Top Stories

Anuvu, which provides in-flight connectivity services using satellites, is being acquired by a private equity firm. Platinum Equity said Monday it expects to complete a deal before the end of the year for Anuvu, which provides wi-fi to airlines and media services across the aviation and maritime markets. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Anuvu, which went through Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization five years ago, is shifting from leasing capacity on conventional GEO satellites to operating its own "micro GEO" satellites with software-defined payloads. The first two of those satellites, built by Astranis, are now in operation over North America. Anuvu has options for up to eight Astranis satellites. [SpaceNews]

SpinLaunch has raised $30 million to continue work on a broadband satellite constellation. On Monday, the company announced the funds, which came from existing investors as well as a $12 million strategic investment by Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace announced in April. The money will allow SpinLaunch to continue development of Meridian Space, a constellation the company claims can provide broadband services with far less capital investment than other systems. SpinLaunch hired Massimiliano Ladovaz, former CTO of OneWeb, as its new CEO last month. [SpaceNews]

Allied nations will have a bigger role in a major space wargame run by the U.S. Space Force. Officials said the 2027 version of the Schriever Wargame will include allied nations jointly developing scenarios and objectives rather than following U.S.-led planning. The Schriever Wargame is a tabletop exercise that has brought together military planners since 2001 to explore space security challenges. The shift, Space Force officials said, reflects the increasing emphasis on international cooperation and partnering with allied nations. [SpaceNews]

Italian-Dutch company Revolv Space has won its first order from an American customer for satellite components. Revolv Space said that Blue Canyon Technologies ordered six units of its flagship solar array drive assembly, SARA, for use on Blue Canyon spacecraft. Securing its first contract with an American customer is a milestone for the three-year-old Revolv Space, which is run by a team distributed across Europe. The company is readying another financing round later this year to support expansion after raising 2.8 million euros in May 2024. [SpaceNews]

Firefly Aerospace has signed an agreement with a Japanese company to study potential launches of Alpha from a Japanese commercial spaceport. The memorandum of understanding with Space Cotan, the Japanese company that operates Hokkaido Spaceport (HOSPO), will explore the feasibility of Alpha launches from that spaceport. HOSPO hosts suborbital launches and has an agreement with Japanese launch developer Interstellar Technologies to build a launch site for its Zero small launcher. HOSPO would join Alpha's current launch site at Vandenberg and planned facilities at Wallops Island in Virginia and in Sweden. Firefly said it continues to investigate the failure of the most recent Alpha launch in April and "has made significant progress," but has not disclosed details or a return-to-flight plan. [SpaceNews]

Other News

A Chinese commercial rocket launched seven satellites early Tuesday, including two for a Latin American customer. The Kinetica-1, or Lijian-1, solid-fuel rocket lifted off at 3:33 a.m. Eastern from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. CAS Space, which operates the rocket, said it successfully deployed seven satellites into low Earth orbit. The satellites include two satellites, each weighing less than 100 grams, from Mexican company ThumbSat. ThumbSat-1 carries a selfie payload, aiming to capture its own mirror-selfie in orbit, while ThumbSat-2 carries an artistic payload. The other five satellites were from Chinese organizations. [SpaceNews]

The 100th Falcon 9 launch of the year carried a set of Starlink satellites. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 12:26 p.m. Eastern Monday and put 24 Starlink satellites into orbit. The company hit the 100-launch milestone three months earlier this year than in 2024. Of the 100 Falcon 9 launches so far this year, 72 were for Starlink. [Spaceflight Now]

The next Electron launch will be for an undisclosed customer. Rocket Lab said Monday the next Electron launch is scheduled for no earlier than Saturday from its New Zealand launch complex. The company said the "Live, Laugh, Launch" mission will deploy five satellites into low Earth orbit for a confidential commercial customer. An Electron launch earlier this year, also for a confidential customer, carried a satellite later associated with EchoStar. [Rocket Lab]

The next Cygnus spacecraft to go to the International Space Station has been named after a Columbia astronaut. Northrop Grumman said Monday that it named NG-23 Cygnus spacecraft the S.S. William "Willie" C. McCool after the pilot on the STS-107 mission. NG-23 is scheduled to launch next month on a Falcon 9. [Northrop Grumman]

NASA's Glenn Research Center is offering an iconic hangar for lease. The center says the large hangar, built in 1941 and easily recognized by people flying through Cleveland's airport thanks to the large NASA logo on its roof, is available to companies through an enhanced use lease. NASA has not set a price for leasing the hangar, and whoever leases it will have to sign a National Historic Preservation Act agreement to preserve its exterior, but will be free to renovate the interior. [WEWS-TV Cleveland]

A contest has selected 25 finalists for the design of a "zero-gravity indicator" for the Artemis 2 mission. Crowdsourcing company Freelancer announced the designs that made the cut in the competition to create a unique plushie that will fly on Artemis 2, tethered to a console to float around once the spacecraft in microgravity. Twelve of the designs are from children and 13 from adults, ranging from animals to whimsical creatures. NASA will select one of the finalists to go on Artemis 2. [collectSPACE]

Alien Snowflakes

"We just know that there is something making these big rainbows, but we don't know… why it's there, and if it's coming from these 'alien snowflakes.'"

– Stéphanie Cazaux, a planetary scientist at the Delft University of Technology, on the discovery in old Cassini data of unusual "space rainbows" that may be created by sunlight passing through water ice particles emitted from Saturn's moon Enceladus. [Sky & Telescope]

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