By Jeff Foust
In today's edition: the Space Force's space tracking warning, Arianespace looks for ways to increase Ariane 6 launch rates, French military interest in spaceplanes and more.
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Top Stories
The U.S. Space Force's top general says the service's ability to track objects in space is dangerously outdated. In a speech Wednesday at the AMOS conference in Hawaii, Gen. Chance Saltzman said the military's space surveillance systems, built for a more peaceful orbital environment, are struggling to keep pace with the explosive growth in satellites and space debris as well as the deployment of anti-satellite weapons by rivals such as China and Russia. He said the military can't be satisfied if it takes hours to track on-orbit activity and weeks to months to fully characterize it. He called for "a more comprehensive program to avoid operational surprise" rather than make incremental improvements to space domain awareness systems. [SpaceNews]
The Space Force is speeding up its reorganization of acquisition units. Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, head of the Space Systems Command, said the restructuring, centered on "System Deltas" that pair acquisition officers with operational commanders, is progressing at a fast pace. In recent months the command activated new system deltas focused on missile warning, space-based sensing, space domain awareness, and training infrastructure. Garrant said the remaining units will be established in the next two months. The goal is to eliminate bureaucratic seams that historically slowed acquisitions and sometimes produced systems that didn't fully meet operational needs. [SpaceNews]
Companies developing small GEO communications satellites are taking different strategies regarding vertical integration. At one, as described during a panel at World Space Business Week Wednesday, sits Switzerland's Swissto12, which recently expanded downstream by acquiring Ku-band terminal assets from Hanwha Phasor. At the other end is ReOrbit of Finland, which is committed to leaving hardware to third parties even after recently raising more than $50 million in a funding round announced earlier this month. In between the two is AscendArc, which plans to vertically integrate around a novel payload design while sourcing more standard spacecraft components off the shelf. [SpaceNews]
Arianespace is considering ways to expand the launch rate of its Ariane 6 beyond its current limit of 10 per year. Arianespace CEO David Cavaillolès told reporters during World Space Business Week that the company is exploring options to ramp up production if enough demand emerges from government and commercial constellations. Those plans involve increasing capacity for producing the vehicle's solid rocket boosters as well as spaceport improvements that could include a second launch pad. Cavaillolès said the company would need to decide on any upgrades in the next year or two so that additional capacity could be available by 2030, when demand from new constellations may emerge. [SpaceNews]
Astra is targeting the summer of next year for the first launch of its Rocket 4 vehicle. Astra CEO Chris Kemp said Wednesday at World Space Business Week that the company was on track for a first launch of the vehicle, capable of placing 750 kilograms into low Earth orbit, from Cape Canaveral. Kemp said Astra is seeing demand from customers looking for alternatives to SpaceX for launches. Astra announced Rocket 4 in 2022 but ran into technical challenges with the earlier Rocket 3.3 and financial problems that caused the company to go private last year. [SpaceNews]
Defense and security applications accounted for nearly half of commercial Earth observation revenue last year. A study by Novaspace, presented Thursday at World Space Business Week, found that geopolitical tensions have become the major driver for sales of Earth observation data and services, outpacing commercial and civil government demand. Novaspace found that commercial Earth observation generated about $6 billion in annual revenue in 2024 and projects that to nearly triple to $17 billion over the next decade. [SpaceNews]
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Other News
A Cygnus cargo spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station this morning after a one-day delay. The station's robotic arm grappled the NG-23 Cygnus spacecraft at 7:24 a.m. Eastern, and will berth the spacecraft to the Unity module later today. The Cygnus was scheduled to arrive at the station Wednesday morning but suffered early shutdowns of its main engine during two orbit-raising maneuvers on Tuesday. NASA and Northrop Grumman later found that a "conservative safeguard in the software settings" caused the shutdowns and not a problem with the thruster itself. [SpaceNews]
SpaceX launched more Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Thursday morning. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at 5:30 a.m. Eastern and put 28 Starlink satellites into orbit. The launch came after another Falcon 9 launch of Starlink satellites from California on Wednesday was scrubbed because of weather. That launch has been rescheduled for 11:43 a.m. Eastern Thursday. [Spaceflight Now]
The French military is backing development of a reusable spaceplane. Dassault Aviation announced in June a contract with the French armament agency DGA to develop VORTEX, a four-meter-long spaceplane demonstrator with a mass of less than one metric ton. A first flight is expected in 2028. VORTEX will launch on a small rocket, reach hypersonic speeds, perform atmospheric reentry and validate key technologies including thermal protection systems. DGA sees potential military uses of spaceplanes like VORTEX that include in-space servicing and return of cargo. [SpaceNews]
Hubble Network has raised $70 million to advance its plans for a constellation of satellites using Bluetooth protocols. The Series B round, announced Wednesday, builds upon $30 million in earlier funding announced by the company. Hubble is planning a constellation of satellites that will be able to communicate with devices and sensors on the ground using Bluetooth. Hubble recently announced a contract with Muon Space for two satellites to launch in 2027, part of a constellation of 60 proposed to be in orbit as soon as 2028. [GeekWire]
Maxar Intelligence released a new product that turns satellite imagery into 2D and 3D maps. Vivid Features combines Maxar's satellite imagery archive with artificial intelligence software from Ecopia AI to automatically identify and outline buildings, roads, vegetation, water bodies and other features in satellite imagery. The companies said the product should be able to reduce the time it takes to create new vector-based maps from such imagery. [SpaceNews]
The Russian space agency Roscosmos claims it is making rapid progress on a satellite constellation to compete with Starlink. Dmitry Bakanov, the head of Roscosmos, said on Russian television that the agency was incorporating data from prototype satellites into the design of production spacecraft being built by a company called Bureau 1440. He said work on the constellation is proceeding at a "rapid pace" but offered few specifics. [Reuters]
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They'll Still Try, Though
| "The laws of physics are there and no amount of VC money can change that."
| – Benoit Deper, CEO of satellite manufacturer Aerospacelab, discussing how smallsats have become more capable but heavier during a panel at World Space Business Week on Wednesday.
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