Plus: Four lunar base awards from NASA
By Jeff Foust
In today's edition: SpaceX wins big Space Force contract, NASA picks four companies for initial lunar base awards, Europe's interest in the SpaceX IPO and more.
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Top Stories
SpaceX won a Space Force contract worth nearly $2.3 billion for a military satellite data network. The $2.29 billion award, announced Tuesday, is for the development of a network known as the Space Data Network (SDN) Backbone, previously known as MILNET. It will feature optically interconnected satellites that would transport military data through space rather than relying primarily on terrestrial relay networks or ground stations. The Space Force said the SDN backbone will be integrated with the Space Development Agency's Transport Layer constellation, a separate low Earth orbit mesh network intended to provide military communications and data relay services. Military officials view the SDN as a foundational component of Golden Dome because it would allow missile-tracking satellites to rapidly transmit targeting data through orbital relay networks to command systems or interceptors with minimal delay. [SpaceNews]
NASA selected four companies for the first contracts linked to its planned lunar base. At a briefing Tuesday, NASA announced it awarded contracts to Astrolab and Lunar Outpost to develop rovers that will be used by astronauts on Artemis missions and also operated remotely when crews are not present. The rovers will be delivered on Blue Moon Mark 1 landers from Blue Origin under a separate contract. NASA also selected Firefly Aerospace to transport to the moon its MoonFall drone-like spacecraft that will hop across the lunar surface. The four contracts have a combined value of nearly $1 billion if all options are exercised. NASA plans to send the MoonFall spacecraft and the rovers to the moon by 2028, ahead of the Artemis 4 landing. [SpaceNews]
Orbital data center startup Starcloud is buying optical terminals from SpaceX. Starcloud said Tuesday it signed a contract for more than 50 Starlink Mini Lasers, enough to equip at least 25 satellites with two terminals each as part of a constellation that ultimately envisions 88,000 orbital data centers. The terminals would connect Starcloud satellites directly into Starlink's low Earth orbit mesh network, bypassing bandwidth-constrained ground stations. The company plans to use the links on spacecraft starting with Starcloud 2, a 450-kilogram spacecraft launching in January that is set to be the venture's first to run commercial cloud workloads. [SpaceNews]
Voyager Technologies won a DARPA contract to continue development of a solid rocket motor thrust-control technology. The $16.5 million contract announced Tuesday funds Phase 2 of DARPA's "Burn n' Go" program, an effort launched last year to develop what the agency describes as a "propellant-embedded control technology" that would give solid rocket motors tailorable, post-manufacturing thrust control. The 20-month contract will work to validate Voyager's technology through ground tests. [SpaceNews]
Europe's space industry is closely watching SpaceX's IPO. During a panel at SmallSat Europe Tuesday, industry officials said they believed that the initial public offering could help attract investors into other space companies as those investors seek the next SpaceX-like company. The interest in the IPO has already driven up valuations of other space companies. However, one investor noted Europe's space industry is five to 10 years behind the U.S. in its development and still lacks the large-scale contracts that can provide the foundation for a company to go public. [SpaceNews]
Regulations and access to capital remain challenges for European space companies today, though. At another SmallSat Europe panel, executives said it remains difficult for European space companies to raise large rounds without going to American investors. They said Europe remains a good place to start a space company but that there needed to be reforms similar to those in India and Japan to promote the industry's growth. Executives also cited concerns with the EU Space Act, noting that while they approved of the goal of creating a single market for space in Europe, the approach the draft law uses could slow the industry down. [SpaceNews]
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Other News
SpaceX launched Starlink satellites Tuesday night from California. A Falcon 9 lifted off at 10:50 p.m. Eastern from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, putting 24 Starlink satellites into orbit. The launch was the second Starlink mission in as many days for SpaceX, after a Falcon 9 launch Monday morning from Florida. [Spaceflight Now]
China launched an experimental communications satellite Tuesday. A Long March 7 rocket lifted off from the Wenchang spaceport at 12:16 p.m. Eastern. It placed into orbit what Chinese media described as a satellite built by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology to test multi-band, high-speed satellite communication technologies. [CGTN]
Increased spending by European militaries on space can help companies but only if it's done quickly. Speaking at SmallSat Europe on Tuesday, Chiara Manfletti, CEO of Portuguese space domain awareness startup Neuraspace, said that while European militaries are planning tens of billions of euros of new spending on space, those agencies are not known for working quickly. That could make it difficult for startups, who have limited cash runways, from taking advantage of that spending: "You either feed innovation quickly, or innovation will perish." [SpaceNews]
European nations are adopting a variety of technology approaches to enhance military readiness. Those countries are using a mix of sovereign, bilateral, federated and dual-use commercial technologies for military applications, saying that federated and commercial systems can augment national ones. European nations have varying budgets and differing levels of ambition to own and operate space assets, but officials at SmallSat Europe said countries need to find their niche to ensure a role in international discussions. [SpaceNews]
SpaceX allegedly pushed the Pentagon to pay more for satellite connectivity during the ongoing conflict with Iran. According to a report, SpaceX sought a five-fold increase in the price of satellite terminals used on Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System (LUCAS) drones, which are used as munitions. SpaceX CEO denied the report on social media but also said that the manufacturer of the drone erred in placing conventional Starlink terminals on the LUCAS drones rather than the military-grade Starshield alternative, as it is a violation of the Starlink terms of service to use the commercial system for military applications. [Ars Technica]
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The Wait Is Almost Over
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"I'll just say I'm really happy this IPO is finally here so we can stop talking about when it's coming."
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– Mike Collett, managing partner of Promus Ventures, discussing SpaceX's IPO at the SmallSat Europe conference Tuesday.
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