10/08/2025

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By Jeff Foust

In today's edition: a surge of investment in space infrastructure, a 5G satellite milestone for a Spanish startup, a new space "smart factory" and more.

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Top Stories

Investment in space infrastructure reached its highest level in more than a year during the third quarter. A report by early-stage investor Space Capital said global investments in core space infrastructure climbed to a five-quarter high of $4.4 billion. That was thanks to investments in satellite manufacturing in the United States and in Chinese launch companies. According to Space Capital, 60% of all satellite manufacturing funding rounds tracked over the past 15 years have occurred since 2021, reflecting growing confidence in mass-production models and dual-use hardware that aims to serve defense and commercial demand. Space Capital said it does not expect that trend of increased investment in infrastructure to slow. [SpaceNews]

Blue Origin won a Space Force contract to expand satellite processing facilities at Cape Canaveral. The $78.2 million contract, announced Tuesday, was secured through a "Commercial Solutions Opening" (CSO) competition, a procurement method the government uses to attract private-sector innovation and to share project costs with commercial partners. Blue Origin's contract marks the second CSO award of the year targeting satellite processing improvements. Lockheed Martin subsidiary Astrotech won a $77.5 million contract in April to expand facilities at Vandenberg Space Force Base. [SpaceNews]

Spanish startup Sateliot says it has demonstrated Internet of Things (IoT) services via satellite using a 5G protocol. The startup said Tuesday it sent data from one of its four operational LEO satellites to an nRF9151, a low-power cellular module from Norway's Nordic Semiconductor that is typically used in sensors for tracking or monitoring. The data was sent via the same network protocols as a regular mobile network. The system used a global 5G standard called 3GPP Release 17 that Sateliot argues will allow satellites to seamlessly integrate into terrestrial networks without the need to modify device hardware. Sateliot raised 70 million euros ($81 million) earlier this year and has long-term ambitions for a constellation of hundreds of satellites. [SpaceNews]

The future of the shuttle Discovery continues to be a hot topic in Congress. A provision in the budget reconciliation bill passed in July included $85 million for a "space vehicle transfer" interpreted to allow the move of Discovery from the National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center outside Washington to Space Center Houston. Last month, four Democratic senators asked leaders of the Senate Appropriations Committee to prevent any additional federal funds from being spent on the effort, citing estimates that the move would cost far more than the amount included in the bill. Texas's two senators countered with a letter this week seeking to block that effort while claiming that the Smithsonian was distributing "misinformation" about the costs of the move. [SpaceNews]

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Another day means another launch of Starlink satellites. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 11:54 p.m. Eastern and put 28 Starlink satellites into orbit. The booster for the mission made its 29th flight, one behind the company's current record for booster reuse. [Spaceflight Now]

Thales Alenia Space opened a "smart factory" in Italy for producing satellites. The Space Smart Factory, located in Rome, is designed to incorporate digital systems and automation to enable high-rate production of smaller satellites, with a goal of manufacturing more than 100 per year. The facility cost more than 100 million euros, supported in part by the Italian government using pandemic relief funds. While intended to be used to build smaller satellites for constellations, the factory's first program will be the larger Sicral 3 GEO satellites for the Italian military. [Thales Alenia Space]

Media companies that stream activities at Starbase are worried SpaceX could shut them down. The newly incorporated city of Starbase adopted a zoning plan this summer that classified as residential property an area that some use for cameras to provide live feeds of activities at Starbase, including testing and launches. Grandfathering rules in Texas mean that, for now, those cameras can continue to operate, but some are concerned that Starbase city officials could eventually move to evict them. Others note that SpaceX benefits from the coverage. [Texas Monthly]

European spacecraft observed an interstellar comet as it flew near Mars. ESA said a camera on the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter spacecraft was able to observe comet 3I/ATLAS during that comet's relatively close approach to Mars last week, coming as close as 30 million kilometers from the planet. The images clearly show the comet's coma of gas and dust surrounding it. Scientists hope other data might provide information about the comet's composition. NASA spacecraft at Mars also attempted to observe the comet, but the ongoing federal government shutdown, now entering its second week, has kept NASA from releasing any details. [Space.com]

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Watch Out, Jiffy Lube

"As I was typing this last night, my typing is ok but not brilliant, and the autocorrect had a bit of a moment, so the rather successful New Zealand-based company is now known, according to my notes, as Rocket Lube. Perhaps we're at the wrong expo."

– Peter Johnson, director of aerospace at Nova Systems Australia and New Zealand, in remarks introducing a video from Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck at the New Zealand Aerospace Summit on Wednesday.

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