
Planet Labs adds Wolfgang Schmidt, ex-German Chancellery head, to European board
Former German Chancellery chief Wolfgang Schmidt joins Planet's European Advisory Board.

Former German Chancellery chief Wolfgang Schmidt joins Planet's European Advisory Board.

Blue Origin says seven Blue Moon lunar landers are in production, with the first cargo lander now slipping to Q1 2027.

NASA issued a draft RFP for Commercial LEO Destinations, planning to fund at least two station builders in early development.

CesiumAstro asked the FCC to license its own 737-satellite Synchronicity constellation for reconfigurable connectivity.

Zenno Astronautics says it is the first company to operate a superconducting product in space, testing its fuel-free Supertorquer thruster.

Ravee Optics raised a $6 million seed round to build compact meta-optics laser communication terminals for small satellites.

BAE Systems says its Endura processor passed radiation testing for classified and missile-defense satellite missions.

The Australian Space Agency says metal spheres found on a Queensland beach are debris from a foreign rocket body.
Jilin-1 operator Chang Guang Satellite raised about 5 billion yuan for satellite production and constellation growth.

A Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket launched Katalyst's Link spacecraft to raise the decaying orbit of NASA's Swift observatory.

A satellite-manufacturing affiliate of launch company Landspace raised over 1.3 billion yuan from state-linked banks and investment funds.

An Atlas V 551 deployed 29 Amazon Leo satellites in what ULA says is the rocket's last flight carrying a satellite payload.

Isar's Spectrum rocket will carry a Planet Labs Germany Pelican Earth-observation satellite within about a year of the deal.

A GAO assessment found cost overruns and schedule slips across several Space Force missile-warning and satcom programs.

True Anomaly's Jackal spacecraft found, approached, and photographed a Rocket Lab-launched target for Space Systems Command.

Austria's Ministry of Defence picked R-Space to build Aurora, a laser-comms and quantum-encryption demonstration satellite due in 2027.

Poland's Sybilla Technologies raised about $10 million to grow its optical sensor network and enter the US market.

Vermont's Verde Technologies is shifting its perovskite solar-panel business from rooftops toward satellites, naming a new CEO to lead it.

Telesat is donating Telstar 19 VANTAGE capacity to Top Comunications for Venezuela's earthquake recovery effort.

Skyroot set a July 12-August 4 launch window for Vikram-1, India's first private orbital rocket, per SpaceNews and PTI.

ICEYE extended its SAR wildfire-monitoring service to Canada.

Vantor, formerly Maxar Intelligence, launched a 3D imagery line built on its WorldView Legion satellites.

The FCC's draft order would replace Part 25 with faster reviews and looser rules for minor satellite modifications.

French launch startup Latitude wants to fly its small launcher from a new Omani spaceport as soon as late 2027.

After a May 28 pad explosion destroyed its transporter-erector, Blue Origin will move New Glenn horizontally then raise it by crane.

Startup Lunar Forge came out of stealth with laser-sintering tech that turns lunar regolith into structures, starting with reactor housing.

Myriota added cellular fallback to its HyperPulse satellite IoT network, priced from $0.99 a device per month.
Italy's IRIDE Earth observation marketplace went live July 1 for government users, with commercial access planned later.

SASTIND published the first roster of China's commercial space innovation consortium, naming 271 organizations across nine groups.

Firefly's Alpha rocket is set to fly from a new pad in Swedish Lapland by 2028, adding an orbital launch site to mainland Europe.

Astrobotic, Firefly Aerospace, and Intuitive Machines split nearly $600 million in new NASA lunar lander task orders.

A NASA Inspector General report blames overconfidence and unrealistic schedules for Starliner's Commercial Crew problems.

ArianeGroup subsidiary MaiaSpace is considering a fourth Prometheus engine that would double Maia's payload across all variants.

Myriota subsidiary One-Tank rolled out Pulse, a satellite propane-tank monitor priced at $0.99 a month.

The Space Force operationally accepted L3Harris's mobile counter-communications jammer.

SpaceX filed with the FCC for up to 100,000 Gen3 Starlink satellites framed around AI-scale connectivity demand, per trade coverage.

The award covers build, launch, commissioning and ground upgrades for a CHORUS-based SAR satellite, per SpaceQ.

Per BIS Infotech: an MoU to design, manufacture and deploy SAR EO systems within India, pairing ICEYE tech with AgniKul launch.

Iberdrola picked ICEYE for a 12-month satellite grid-monitoring pilot.

Rocket Lab agreed to acquire Iridium Communications in a cash-and-stock deal valuing Iridium at about $8 billion enterprise value.
Rocket Lab and Iridium Communications said they signed a definitive agreement for Rocket Lab to acquire all outstanding Iridium common stock, per a joint press release filed as an exhibit to Rocket Lab's 8-K with the SEC on June 29, 2026. Iridium stockholders will receive $27.00 in cash plus Rocket Lab shares under an exchange ratio collared between $67.50 and $112.50, a structure the companies say has a notional value of $54.00 per Iridium share and implies an $8.0 billion enterprise value. Both boards approved the deal unanimously, Rocket Lab has commitments for a $3.6 billion bridge loan from Deutsche Bank and Wells Fargo, and the companies expect to close in mid-2027 subject to Iridium stockholder and regulatory approval. On July 6, 2026, Iridium said it completed its acquisition of the remaining 61% of Aireon, the space-based air-traffic-surveillance venture it did not already own, paying about $367 million to providers in Canada, England, Denmark, Ireland, and Italy, per SpaceNews, consolidating Aireon as a wholly owned subsidiary ahead of the Rocket Lab deal's close.

Per Ars Technica, citing people familiar: Shotwell floated a Starlink retail mobile product and a possible terrestrial network.

The Ten Owl of Ten mission flew from Mahia on June 26; testing and commissioning precede service entry, per Synspective.

The Blue Ghost descent-navigation supplier joins Firefly; no deal terms were disclosed in the announcement.

Per Space.com: the planned AI satellite network gets a name, at a scale about 100 times today's Starlink.

Per SpaceNews, NASA added three European Earth-observation firms to its CSDA commercial-data contract.

Per SpaceNews: the first public confirmation of Starfall, a vehicle for in-space manufacturing and orbital cargo return.

Senior notes from 5.35% due 2031 to 6.65% due 2056, mainly to repay the pre-IPO bridge loan, per the company's 8-K.

OHB is issuing new shares worth roughly 510 million euros to fund manufacturing capacity and its RFA launch subsidiary.

Per Securities Times via Reuters: up to three new investors for at most a 20% combined stake to fund constellation buildout.
Rocket Lab built, launched, and will operate a rendezvous-capable spacecraft for a Space Force rapid-response exercise.