| Spire Global is selling its commercial ship-tracking business to a Belgian company to pay off debt. Spire said Wednesday that Kpler, an analytics company, will pay $241 million to take over Spire's maritime customer contracts and get exclusive rights to sell ship-tracking data from the operator's satellites to commercial entities and governments worldwide. Spire would retain its satellites, technology and other infrastructure following the transaction, which includes $7.5 million for services over 12 months, as well as its current maritime customers in the U.S. government. The proceeds would help Spire Global pay off all its outstanding debt, which is about $100 million. Spire will focus on near-term growth opportunities across its weather, aviation, radio frequency geolocation and space services markets. Spire is also continuing to review its accounting practices and procedures surrounding the timing of bookings under its space services business, which has delayed quarterly filings with the SEC. [SpaceNews]
NASA and Roscosmos don't agree on the cause and severity of an air leak in a Russian module on the International Space Station. According to statements at an advisory committee Wednesday, NASA and Roscosmos have yet to agree on the root cause of the small but persistent air leak in a vestibule in the Zvezda service module that separates a cargo spacecraft docking port from the rest of the module. That vestibule is closed off when crews don't need to access the docking port. Roscosmos doesn't believe the leak poses a risk of "catastrophic disintegration" of the vestibule, but NASA remains concerned about its structural integrity. At a briefing last week, a NASA astronaut said that when the vestibule is opened, astronauts close a hatch separating the Russian and U.S. segments as a precaution. [SpaceNews]
Satellite servicing company Starfish Space has raised $29 million. The company announced the funding round Wednesday, led by Shield Capital with participation by several other existing and new investors. The completion of the new round brings Starfish's total funding to date to more than $50 million. The funding will allow the company to complete development of its first three Otter servicing vehicles, which will perform missions for Intelsat, the U.S. Space Force and NASA. [SpaceNews]
Rocket Lab has signed up the first customer for its Neutron launch vehicle. The company announced this week it signed a contract with an undisclosed "commercial satellite constellation operator" for two Neutron launches in mid-2026 and 2027, adding that the deal could expand to cover that customer's entire constellation. Rocket Lab said it is continuing to work towards a mid-2025 first launch of Neutron with a gradual ramp-up of launches in 2026 and beyond. Rocket Lab added that it is not selling initial Neutron launches at a discount, and that the value of this contract is "in family" with previous statements that estimated a price of $50-55 million for a Neutron launch. [SpaceNews]
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions won a contract from the Space Development Agency (SDA) for a ground system to support missile-defense satellites. The five-year contract, valued at $116.7 million, is part of a program intended to establish a central, cloud-based command hub for missile-tracking satellite systems. Kratos will build the ground infrastructure to facilitate the coordination of real-time data across a constellation of missile-tracking satellites. [SpaceNews]
The incoming Trump administration may seek to create a more "offensive" Space Force. Recommendations in Project 2025, a policy package developed by the conservative Heritage Foundation, include a call for the Space Force to adopt "offensive" strategies, emphasizing the need for America to demonstrate stronger deterrence capabilities in space. Project 2025 advocates for the Space Force to develop capabilities that would ensure not only the protection but also the "deterrence" of threats, citing the need for U.S. assets that can outmaneuver and counter adversarial technologies in space. Although Trump has not endorsed the full breadth of Project 2025, many proposals echo his first-term policies and campaign rhetoric, leading analysts to anticipate that the incoming president may incorporate parts of it in his administration's approach. [SpaceNews]
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