Top Stories

EchoStar plans to pursue new opportunities as an "asset-light growth company" after selling key spectrum assets. At a briefing Monday, company executives said they will use the capital from selling spectrum to AT&T and SpaceX to "expand our aperture" but provided few specifics about what markets it might pursue. Executives described the spectrum sale as a "forced pivot" after the FCC opened investigations into its use of S-band satellite spectrum and buildout of 5G terrestrial networks. EchoStar cofounder and chairman Charlie Ergen praised SpaceX, which paid $17 billion in cash and stock for EchoStar's S-band spectrum, as a company taking the lead in launch and satellite services. [SpaceNews]

Telesat says its Lightspeed constellation could help Europe bridge the gap to its IRIS² constellation. Speaking at World Space Business Week Monday, Telesat CEO Dan Goldberg argued there was an opportunity for the government of Canada to work with Europe on using Lightspeed for secure connectivity while IRIS² is in development. Telesat has yet to launch any Lightspeed satellites but expects to start providing services in 2027, at least three years before IRIS². The offer comes as traditional satellite operators like Telesat pivot from video to broadband services given the pressures on the companies caused by declining video revenues. [SpaceNews]

Launch providers have reiterated plans to sharply increase launch rates despite falling short of earlier projections. At a World Space Business Week session on Monday, officials from several providers said they expect to ramp up launch rates of new vehicles in the next year, although in many cases they are falling short of launch goals they set at last year's conference. Blue Origin vowed to be "launching multiple times per month" next year with its New Glenn rocket, which has only flown once. Arianespace has also cut back slightly its launch projections, with the company now planning four Ariane 6 launches this year versus the five it stated it would conduct as recently as June. [SpaceNews]

Swissto12, a manufacturer of small GEO satellites, has completed a key review for its first direct-to-device spacecraft. The company announced a contract in March to deliver the 1,000-kilogram Neastar-1 satellite for Singapore's Astrum Mobile, which aims to provide low-bandwidth multimedia and connectivity services across Asia. That satellite has now passed its preliminary design review, Swissto12 announced Monday. The company did not disclose when it expects to complete Neastar-1. It is based on Swissto12's HummingSat platform, which will fly for the first time in early 2027. [SpaceNews]

York Space Systems says the delivery of a batch of Space Development Agency (SDA) satellites is the result of years of investment in production capabilities. The 21 satellites, launched last week, are the first plane of the SDA's Tranche 1 Transport Layer communications constellation. York CEO Dirk Wallinger said the delivery comes after extensive work to scale up satellite production at the company, with two factories now in "rapid production" of satellites for SDA and others. The company can produce a single satellite in weeks, and York hopes to leverage that capability into a role on the Golden Dome missile defense system. [SpaceNews]

Other News

SpaceX relied on careful planning, and subterfuge, to acquire the land for Starbase. The company was initially skeptical that it could develop a launch site adjacent to Boca Chica Beach on the Gulf coast of Texas, given limited infrastructure and conditions there. When the company decided to proceed, it studied county property rolls, cold-calling owners to offer to buy their property. They did not disclose they were working for SpaceX, using shell companies with names like Dogleg Park LLC and The Flats at Mars Crossing to buy the land. Local residents later found out SpaceX was behind the property purchases. To conceal the people behind the purchases, one SpaceX official showed up to a county property auction in disguise. [SpaceNews]

China launched a communications demonstration satellite Monday night. A Long March 2C lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 9:06 p.m. Eastern and put the unnamed satellite into low Earth orbit. Chinese media described the satellite as one that will test satellite internet technologies. [Xinhua]

The first launch of Isar Aerospace's Spectrum rocket failed because the vehicle could not maintain attitude control. The rocket launched from Norway's Andøya Spaceport in late March, but malfunctioned and fell to Earth seconds later. Company executives said Monday that an investigation concluded the rocket's attitude control system wasn't properly programmed to handle certain modes of the rocket right after liftoff, causing the vehicle to lose control and go outside its safety corridor. That triggered its flight termination system. The rocket also had a valve in a vent that was left open, allowing cryogenic vapors to escape, which would have caused problems if the flight continued. Isar said it is working to prepare for the second Spectrum launch, likely late this year or early next year. [SpaceNews]

Expanding defense budgets and the direct-to-device race are driving growth in the global space economy. At its World Space Business Week conference Monday, Novaspace said it expects the 2024 space economy, which it values at $596 billion, to grow to $944 billion in 2033. Satellite services are responsible for much of that growth. Demand for sovereign space capabilities continues to broaden, the company says, and direct-to-device services could gain more than 300 million monthly subscribers by 2030. [SpaceNews]

The European Space Agency will look to strengthen Europe's autonomy in launch, security and exploration. In an interview at World Space Business Week, Director General Josef Aschbacher said Europe is accelerating the link between space and defense. He also said ESA has narrowed its European launcher challenge from 12 to five candidates, with a goal of ultimately fostering competition between two providers. The full interview is available online. [SpaceNews]

The Space Data Association selected Spanish company GMV to upgrade and operate its global space traffic coordination platform. The upgrades will support the Space Safety Portal (SSP), which ingests flight dynamics information from members of the association as well as other public sources to provide conjunction assessment and warning services. The upgrades include more realistic assessments of collision probabilities and working around companies that fail to share maneuver data. The upgrades will allow SSP to better handle increasingly congested orbits and heightened collision risks. [SpaceNews]

Slippery Moon Rock

"We're going to make the moon more frictionless so that more and more people can go there and can grow the ecosystem."

– Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly Aerospace, discussing his company's lunar missions and efforts to build up a lunar economy at the World Space Business Week conference Monday.

FROM SPACENEWS

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