By Jeff Foust
In today's edition: Europe outlines plans for a "Space Shield", HyImpulse raises 45 million euros, a busy weekend of Chinese and Starlink launches, and more.
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Top Stories
Planet secured its first win as a prime contractor in a National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) commercial analytics program. Planet announced last week it won a $12.8 million contract to deliver maritime data and analytics for regions across the Asia-Pacific as part of NGA's Lumo program. The contract is part of Luno B, which integrates commercial AI tools directly into NGA's analytic workflows. Planet is partnering with SynMax, which specializes in fusing satellite imagery with artificial intelligence and other multi-source data for the energy and maritime industries. [SpaceNews]
The European Commission has delivered a roadmap for developing new defense capabilities, including space systems, by 2030. The "Preserving Peace – Defence Readiness Roadmap 2030" plan outlines four flagship programs, including the European Space Shield. That program will integrate with existing and planned systems, such as Galileo and IRIS², to provide space domain awareness, anti-jamming/spoofing and in-space operations/services such as refueling. The Commission did not release a budget for the European Space Shield but said it will start it in the second quarter of 2026. [SpaceNews]
German launch startup HyImpulse raised 45 million euros ($53 million). The company announced last week it raised 15 million euros in a Series A equity round, combined with 30 million euros in public funds, such as grants. The company is working on SL1, a small launch vehicle capable of placing 600 kilograms into low Earth orbit using a hybrid propulsion system. The company demonstrated that technology in a 2024 sounding rocket launch, and expcts to start launching SL1 in 2027. The company, though, is behind some European competitors and failed to make the cut this summer in the European Launcher Challenge. [SpaceNews]
South Korean launch company Innospace received final approvals for its first orbital launch attempt. The company said Sunday that it received a commercial launch authorization from the South Korean space agency KASA, allowing it to proceed with a launch attempt of its Hanbit-Nano rocket in a one-month window that opens Oct. 28. The launch, from the Alcântara Space Center in Brazil, will carry five smallsats for Brazilian and Indian customers as well as three hosted payloads and a "branding model item" — an empty aluminum can — from a South Korean beverage company. Hanbit-Nano is designed to put up to 90 kilograms into orbit, and the company has plans for larger vehicles. [SpaceNews]
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Other News
China conducted the first launch for the Thousand Sails constellation since March on Friday. A Long March 6A rocket lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 3:08 a.m. Eastern and put into orbit Polar Group 18 for the Thousand Sails or Qianfan megaconstellation. The number of satellites launched Friday was not explicitly stated, but 18 satellites were launched on each of the previous missions for the project. Separately, a CAS Space Kinetica-1 (Lijian-1) rocket lifted off Saturday at 11:33 p.m. Eastern from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. It placed into orbit PRSS-2-HS1, a Pakistani hyperspectral imaging satellite, and two radar imaging satellites for the Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. [SpaceNews]
SpaceX performed two Falcon 9 launches of Starlink satellites two hours apart Sunday afternoon. One Falcon 9 lifted off at 1:39 p.m. Eastern from Cape Canaveral, Florida, putting 28 Starlink satellites into orbit. The launch was the 31st flight of that Falcon 9 booster, designated B1067, a record for the company. A second Falcon 9 lifted off at 3:24 p.m. Eastern from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, also putting 28 Starlink satellites into orbit. There were initially concerns that the second stage shut down early, based on on-screen telemetry during the webcast, but the company said the launch was successful. With the two launches, SpaceX has now launched more than 10,000 Starlink satellites, of which nearly 8,700 are in orbit. [Space.com]
Weather will delay the launch of a new Japanese cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station by several days. An H3 rocket was scheduled to launch the HTV-X1 spacecraft Monday night, but JAXA said Sunday that it was delaying the launch because of poor weather at the Tanegashima launch site expected to last several days. JAXA did not announce a new launch date. The launch will carry the first HTV-X, an upgraded version of the HTV cargo spacecraft. [Jiji Press]
A large piece of debris found in Western Australia may be from a Chinese launch. The debris was found Saturday near an iron mine and appears to be made of carbon fiber. Analysts speculate that it could be from an upper stage of a Chinese Jielong-3 rocket launched last month based on the debris location and the rocket's trajectory. Australian officials said it could be weeks or months before they can confirm the source of the debris. [Australian Broadcasting Corp.]
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The Week Ahead
Tuesday: Wednesday: Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying Starlink satellites at 10 a.m. Eastern. Wenchang, China: Projected launch of a Long March 5 carrying an undisclosed payload at 11 a.m. Eastern. Washington: The Washington Space Business Roundtable hosts a luncheon discussion on "China, Space, and Geopolitics" at 11:30 a.m. Eastern. Cape Canaveral, Fla.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying the Spainsat New Generation 2 satellite at 9:30 p.m. Eastern. Wednesday-Thursday: Thursday: Friday: Friday-Saturday: Saturday: Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying Starlink satellites at 10 a.m. Eastern. Cape Canaveral, Fla.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying Starlink satellites at 10:27 a.m. Eastern. Saturday-Sunday:
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