot stomp. This letter is signed by all of the major US space industry associations and more, representing over four hundred and fifty companies from traditional primes to venture backed start ups, suppliers, operators, manufacturers. It represents a significant consensus within the space industry.
I don't, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a company or constituency in the space economy that disagrees with the sentiment of this letter. So I I just hope to leave you with, you know, what a broad base of support this funding has.
Audrey Schaffer is vice president for Strategy and Policy at Slingshot Aerospace and a spokesperson for the Commercial SSA Coalition; Madeline Chang is Director of Policy for the Satellite Industry Association; and Steve Jordan Tomaszewski, is vice president of Space Systems at the Aerospace Industries Association.
And those are some of the top stories we covered for you on The Journal of Space Commerce this week. Space Commerce Week is a production of Ex Terra Media. You can get daily updates on space commerce by subscribing to The Journal of Space Commerce on Substack at www.exterrajsc.com. And please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Whether you’re a space professional, investor or an enthusiast, paid subscribers have first access to premium articles and podcasts focused on the new space economy. Just visit www.exterrajsc.com and help keep The Journal of Space Commerce independent as we chronicle, cajole and, when necessary, critique the commercial space industry.
The company said on Thursday that its new target launch date is now not earlier than Thursday, July 16th.
The launch has been on hold since May, when a payload fairing system malfunctioned on the launch pad, causing a fairing to dislodge from the spacecraft. The company says it has installed additional safeguards to prevent the malfunction from happening again.
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Thanks for reading. You can support this newsletter and all of the content on The Journal of Space Commerce by becoming a paid subscriber. Whether you’re a space professional, investor or an enthusiast, paid subscribers have first access to premium articles and podcasts focused on the new space economy. Just visit www.exterrajsc.com on Substack, and help keep The Journal of Space Commerce independent as we chronicle, cajole and, when necessary, critique the commercial space industry.
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A technology center expansion aimed at scaling up the production and delivery of Surface Mount Technology (SMT) solar power systems, including production for national defense applications, has been announced by Sierra Space.
Located in Broomfield, Colorado, Sierra Space’s Power Station is a new production facility that will house world-class manufacturing capabilities to produce Surface Mount Technology (SMT) defense-hardened solar arrays, which provide best-in-class power density, resiliency, and production lead times.
In addition to the SMT production lines, the $45 million facility also houses new tooling and an integrated test center that includes thermal vacuum/thermal air chambers, and a dynamics lab for vibration and pyroshock testing. These solar arrays have diverse applications, including for use on satellites. Solar power is critical for space missions as it provides a reliable, renewable energy source to support long-duration operations in orbit and beyond.
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A Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA) was signed between Sweden and the United States on June 20, moving Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) and Firefly Aerospace closer to a historic first satellite launch from Esrange Space Center in Kiruna, Sweden.
The bilateral agreement, signed at the Embassy of Sweden in Washington D.C., provides the legal and technical framework for U.S. commercial launches from Swedish spaceports while ensuring proper handling of sensitive technology. This agreement – only the sixth TSA signed by the United States with another country – allows SSC and Firefly Aerospace to continue building a comprehensive satellite launch service at Esrange Space Center and meet the increasing demand for orbital launch capabilities from mainland Europe.
Infrastructure development at SSC’s Esrange Space Center is progressing for Launch Complex 3C where Firefly’s Alpha rocket will launch. The tracking and control systems, security and depot facilities, and the Launch Control Center have already been established.
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A first-of-its-kind persistent monitoring solution that delivers strategic operational and threat intelligence at global scale for a real-time decision advantage has been launched by Maxar Intelligence. Sentry integrates AI-powered capabilities unique to Maxar—including multi-source constellation orchestration, geospatial fusion, and advanced machine learning models for automated analytics—to deliver a new level of closed-loop spatial intelligence.
The suite is specifically designed to monitor hundreds of areas around the world to solve complex problems such as anticipating adversarial threats or protecting industrial infrastructure, and includes two products designed for specific mission sets:
Site Sentry, a product for monitoring places of interest across land and sea, such as shipyards, airports, urban centers and more. Maritime Sentry, a broad-area monitoring product for tracking vessel activity at sea and in port, enabling customers to actively monitor thousands of sq km of ocean at once.
Both Sentry products draw on Maxar’s 250+ petabyte archive of very high-resolution satellite imagery collected over more than two decades. This geospatial foundation provides training data for advanced AI/ML computer vision models that contain a detailed understanding of historical activity and global patterns across the world.
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The four Airbus CO3D satellites and the CNES’s MicroCarb satellite will be launched into orbit on July 25 by Arianespace aboard a Vega C rocket. The VV27 launch is planned from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
The main passengers, the satellites that will make up the CO3D constellation, as well as the auxiliary passenger, MicroCarb, will be placed in Sun-synchronous orbits.
The CO3D (Constellation Optique 3D) satellites will deliver a global high-resolution Digital Surface Model (DSM) service to CNES providing 50 cm stereo imagery as well as 2D imagery for government and commercial customers. The data from the four dual-use satellites will feed a cloud-based ground segment operated by Airbus, including an image processing chain delivered by CNES. This data will answer both the military need for precise and up-to-date cartography as well as civil applications such as hydrology, geology, civil security, urban planning and land and resource management.
The CNES’ MicroCarb mission is designed to map sources and sinks of carbon dioxide (CO₂) using a dispersive spectrometer instrument that will measure atmospheric concentration of CO₂ with a high degree of precision.
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And those are some of the top stories we covered for you on The Journal of Space Commerce this week. Space Commerce Week is a production of Ex Terra Media. You can get daily updates on space commerce by subscribing to The Journal of Space Commerce on Substack at www.exterrajsc.com. And please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Whether you’re a space professional, investor or an enthusiast, paid subscribers have first access to premium articles and podcasts focused on the new space economy. Just visit www.exterrajsc.com and help keep The Journal of Space Commerce independent as we chronicle, cajole and, when necessary, critique the commercial space industry.
Varda is the first reentry vehicle operator to take full advantage of this feature of the Part 450 rule. As a result of this action, Varda can ramp up its operations confident of regulatory authorization and will have reduced administrative costs. The FAA can focus more on the licensing needs of other launch and reentry operators and bring on new entrants.
The latest Varda mission, W4, launched into orbit aboard the Transporter-14 mission on Monday.
Provided Varda operates under the authorized mission profile and vehicle design, it will no longer need to apply for mission-by-mission license approvals. The FAA encourages other operators to take similar advantage of the benefits that Part 450 offers and has published Advisory Circulars to help operators understand how to succeed in the licensing process.
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Over at the FCC, The Space Bureau has accepted in part for filing an application filed by AST-Science, LLC (AST), known as AST SpaceMobile, for a modification of its license for five satellites. The company also seeks authority to operate a constellation of a total of two hundred forty-eight low-earth orbit non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellites.
Specifically, AST requests to operate an additional 243 satellites: 23 deployed at an altitude of 323 miles and 192 deployed at an altitude of 429 miles, both at an inclination of 53 degrees. A further 28 satellites woud be deployed at an altitude of 430 miles with an inclination of 98.1318 degrees.
Interested parties may file comments on or before July 21, and reply comments on or before August 5, 2025.
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Coming up, the progress of two lunar rovers. One brand new, and one pronounced ready for flight. But right now, why not take a minute to become a paid subscriber to The Journal of Space Commerce. Whether you’re a space professional, investor or enthusiast, paid subscribers have first access to premium articles and podcasts focused on the new space economy. Just visit www.exterrajsc.com on Substack, and help keep The Journal of Space Commerce independent as we chronicle, cajole and, when necessary, critique the commercial space industry.
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In market news, the global GEO satellite market reached a value of nearly $17.24 billion in 2024, and is expected to grow to $21.32 billion in 2029 at a compound annual growth rate of 4.34%. The market is then expected to grow at a C-A-G-R of 3.73% from 2029 and reach $25.61 billion in 2034. That's according to a new report from ResearchandMarkets.
Analysts find the market to be highly concentrated, with a large number of small players operating in the market. The top ten competitors in the market accounted for up to 53.9% of the total market in 2023.
The growth will be driven by expansion of satellite-based communication networks, increasing commercial space sector investments, and an increasing need for high-speed internet and 5G technology. Factors negatively affecting growth are satellite congestion and orbital debris and limited private sector involvement.
North America was the largest region in the GEO satellite market, accounting for 47.93% or $8.26 billion of the total in 2024.
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In the 13th edition of the Novaspace "Prospects for Maritime Satellite Communications" report, the space consulting and market intelligence firm assesses the key trends and developments impacting this rapidly growing market.
The report finds that as the number of vessels using satcom services grows to 125,000 by 2034, reliance on GEO capacity will decrease. Vessels are moving their primary bandwidth from GEO to NGSO (Non-Geostationary Satellite Orbit) connectivity.
As addressable market growth accelerates, service revenues could potentially climb to $3.3 billion by 2034.
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MONA LUNA, a 100% European-built lunar rover, was introduced at the Paris Air Show earlier this month. Designed to support the ambitions of the European Space Agency and the French CNES, the vehicle will be built at the Venturi Space facility in Toulouse, France, with the ultimate goal of providing Europe with a lunar-capable rover by 2030.
MONA LUNA is being designed to be carried into space by the Ariane 6.4 launch system and landed on the Moon’s surface by the European Argonaut lunar lander. The rover itself will be equipped with a robotic arm to handle scientific instruments and payloads. It could also be used in an emergency to carry an astronaut in difficulty, as envisaged by ESA and CNES in their feasibility studies.
Venturi Space France will oversee MONA LUNA’s development and space qualification from its base in Toulouse, coordinating every aspect of the process.
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Meanwhile, the shoebox-sized CubeRover-1 has successfully completed its acceptance test campaign, and is now deemed ready for flight to the lunar south pole aboard the Astrobotic Griffin Mission One (Griffin-1).
For this mission, CubeRover-1 will integrate with Mission Control’s 'Spacefarer' software platform, culminating in a joint mission demonstration named BEACON (Benchmark for Engineering and Autonomous Capabilities in Operations and Navigation). During the BEACON mission, Mission Control’s Spacefarer platform will play a mission-critical role in enabling real-time commanding and monitoring of CubeRover-1. This demonstration is made possible in part through funding from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) under the Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program (LEAP).
CubeRover-1 was also selected by NASA for a SBIR award for a commercial “mobility-as-a-service” demonstration on the Moon.
With the test campaign complete, CubeRover-1 will next be integrated with Astrobotic’s Griffin lunar lander to support Griffin-1’s launch window, which is slated for late 2025.
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And those are some of the top stories we covered for you on The Journal of Space Commerce this week. Space Commerce Week is a production of Ex Terra Media. You can get daily updates on space commerce by subscribing to The Journal of Space Commerce on Substack at www.exterrajsc.com. And please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Whether you’re a space professional, investor or enthusiast, paid subscribers have first access to premium articles and podcasts focused on the new space economy. Just visit www.exterrajsc.com and help keep The Journal of Space Commerce independent as we chronicle, cajole and, when necessary, critique the commercial space industry.
According to the Senators introducing the bill, the FAA approval process for commercial space launches is needlessly cumbersome, and to maintain America’s competitive position, the FAA must be able to efficiently approve weekly and, eventually, daily launch and reentry operations by multiple companies in a manner that reduces the burden on the commercial space industry and government resources.
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Getting back to fees for a moment, The FCC has amended its existing method of assessing regulatory fees for space and earth stations. The changes will be effective for the fiscal year 2025 (FY 2025) assessment and collection of regulatory fees.
The two primary changes in the methodology are that regulatory fees are assessed on stations once they are authorized, rather than when the stations are certified to be operational, as is currently the case. Second, existing regulatory fee categories are split for Space Stations (Non-Geostationary Orbit) into two new fee categories: small constellations that are fewer than 1000 authorized space stations, and large constellations of 1000 authorized space stations or more. These changes will better distinguish between space station regulatees, and will more accurately apportion fee burdens among them, which should result in lower per unit regulatory fees for the majority of space station fee payors compared to fiscal year 2024.
The order also adopts an approach that broadens the base of regulatory fee payors to better align fees with the benefits of regulation and that is less subjective than the current system that allocates fees based on the estimated “complexity” of an NGSO system.
The commission says that the changes support its goal that its regulatory fees are fair, administrable, and sustainable.
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Coming up, the Aurora Spaceplane is coming to Oklahoma, and Honda is testing a reusable rocket. But right now why not take a minute to become a paid subscriber to The Journal of Space Commerce. Whether you’re a space professional or an enthusiast, paid subscribers have first access to premium articles and podcasts focused on the new space economy. Just visit www.exterrajsc.com on Substack, and help keep The Journal of Space Commerce independent as we chronicle, cajole and, when necessary, critique the commercial space industry.
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A binding partnership agreement has been inked between the Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority (OSIDA) and Dawn Aerospace to bring a Mk-II Aurora spaceplane to Oklahoma. As part of the agreement, Dawn will deliver and operate Aurora at the Oklahoma Air and Space Port. The Aurora is scheduled for delivery in 2027, with flights to space commencing that same year.
Under the terms of the agreement, Dawn will supply the aircraft, ground control station and an operations team. Flights on Aurora are expected to cost, on average, low hundreds of thousands of dollars per flight. Campaigns of multiple flights will redefine the landscape of space launch and enable researchers to conduct experiments in rapid succession, accelerating scientific progress while keeping costs low. Oklahoma colleges and universities will have free access to the aircraft for research purposes for the first year of operations.
The Aurora's development will continue through 2027, with manufacturing and flight testing conducted at Dawn’s R&D facilities in Christchurch, New Zealand.
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A new operation dedicated to supporting national security space as a prime contractor has been introduced by Sierra Space. The launch of Sierra Space Defense and related infrastructure expansion plans are driven by a palpable sense of urgency: the United States is facing new threats and near-peer adversaries at unprecedented levels in the space domain.
In response to the evolving threat environment, Sierra Space is retooling its commercial capacity to focus on revitalizing the U.S. defense industrial base through innovative satellite and spacecraft systems technology.
Sierra Space will dedicate a new manufacturing facility, called “Victory Works,” to defense technology. Located in Centennial, Colorado, the 60,000 square-foot space will play a pivotal role in the production of the company’s new Sierra Space Eclipse satellite bus line.
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Could this be the Honda Civic of space? The research and development subsidiary of Honda Motor Co. has conducted a launch and landing test of an experimental reusable rocket developed independently by Honda. The test included a launch, flight to just under 900 feet and successful landing. It was the first time Honda has successfully landed a rocket.
The goals of the test were to demonstrate key technologies essential for rocket reusability, such as flight stability during ascent and descent, as well as landing capability.
Honda says its rocket research is being driven by the growing expectation for greater utilization of data systems in outer space through expanded use of satellites. That means the need for satellite launch rockets is also expected to increase in the coming years.
Honda has chosen to take on the technological challenge of developing reusable rockets by utilizing Honda technologies amassed in the development of various products and automated driving systems, based on a belief that reusable rockets will contribute to achieving sustainable transportation.
The mission had originally been scheduled to launch earlier this month, but was delayed to allow SpaceX teams to repair a liquid oxygen leak identified during post-static fire Falcon 9 rocket inspections. The launch was delayed further when a pressure leak was identified in the Russian Zvezda module of the ISS.
During their time on the orbiting laboratory, the crew will conduct more than 60 scientific experiments and demonstrations focused on human research, Earth observation, and life, biological, and material sciences.
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And those are some of the top stories we covered for you on The Journal of Space Commerce this week. You can get daily updates on space commerce by subscribing to The Journal of Space Commerce on Substack at www.exterrajsc.com. And please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Whether you’re a space professional or an enthusiast, paid subscribers have first access to premium articles and podcasts focused on the new space economy. Just visit www.exterrajsc.com and help keep The Journal of Space Commerce independent as we chronicle, cajole and, when necessary, critique the commercial space industry.
During their time on the orbiting laboratory, the international private crew will conduct more than 60 scientific experiments and demonstrations focused on human research, Earth observation, and life, biological, and material sciences.
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Among those scientific experiments to be carried out by the Ax-4 crew is one that aims to advance diabetes management in microgravity and open access to space for more people. Researchers will demonstrate the accuracy of glucose monitoring and the viability of insulin on the ISS, with the long-term goal of supporting astronauts with insulin-dependent diabetes on future space missions.
The ISS National Lab-sponsored project, Suite Ride, is a partnership between Axiom Space and Burjeel Holdings PLC, a healthcare services provider based in the United Arab Emirates.
The team is sending several commercially available glucose monitors to the ISS to ensure they maintain a comparable level of accuracy in microgravity. One of the monitors samples interstitial fluid (the fluid filling the spaces between cells in the body) to measure glucose levels. Microgravity causes shifts in body fluids that could affect the accuracy of these devices. The study will also look at whether microgravity affects the integrity of insulin.
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An advanced lunar and Martian manufacturing technology, "Mason", designed by Redwire, has passed Critical Design Review (CDR) with NASA participation. Mason is a tool suite designed to operate on the Moon and Mars that will enable the construction of berms, landing pads and roads for future lunar and Martian habitats. The project, managed under a Tipping Point agreement with NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, is part of a $12.9 million award to prototype Mason for broader plans to support a long-term presence and exploration on the lunar surface.
Designed to be scalable and platform agnostic for use on different landers, rovers, or robotic arms, Mason can convert lunar or Martian regolith into a strong, solid material similar to concrete. Regolith can cause equipment failures and maneuverability challenges, and it can become a dangerous projectile when accelerated by a rocket’s exhaust plume. Mason mitigates these risks, while significantly lowering the cost of lunar and Martian exploration efforts.
With CDR successfully completed, Redwire engineers will fabricate the Mason critical design prototype and conduct functional testing of its three tools. Redwire is currently exploring flight opportunities for a demonstration mission.
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Coming up, we'll delve into the space launch services and Earth observation markets. But right now why not take a minute to become a paid subscriber to The Journal of Space Commerce Whether you’re a space professional or enthusiast, paid subscribers have first access to premium articles and podcasts focused on the new space economy. Just visit www.exterrajsc.com on Substack, and help keep The Journal of Space Commerce independent as we chronicle, cajole and, when necessary, critique the commercial space industry.
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The space launch services market revenue reached $21.19 billion in 2025 and is predicted to attain around $57.94 billion by 2033 with a CAGR of 13.15%, according to a new report from Precedence Research. The market is witnessing rapid growth due to increasing demand for satellite deployment, expansion of commercial space enterprises, and heightened investment in reusable launch vehicles.
The industry is gaining momentum as satellite-based technologies, space exploration, and defense modernization continue to evolve. With the growing need for broadband connectivity, Earth observation, and global navigation, satellite launches are in high demand. Changes in the space industry are being brought on by more public-private partnerships, new advances in rocket technology, and the switch to reusing rockets.
The transition from expendable to reusable rockets is revolutionizing the economics of space launches. The flights of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, Blue Origin’s New Shepard and expected systems from Rocket Lab and ISRO are preparing for affordable and environmentally friendly space transportation.
Global investments in launch infrastructure are accelerating. Countries like the UK, India, Australia, and Brazil are developing new spaceports to support vertical and horizontal launches.
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The global satellite-based earth observation market was valued at $3.5 billion in 2022, and is projected to reach $6.4 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 6.6% from 2023 to 2032, according to a new report from Allied Market Research.
The industry is expected to gain high traction in the coming years due to an increase in demand for high-resolution earth observation data, a rise in applications of earth observation data in diverse sectors such as agriculture, urban planning, and disaster management, and partnerships facilitating miniaturization of satellite sensors.
Opportunities in the satellite-based earth observation market present a favorable landscape for businesses to capitalize on the growing demand for satellite data solutions across diverse industries. North America, especially the U.S., hosts some of the premier space agencies, satellite manufacturers, and earth observation service providers, which notably contributes toward the growth of the market. In addition, the continual progress in satellite technology, sensor capabilities, and data processing methods foster market expansion. Moreover, space agencies in the country are collaborating with commercial satellite providers to enhance their earth observation capabilities.
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A collaboration has been announced between Maritime Launch and Dutch aerospace company T-Minus Engineering to launch the Barracuda, a hypersonic test platform, from Spaceport Nova Scotia in October of this year.
This mission will represent the next step in advancing Spaceport Nova Scotia's suborbital and hypersonic testing capabilities, as Maritime Launch continues to establish Nova Scotia, Canada, as a hub for innovative space commercialization, research, and development. The Barracuda platform, developed by T-Minus, facilitates high-speed, high-altitude experiments for civil and defence applications.
Maritime Launch and T-Minus Engineering will launch two suborbital vehicles that carry payloads. Operating within Canada's existing regulatory regime for rocket launch, the vehicles are anticipated to reach altitudes significantly above the Kármán line, the acknowledged boundary of space, while achieving speeds over Mach 6. The launches will also accommodate various scientific and educational payloads for clients.
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And those are some of the top stories we covered for you on The Journal of Space Commerce this week. You can get daily updates on space commerce by subscribing to The Journal of Space Commerce on Substack at www.exterrajsc.com. And please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Whether you’re a space professional or enthusiast, paid subscribers have first access to premium articles and podcasts focused on the new space economy. Just visit www.exterrajsc.com and help keep The Journal of Space Commerce independent as we chronicle, cajole and, when necessary, critique the commercial space industry.
The mishap investigation is focused only on the loss of the Starship vehicle which did not complete its launch or reentry as planned. The FAA determined that the loss of the Super Heavy booster is covered by one of the approved test induced damage exceptions requested by SpaceX for certain flight events and system components. The FAA evaluated each exception prior to launch approval and verified they met public safety requirements.
The FAA approved test induced damage exceptions for the Super Heavy booster including failure of the grid fin system, poor engine initialization during the landing burn, and a hard water impact due to insufficient engine thrust. It also induced damage exceptions for the Starship vehicle including engine failure during either the in-space burn or the landing burn and failure of either the thermal shield or the flap system during reentry. The loss of the Starship vehicle did not involve any exception.
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A non-binding letter of intent for a proposed business combination has been jointly announced by the special purpose acquisition company ... or SPAC ... BPGC Acquisition Corp. ("BPGC"), and reusable space launch developer iRocket.
The parties have agreed on certain key terms of the proposed business combination and executed a non-binding letter of intent. Under the terms of the letter of intent, iRocket and BPGC would become a combined entity, with iRocket's existing shareholders exchanging their shares in iRocket for equity in the combined public company.
The letter of intent contemplates a pre-money equity value of iRocket of $400 million, before potential earnouts based on share price performance. The parties will announce additional details regarding the proposed business combination when a definitive agreement is executed, which is expected to occur in the summer of this year, with a closing anticipated before year end.
No assurances can be made that the parties will successfully negotiate and enter into a definitive agreement, or that the proposed transaction will be consummated on the terms or timeframe currently contemplated, or at all.
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Coming up, President Trump and Elon Musk face off on social media, and another step forward for the Office of Space Commerce's TraCSS program. But right now, why not take a minute to become a paid subscriber to The Journal of Space Commerce. Whether you’re a space professional or enthusiast, paid subscribers have first access to premium articles and podcasts focused on the new space economy. Just visit www.exterrajsc.com on Substack, and help keep The Journal of Space Commerce independent as we chronicle, cajole and, when necessary, critique the commercial space industry.
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What started as a political argument over the "Big Beautiful Bill" has escalated into a threat to America's manned space program. Since Musk criticized the reconciliation bill on X saying it didn't cut the deficit, Trump fired back on Truth Social, saying "The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!"
In reply, Musk posted on X "In light of the President's statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately."
It's not clear how much of this is serious and how much is bluster. But in the opinion of The Journal of Space Commerce, we feel like this is absolutely not the time or place for these two very wealthy and powerful men to be playing this kind of game. Both need to take a step back, and a deep breath, and consider what is best for the country. A goal which both have claimed to champion. Nor is it good for the industry to have these kinds of (hopefully) ridiculous threats thrown around. Nobody likes to see grown men shrieking "I'll just take my toys and go home" at one another across the Internet.
This is the kind of ridiculous sideshow that is not good for anyone right now, other than an opposition party which is popping its popcorn and getting ready to sit back and enjoy the show.
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Impulse Space recently announced it has raised $300 million in a Series C funding round—one of the largest venture rounds in the history of the space industry. The round, led by Linse Capital, brings Impulse’s total capital raised to $525 million.
The pre-emptive raise is both a positive signal about Impulse’s business trajectory and a direct response to surging customer demand. With over 30 signed contracts (totaling nearly $200 million in value) and growing interest from every sector, Impulse will use the funding to scale and execute a backlog of missions that require faster, more flexible, and more cost-effective in-space mobility.
This Series C funding will accelerate Impulse’s mission in three key ways: adding engineering, manufacturing, and mission operations jobs while continuing to vertically integrate for cost, quality, and schedule control; accelerating R&D to expand mission profiles—including integrating electric propulsion for long-duration missions—and develop new vehicles for national security and NASA applications, and; scaling production on Mira and Helios to meet a growing backlog of demand.
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Northrop Grumman Corporation has invested $50 million into Firefly Aerospace to further advance production of their co-developed medium launch vehicle, now known as Eclipse. The companies continue to make progress in the development of Eclipse flight hardware with qualification testing underway and more than 60 Miranda engine hot fire tests performed to date.
Based on Northrop Grumman’s Antares and Firefly’s Alpha rocket, Eclipse offers a significant leap in power, performance, production cadence, and payload capacity. The launch vehicle retains the flight-proven avionics from the Antares program with additional upgrades, including a larger payload fairing. Eclipse also utilizes the same first stage Firefly is developing for Antares 330, and retains scaled-up versions of Alpha’s propulsion systems and carbon composite structures, allowing the team to rapidly build and test Eclipse with significant production efficiencies and economies of scale.
Eclipse is equipped to deliver 18 tons of cargo to low Earth orbit or just over seven-thousand pounds of cargo to geosynchronous transfer orbit. Eclipse will first launch from Wallops Island, Virginia, as early as 2026.
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The Office of Space Commerce has announced that the Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS) has implemented Program Increment 1.2 for its beta users. This release introduces on-demand screening of operational ephemerides (EFF-em-AIR-eh-dees) and enables bulk submission capabilities—ideal for operators of large satellite constellations.
As an Agile software development program, TraCSS continues to deliver upgrades that add new capabilities in preparation for the migration of users from the Department of Defense.
The initial version, released in September 2024, distributed TraCSS-generated Conjunction Data Messages (CDMs) to beta users via the Space-Track.org interface. Subsequent updates enabled direct CDM distribution through TraCSS APIs.
With this latest update, beta-user satellite operators can now submit ephemerides to TraCSS at any time and receive conjunction analysis results within two to five minutes. This “on-demand screening” marks a significant advancement. Operators of large constellations can also submit thousands of ephemerides at once via “bulk submissions,” greatly enhancing space situational awareness and safety.
The TraCSS team is preparing to expand user participation in advance of a full production release scheduled for early 2026.
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And those are some of the top stories we covered for you on The Journal of Space Commerce this week. You can get daily updates on space commerce by subscribing to The Journal of Space Commerce on Substack at www.exterrajsc.com. And please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Whether you’re a space professional or enthusiast, paid subscribers have first access to premium articles and podcasts focused on the new space economy. Just visit www.exterrajsc.com and help keep The Journal of Space Commerce independent as we chronicle, cajole and, when necessary, critique the commercial space industry.
NASA has awarded a contract to Sierra Space to study the use of the company’s expandable space station technology on the moon. The purpose of this contract will be to ultimately develop innovative solutions for lunar surface logistics and mobility supporting NASA’s moon to Mars Architecture.
Under the NextSTEP-2 Appendix R for Lunar Logistics and Mobility Studies award, the research will include everything from the potential use of Sierra Space’s inflatable LIFE habitat technology for tunnels around a moon base to tracking and storage of goods on the moon, as well as integration of the entire framework for habitation on the lunar surface.
The company has been deeply involved in NASA's lunar habitation efforts, conducting analyses and design work on everything from landing systems to habitats and pressurized lunar rovers.
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Dawn Aerospace has opened the order book for its Aurora spaceplane, with first deliveries expected in 2027. This marks the first time a space-capable vehicle – designed to fly beyond the Kármán line - has been offered for direct sale to customers.
Aurora is set to become the fastest and highest-flying aircraft ever to take off from a conventional runway, blending the extreme performance of rocket propulsion with the reusability and operational simplicity of traditional aviation. This concept enables high-frequency, low-cost access to both high-altitudes and space.
Aurora introduces a business model akin to commercial airlines, where operators can purchase aircraft and deliver services independently of the manufacturer. Dawn’s suborbital spaceplane is engineered for high-frequency operations from traditional airports and spaceports worldwide.
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Coming up, MDA Space Acquires Satixfy, and the future of nuclear power in space. But right now, why not take a minute to become a paid subscriber to The Journal of Space Commerce Whether you’re a space professional or enthusiast, paid subscribers have first access to premium articles and podcasts focused on the new space economy. Just visit www.exterrajsc.com on Substack, and help keep The Journal of Space Commerce independent as we chronicle, cajole and, when necessary, critique the commercial space industry.
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At a special meeting of shareholders last week, holders of the majority of outstanding ordinary shares of SatixFy voted to approve the Agreement and Plan of Merger with MDA Space, as amended and announced on May 20, 2025, pursuant to which MDA Space agreed to acquire SatixFy in an all-cash transaction. That transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of this year.
Over 99% of the Company’s outstanding ordinary shares that were voted at the meeting in person or by proxy were voted in favor of the adoption of the merger agreement and the merger.
Under the amended agreement, MDA Space will pay $3.00 without interest per ordinary share, which implies an aggregate equity value for the Company of approximately $280 million.
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The first of a series of premium articles published this week by Ex Terra Media focuses on the potential for nuclear power in space, both as a method of propulsion and an ongoing energy source for long-term human habitation of the Moon and Mars.
The chemical propulsion systems and solar collectors that power so much of space travel today will not be adequate for long-duration missions to distant destinations. There is a lot of research being done in the area of ion thrusters and solar sails, but maybe the most elegant solution is a technology that has been around for nearly a century: nuclear power. It's an answer that could potentially have multiple applications for space exploration.
The article delves into details about Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs), which are currently in use in space, to Nuclear Thermal Rockets and the potential for nuclear fusion in space.
Projects like NASA's Kilopower initiative offer a promising starting point for advancing compact, lightweight nuclear reactors tailored for extraterrestrial environments. By demonstrating their capabilities through ground tests and eventual space missions, these efforts can pave the way for broader adoption of nuclear power in future expeditions. Read the full article right now by becoming a paid subscriber to The Journal of Space Commerce on Substack.
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And this week on The Ex Terra Extra podcast, Mike Turner and I discuss the Satellite Industry Association's State of the Satellite Industry Report that it released recently, as well as the possible direction of NASA under the leadership of Jared Isaacman, should be he confirmed as the next administrator of the agency.
According to SIA, during 2024, the industry continued to grow at an unprecedented rate as a record number of 259 launches deployed an historic 2,172 tons and 2,695 satellites into Earth orbit. At the end of 2024, a total of 11,539 satellites were operating in Earth orbit compared with just 3,371 in 2020. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Meanwhile, what will be the role of NASA moving forward, and how might the dynamic between NASA and private industry change? During our conversation on Ex Terra Extra, Mike Turner questioned how NASA's budget is being deployed.
(Turner SOT) "Look, I love NASA. I want them to throw absolutely everything in the solar system and beyond because nobody does it better. But are we really spending the money the way we should? Can't NASA just say, maybe they say, here's the study we want done. People bid on the contract. And that's it. Let everybody else do what needs to be done and they stick with basic research. But I say basic research. What business is NASA in? Well, of course, it's a research and development organization. It's not a business, but what is it they do? And you can say, well, NASA does this, NASA does that.
"Okay, fine. But do they have to do everything? The SLS system is a NASA system. The Starship and Heavy Booster, that isn't. Boy, they all sure jumped on it when Elon's making this thing and they're going, oh, well, yeah, we can give you some contracts and we can do some things. Well, why didn't we do that with the SLS?
Well, it was politics. This is why the profit motive always does better than politics because politics, they don't care what they're spending. And in this day and age... You cannot, we don't have the luxury anymore to just throw dollars at things. And we have to be efficient."
You can listen to the full episode of the Ex Terra Extra podcast right now by becoming a paid subscriber to The Journal of Space Commerce on Substack.
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And those are some of the top stories we covered for you on The Journal of Space Commerce this week. You can get daily updates on space commerce by subscribing to The Journal of Space Commerce on Substack at www.exterrajsc.com. And please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Whether you’re a space professional or enthusiast, paid subscribers have first access to premium articles and podcasts focused on the new space economy. Just visit www.exterrajsc.com and help keep The Journal of Space Commerce independent as we chronicle, cajole and, when necessary, critique the commercial space industry.
