Astronomy Prints 🌌: Editor's Choice: A quiet launch

03/11/2026

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By Mike Gruss

It sounds like an existential question: Can a satellite reach orbit if the manufacturer never announces the launch?

The space industry put that idea to the test on March 5, when, Rocket Lab announced a mission from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. Five hours later, an Electron rocket lifted off on a mission called "Insight At Speed Is A Friend Indeed." The ride was for a confidential customer.

The specifics of the launch were similar to one Rocket Lab performed in November 2025, also for a confidential customer. That mission had also been announced just hours before liftoff and then, five days later, BlackSky, the Herndon, Virginia-based satellite imaging company that builds and operates Earth observation satellites, confirmed it was indeed the customer.

So back to the March 5 launch. That one had similar characteristics, including the mission name and logo design. In a Feb. 26 earnings call, Brian O'Toole, chief executive of BlackSky, had said his company's next Gen-3 satellite was being prepared for launch. Hmm.

Then, BlackSky said in a March 10 release it delivered first light imagery from its fourth Gen-3 satellite, a milestone that came within hours following launch. The company did not mention where the satellite launched from or its launch partner. However, the satellite from the Electron launch is now named Global-34 in the Space Force catalog, the naming convention BlackSky uses for its Gen-3 satellites.

BlackSky did not respond to a request for comment.

More on BlackSky's busy week.

On March 6, the Air Force Research Lab announced it had awarded BlackSky a contract worth up to $99 million to develop a large optical imaging payload intended for future space-based intelligence systems.

Under the contract, the company will develop and test a large-aperture optical imaging system designed around a segmented mirror architecture. Segmented optical systems use multiple mirror panels that deploy and align in orbit to form a single large telescope, allowing satellites to achieve larger imaging apertures and wider coverage than conventional cameras.

Similarly, the company already had plans to develop a new type of Earth observation satellite called Aros, designed to capture large areas of the planet for applications such as country-scale mapping and maritime monitoring. That satellite is projected to launch in 2027.

SIGNIFICANT DIGIT

4

The number of weeks SpaceX is pushing back the first launch of the latest version of its Starship vehicle, according to a social media post from founder Elon Musk.

United Launch Alliance hoists a Centaur V upper stage atop the Vulcan first stage booster into the Vertical Integration Facility adjacent to Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Credit: United Launch Alliance

A NEW UPPER STAGE FOR SLS

NASA has selected the Centaur upper stage used on United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket for future flights of the Space Launch System.

In a procurement filing published March 6, NASA determined that the Vulcan Centaur 5 upper stage is the only option to replace the Exploration Upper Stage that was to be used on SLS launches after Artemis 3.

The filing, formally known as a Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition, allows NASA to proceed with a sole-source contract to ULA for Centaur upper stages that will be used on the Artemis 4 and 5 missions, along with a flight spare. The filing redacted the estimated cost to NASA to procure the stages.

Trending This Week

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL), a British company best known for developing small satellites, will help build a large, privately funded space telescope.

Sierra Space raised $550 million in a Series C funding round led by LuminArx Capital Management, valuing the privately held spacecraft manufacturer at about $8 billion.

Commercial space station developer Vast has raised $500 million in its first significant outside investment round.

A missile-tracking satellite constellation being developed by BAE Systems for the U.S. Space Force has cleared an early design milestone.

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