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Spanish launch startup PLD Space has raised more than $200 million. The company announced Wednesday a Series C round of 180 million euros ($209 million) led by Japanese satellite maker Mitsubishi Electric. The company plans to use the funds to scale up production of its Miura 5 small launch vehicle, slated to make its first launch before the end of the year. PLD Space expects to launch up to 30 Miura 5 rockets annually by the end of the decade. As part of its funding, Mitsubishi Electric partnered to secure priority access to the rocket as part of plans to support missions in the Asian market. The funding brings PLD Space's total financing raised to date to more than 350 million euros since it was established in 2011; it also secured 169 million euros in ESA's European Launcher Challenge last fall. [SpaceNews]

The Space Force's push to accelerate procurement of new systems is being delayed by a lack of acquisition personnel. At a conference last week, senior leaders and industry executives described a procurement system under strain as the Pentagon pushes the Space Force to move faster, using alternative contracting approaches and commercial-style buying models. However, that approach is being slowed by a lack of contracting officers and managers. Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, senior adviser to the secretary of the Air Force for space acquisitions, said the service needs procurement professionals not just to manage its current portfolio but also implement more intricate contracting approaches. [SpaceNews]

NASA says it has fixed a problem with the Space Launch System upper stage that required rolling back the vehicle to the Vehicle Assembly Building. NASA said Tuesday that workers traced a blockage of helium flow into the SLS upper stage to a dislodged seal in a quick-disconnect fitting. The seal was repositioned and tests showed that helium was flowing into the stage again. The problem forced NASA to roll back the SLS last week since it could not be fixed at the pad. NASA expects to roll the vehicle back to the pad later this month for the next Artemis 2 launch window in early April. [SpaceNews]

The leaders of the House Science Committee have asked the FCC to scale back parts of a satellite licensing streamlining effort. In a letter to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr last week, Reps. Brian Babin (R-Texas) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) said the FCC was exceeding its statutory authority by including space safety requirements in its proposed rulemaking to improve satellite licensing. They noted that the FCC, under law, has no authority to oversee space safety issues such as mitigating orbital debris. The committee raised similar concerns in the past as the FCC took moves such as reducing the time to deorbit a satellite at the end of its life from 25 years to five. Babin, chair of the committee, said last week he wants the committee to take up a new commercial space bill this year that might address space safety, among other topics. [SpaceNews]

The space industry has mixed opinions on a proposed Blue Origin satellite constellation. The company took many by surprise earlier this year when it announced TeraWave, with more than 5,000 satellites in low and medium Earth orbits to provide broadband services for enterprise customers. Some industry observers see an opportunity for TeraWave, as it will not compete head-to-head with systems like Amazon Leo and Starlink that are more focused on consumers. Others, though, are skeptical that Blue Origin can deploy TeraWave as quickly as it has proposed, with first launches in at little as 18 months. [SpaceNews]

Other News

SpaceX launched more Starlink satellites early this morning. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 5:52 a.m. Eastern, placing 29 satellites into orbit. The predawn liftoff created a brilliant "jellyfish" effect as the plume of the ascending rocket was backlit by the sun. The launch was the 16th this year from Florida, all but one of them by Falcon 9. [Florida Today]

Japanese company Space One scrubbed a launch of its Kairos small rocket Tuesday. The rocket was scheduled to lift off at 9 p.m. Eastern from Spaceport Kii in southern Honshu, but the launch was called off after a "safety system" was activated 30 seconds before liftoff. The company did not disclose additional details about the problem or announce a new launch date. This is the third launch for the small solid-fuel Kairos rocket, which failed to reach orbit in its first two launches in 2024. [Jiji Press]

Honeywell plans to spin out its aerospace business into a standalone company. Honeywell said Tuesday that Honeywell Aerospace will become a separate company, traded on the Nasdaq exchange. That spinout is expected to take place in the third quarter. Honeywell Aerospace had $17.4 billion in revenue and $1.5 billion in net income in 2025 supporting aviation, defense and space customers, including components and instruments for spacecraft. [Honeywell]

A California factory that had been used to design Barbies and Hot Wheels will soon be producing spacecraft. Varda Space Industries has signed an agreement to take over a 205,000-square-foot facility in El Segundo, California, that was previously used by toy maker Mattel as a research and development center. Varda will use the facility to expand production of its spacecraft and reentry vehicles, joining two other buildings the company already has in El Segundo. [Los Angeles Times]

Austria is developing its first military satellite. BEACONSAT, being built by Austrian startup GATE Space for the Austrian Ministry of Defense, will be used to track interference with navigation satellite signals. GATE Space is working with Danish smallsat manufacturer Space Inventor and several other Austrian companies on BEACONSAT, which is scheduled to launch in 2027 on a SpaceX rideshare mission. [Breaking Defense]

FROM SPACENEWS

The cover of the March 2026 edition of SpaceNews magazine with the headline Out of the Blue

The Satcom Issue – Out Now: In the March 2026 issue of SpaceNews magazine, Jason Rainbow details how Blue Origin's surprise constellation has jolted the LEO broadband race, Sandra Erwin reports that the Space Force is rethinking its satellite ground station strategy and Debra Werner explores how massive comms constellations may impede weather observations. Subscribe today to download this latest issue and get access to all our reporting and analysis.

Not Enough Rockets

"There aren't enough launch vehicles. There are not even enough launch vehicles to get Amazon Leo launched on schedule."

– Armand Musey, founder of advisory firm Summit Ridge Group, expressing doubts that Blue Origin will be able to deploy its own TeraWave broadband constellation given demand for launch from other constellations.

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03/04/2026

BREAKING NEWS

PLD Space raises $209 million to shift into serial rocket production

PLD Space has raised 180 million euros ($209 million) to ramp up production of the Spanish startup's Miura 5 launch vehicle, marking the largest funding round for a European space business announced this year. The Series C round was led by Japanese satellite maker Mitsubishi Electric, which has partnered to secure priority access to the rocket as part of plans to support missions for the Asian market.

—By Jason Rainbow

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