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Satellite manufacturer K2 Space plans to show that its satellites can operate in any orbit by launching three of them at once to separate orbits. The company announced plans Tuesday for its Trinity mission, which will launch three spacecraft on a dedicated Falcon 9 in 2027. Two spacecraft will be deployed in low Earth orbit, with one immediately moving to medium Earth orbit, while a third will be placed in geostationary transfer orbit. The mission is intended to demonstrate the capabilities of the company's "multi-orbit" satellite platform. The Trinity mission is the next step in a series of tests that previously involved studying components such as reaction wheels and avionics. Founded in 2022, K2 Space has raised $180 million in venture funding and has reported $50 million in government and commercial contracts. [SpaceNews]

A joint venture of Viasat and Emirati operater Space42 has announced the first partner for its direct-to-device (D2D) services. Equatys said Oct. 14 that it signed a memorandum of understanding with the telecoms arm of e&, formerly Etisalat Group, to study how their planned space-based service could connect devices beyond terrestrial infrastructure within three years. Viasat and Space42 announced the formation of Equatys in September, combining more than 100 megahertz of mobile satellite spectrum available in more than 160 countries, using a business model analogous to shared cellular tower infrastructure. Equatys is positioning itself as a "sovereignty-friendly" D2D alternative to SpaceX where national governments will have more control over compliance and licensing. [SpaceNews]

Impulse Space unveiled plans to develop a lunar lander. The in-space transportation company said Tuesday it is working on a lander design that would be transported to the moon using the company's Helios tug. The lander would be able to deliver three tons of cargo to the lunar surface, with the first mission scheduled for 2028. Impulse argues that the lander would fill a gap between smaller landers supporting NASA's CLPS program and the larger landers for Artemis crewed missions. However, the payload performance for Impulse's lander is the same as for Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 1 lander, which is scheduled to fly its first mission in the coming months. [SpaceNews]

Polish optical systems manufacturer Scanway Space won its first order from an American company for a lunar instrument. The company said that Intuitive Machines ordered a multispectral telescope instrument to map the moon's surface for a 2026 mission. The order comes after the company won contracts from ESA for a multispectral data processing system as well as for Earth observation instruments from Asian customers. The company reported $3.2 million in revenue in the first half of 2025, a 119% increase from a year ago. [SpaceNews]

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Rocket Lab launched a radar imaging satellite for a Japanese company Tuesday. An Electron rocket lifted off at 12:33 p.m. Eastern from Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand and placed into orbit the seventh satellite for Synspective, a Japanese company developing a constellation of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites. Synspective said this was the first spacecraft in the third generation of its spacecraft, which features improved performance and reliability. Synspective has ordered 20 more Electron launches of its satellites, including a 10-launch contract announced last month. Last week, Rocket Lab signed a contract with another Japanese SAR company, iQPS, for three additional launches. [SpaceNews]

NASA's acting administrator, Sean Duffy, is interviewing potential successors. Duffy met last week with Jared Isaacman, whose nomination to be NASA administrator was abruptly withdrawn at the end of May but whom the White House is reportedly reconsidering. Sources described the interview as a "tense examination" of Isaacman's plans for NASA and his lack of prior government experience. Duffy is said to be interviewing others for the position. Acting administrators are typically not involved in the selection process for an administrator nominee, but Duffy is the first acting administrator who also serves on the Cabinet as secretary of transportation. Duffy, who has been acting administrator for three months, reportedly said he plans to stay in the NASA job through the end of the year. [Bloomberg]

The Indian space agency ISRO has reaffirmed a 2027 date for its first crewed flight. The chairman of ISRO, V Narayanan, said in an interview that the Gaganyaan program remains on schedule to fly its first astronauts as soon as the first quarter of 2027 after three uncrewed test flights, the first of which is scheduled for December. Narayanan said ISRO is also working on a roadmap for lunar exploration after being instructed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to set a goal of a human lunar landing by 2040. [PTI]

No, a NASA balloon payload didn't crash land in Texas after going off course. The payload, an astrophysics technology experiment, was found on a Texas farm earlier this month, leading to reports that the balloon had been blown off course and crash landed. However, the principal investigator for the payload at the University of Massachusetts Lowell said the balloon flight actually went according to plan, with landings on farms or ranches quite common. The balloon took off from a New Mexico facility and was guided to that landing after spending the night in the stratosphere to test technologies for imaging exoplanets. NASA has not commented on the flight because of the ongoing government shutdown; the experiment was exempted from the shutdown because of the need to fly in specific atmospheric conditions available only at that time. [Space.com]

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– Jared Isaacman, who dropped out of high school to found Shift4, during a talk Tuesday at Lehigh University. [Allentown (Pa.) Morning Call]

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