03/11/2026

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By Jeff Foust

In today's edition: Anduril buys ExoAnalytic Solutions, a Chinese optical communications company raises money, another scrub for Alpha and more.

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Top Stories

Defense technology company Anduril Industries said it is buying space surveillance company ExoAnalytic Solutions. Terms of the acquisition, announced Wednesday, were not disclosed. ExoAnalytic operates about 400 ground-based optical telescopes that monitor objects in orbit and provide data to the U.S. government for space domain awareness and missile defense missions. Anduril says the acquisition is intended to strengthen its ability to integrate space-based data into defense systems. It will also significantly expand its space business, which had about 120 employees before the ExoAnalytic purchase. ExoAnalytic will be folded into Anduril's space and engineering division rather than operate as a standalone subsidiary. [SpaceNews]

NASA is no longer considering an X-ray telescope in a competition for a large astrophysics mission. The team working on the Advanced X-Ray Imaging Satellite (AXIS) mission concept was notified by NASA they are not eligible for selection as part of the Astrophysics Probe Explorer program because its proposal did not meet cost and schedule requirements. The leader of AXIS said those cost and schedule problems were caused by "seismic shifts" last year within NASA and the Goddard Space Flight Center, which was managing the proposal, including the loss of key personnel and proposed budget cuts. The AXIS team said it identified ways to bring the proposed mission within cost and schedule, but NASA elected instead to drop it from consideration. "I am, quite frankly, livid that AXIS ultimately fell victim to the programmatic chaos of 2025," principal investigator Christopher Reynolds wrote in a message to the project team. The decision leaves PRIMA, a far-infrared telescope, as the only remaining proposal for the Probe mission competition. [SpaceNews]

A Chinese startup has raised funding for optical intersatellite communications. BlueStar Optical Domain, also known as Laser Link, announced Monday a Series C round of $72 million that will be used for expanding manufacturing capacity and production facilities, as well as continued product research and development. The company plans to reach a production rate of 1,000 terminals annually in the first half of this year. Demand may largely be driven by China's planned low Earth orbit internet constellations, notably the national Guowang and Shanghai-backed Thousand Sails projects, each planning to place more than 10,000 satellites in orbit that will likely rely on intersatellite links. [SpaceNews]

Starlab Space has fully booked space for commercial payloads on its Starlab space station. Voyager Technologies, the lead company on the Starlab Space joint venture, said in an earnings call Tuesday that the payload space was fully booked, but did not disclose details on the amount of room reserved for commercial payloads on the station and over what period of time that space is reserved. Voyager said that booking was an encouraging sign of demand for Starlab, slated to launch in 2029. Voyager also expects NASA to release a call for proposals for the second phase of its Commercial LEO Destinations program supporting stations like Starlab in the next 60 days, with a downselect later this year. [SpaceNews]

Viasat won a contract to provide communications services for some U.S. Navy aircraft. The two-year, $14 million contract announced Tuesday covers connectivity for Navy C-37 aircraft, versions of Gulfstream business jets used for flying senior Navy officials. The sole-source award was made by the U.S. Space Force's Space Systems Command Commercial Space Office, which acts as the Pentagon's central buyer for commercial satellite communications services. [SpaceNews]

The head of NOAA's satellite division, placed on administrative leave more than six months ago, is speaking out about cuts to federal science programs. At the "Stand Up for Science" rally on the National Mall over the weekend, Stephen Volz warned that cuts and workforce reductions had "lobotomized the federal government." Volz is the associate administrator for satellite and information services at NOAA, but was placed on administrative leave last July for reasons NOAA has not disclosed, including to Volz. At the rally, he criticized moves to cancel planned instruments to measure air and water quality as well as restructuring of the agency. Other speakers at the event, including several members of Congress, said that while proposed major cuts to science programs at NOAA, NASA and elsewhere were largely rejected in final 2026 spending bills, the administration may seek to make similar proposals for fiscal year 2027. [SpaceNews]

Other News

Firefly Aerospace again scrubbed a launch of its Alpha rocket Tuesday. The company called off the launch about an hour before the scheduled 8:50 p.m. Eastern liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California because of "off-nominal readings" during fluid loading. A sensor issue postponed a launch attempt Monday. The company said it would work with Vandenberg to identify the next opportunity to launch Alpha, which is making its first flight since an April 2025 launch failure. [Noozhawk]

Telesat is planning more ground stations in Canada for its Lightspeed constellation. The Canadian operator said Tuesday it acquired sites in Saskatchewan and Quebec and leased land elsewhere in Saskatchewan for stations that would route data between the satellites and major fiber and internet exchange points. Additional sites are set to be contracted in the coming months as the company targets the start of initial global services in 2027. [SpaceNews]

Impulse Space is expanding its presence in Colorado. The space mobility company, headquartered in southern California, announced Tuesday it opened a 20,000-square-foot facility near Boulder, Colorado. That facility will be used to develop the guidance, navigation and control systems for its Mira and Helios vehicle as well as produce some spacecraft components, like pumps and valves. The new facility expands Impulse's presence in Colorado established three years ago. [SpaceNews]

BlackSky said its latest imaging satellite is working well in orbit. The company said Tuesday its fourth Gen-3 produced its first images within hours of launch. BlackSky did not disclose when the satellite was launched but it is believed to be the confidential commercial payload launched on an Electron rocket last week. [BlackSky]

Planet is extending delays in providing imagery of parts of the Middle East during the ongoing conflict there. The company, which said last week it would delay the public release of imagery of some countries in the region by four days, said that delay is now extended to 14 days. Images of Iran, previously exempt from that restriction, are now included, the company announced. Planet said the restriction is intended to limit any use of those images "as tactical leverage by adversarial actors." [Reuters]

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has suggested NASA might pursue a Mars mission in 2028. In an interview, he noted that NASA's plans to launch a Mars communications orbiter mission in 2028, as well as ESA's Rosalind Franklin rover. "But I suspect there will be a third as well," he said, declining to provide additional details. NASA's 2026 budget proposal did not explicitly include an additional Mars mission launching in 2028 but did support Mars technology development and potential Mars missions done under commercial services agreements. [Science]

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– Neil Jacobs, administrator of NOAA, discussing at a meeting of NOAA's Science Advisory Board Tuesday how "marketing and branding" is one of his priorities for the agency.

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