By Jeff Foust

In this today's edition: more funding for a satellite manufacturer, broadband constellation developer and space surveillance company, while the House adds money for the Space Force.

If someone forwarded you this edition, sign up to receive it in your inbox every weekday. Have thoughts or feedback? You can hit reply to let me know directly.

Top Stories

House appropriators approved a defense spending bill Thursday that includes more money for the Space Force. The Space Force would receive $29 billion under the bill, approved by the House Appropriations Committee. That's a modest increase from $28.7 billion in 2025 but notably $2.7 billion more than the administration included in its "skinny" base budget proposal. Beyond funding levels, the House bill includes directives aimed at streamlining Space Force acquisitions, such as reorganizing space programs by "mission area" rather than individual program lines. Some appropriators criticized the bill and said the committee should wait until getting full documentation on the administration's proposal. [SpaceNews]

Muon Space raised nearly $90 million in new funding and acquired a supplier. The company, which makes satellites for Earth observation and related services, said Thursday it raised $89.5 million as an extension to an earlier Series B round, bringing that round to $146 million. The funding will allow the company to scale up satellite production with a goal of producing 500 satellites annually. Muon Space also said it acquired propulsion startup Starlight Engines, who is developing solid-propellant Hall effect thrusters. The acquisition brings a key technology in-house for Muon and reduces the costs and supply chain vulnerabilities that come with more typical xenon- and krypton-based systems. [SpaceNews]

Logos Space Services raised $50 million to advance its plans for a broadband constellation. The company said Thursday it raised the Series A round from US Innovative Technologies, an investment firm backing technologies for both civilian and military uses. Logos is planning a constellation of more than 4,000 satellites providing broadband services in higher frequency bands than other systems, using tightly focused beams at elevated angles to minimize signal disruption and resist jamming. The funds will help Logos advance toward critical design decisions, partner selection and prototype development ahead of a goal of launching its first operational satellite in late 2027. [SpaceNews]

French space situational awareness company Look Up raised nearly 50 million euros ($57.6 million) to develop more tracking radars. The company said its Series A round includes a mix of private investment, loans and a 15-million-euro award from the European Union. The company, which has one radar in France for tracking objects in low Earth orbit, plans to build two more in French Polynesia, and will also expand services for satellite operators. Look Up was founded by a former general who led French Space Command and the former head of space surveillance at the French space agency CNES. [SpaceNews]

Chinese company CAS Space completed hotfire tests of the first stage of its Kinetica-2 rocket. The successful test this week is a major step toward the rocket's first flight, expected later this year. The rocket is designed to carry up to 12,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit or around 7,800 kilograms to a 500-kilometer-altitude sun-synchronous orbit. That first launch will carry Qingzhou-1, a commercial cargo spacecraft being developed by the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. [SpaceNews]

Other News

The launch of a private astronaut mission to the International Space Station is on an indefinite hold because of a problem there. NASA said Thursday it and SpaceX agreed to delay the launch of Axiom Space's Ax-4 mission to give NASA more time to work with Roscosmos on a "new pressure signature" detected in a Russian space station module that has suffered leaks for years. That issue apparently arose after cosmonauts inspected those leaks and tried to seal them. NASA later added that the ISS crew is not affected by the issue and is working normally. NASA officials, including safety advisers, have raised concerns about the leaks in the last year. [SpaceNews]

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 Thursday during a hearing about increasing such launches from California. A Falcon 9 lifted off at 9:54 p.m. Eastern from Vandenberg Space Force Base and placed 26 Starlink satellites into orbit. The launch took place during a public hearing in the nearby town of Lompoc about environmental reviews for increasing the number of Falcon 9 launches from Vandenberg and allowing SpaceX to use another pad there, SLC-6, for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches. [Noozhawk]

The falling out between Elon Musk and President Trump could reduce SpaceX's role in the Golden Dome missile defense system. The White House had reportedly been planning to select a team that features SpaceX, along with Palantir and Anduril, to build key elements of Golden Dome, although there has been no formal procurement yet for that missile defense system. After Musk and Trump feuded last week, though, the White House is reportedly rethinking those plans and may focus more on ground-based elements that don't require SpaceX. [Reuters]

Jared Isaacman outlined some things he would have done had he been confirmed as NASA administrator. In an interview, he said he had developed a plan more than 100 pages long for changes he would make to NASA had his nomination not been pulled by the White House at the end of May. That included an effort to accelerate the schedule for Artemis 2, bringing forward its launch from next spring to the end of this year. He said he would have increased crewed missions to the ISS, including supporting changes to SpaceX's Dragon to allow it to carry seven people instead of the current four. He also sought to move aggressively on development of nuclear electric propulsion. Some of those plans, though, would have clashed with the administration's budget proposal for NASA, which reduced spending on the ISS and cut nuclear propulsion work. [Ars Technica]

The NSF budget proposal could end operations of a new, powerful telescope for studying the sun. Speaking at the American Astronomical Society conference this week, the director of the National Solar Observatory said the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget for the NSF would cut funding for the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) by more than 50%, a level that makes it impossible to continue operations. DKIST only began science observations in 2022, using the world's largest telescope for observing the sun. Scientists had hailed the high-resolution images DKIST has provided to better understand solar activity. [Space.com]

Young and Fresh at Heart

"I don't like 'NewSpace' because if there is someone who is NewSpace, there are other players who are 'OldSpace.' I don't think this is the way to define the evolution of our sector, first of all because I think of myself as being young and fresh."

– Massimo Comparini, managing director of the space division at Leonardo, during a panel at the Paris Air Forum on Friday.

🚀 🕑 🎧 Don't miss SpaceNews' FirstUp Audio
The day's most important space headlines delivered in less than 10 minutes every Monday-Friday. Listen on our website, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast app.

FROM SPACENEWS

Sign up for our other newsletters

Military Space: Veteran defense journalist Sandra Erwin delivers news and insights for the military space professional. Delivered Tuesday.
China Report: Analysis of China's space activities and what it means as one of the United States' top competitors from correspondent Andrew Jones. Delivered every other Wednesday.
SpaceNext AI: Exploring the intersection of space and artificial intelligence. Delivered Thursday.
SpaceNews This Week: A round-up of the week's top stories, including our conference coverage. Delivered Friday.
Video & Audio: Upcoming live programs, scheduled guests, and recent Space Minds podcast episodes, webinars and other events. Delivered Friday.
Marketing Minute: Covering PR, marketing, and advertising trends, upcoming SpaceNews opportunities, and editorial insights for communications and marketing leaders. Delivered monthly.