Plus: Amazon Leo wins a reprieve from the FCC
By Jeff Foust
In today's edition: big funding rounds for Iceye and Isar Aerospace, Amazon Leo wins an FCC deadline reprieve, Quantum Space plans to go public in a SPAC deal and more.
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Top Stories
Iceye, a Finnish company that builds and operates radar imaging satellites, announced Tuesday a funding round worth more than one billion euros ($1.16 billion). The company announced a Series F funding round Tuesday that includes 450 million euros in primary placements with several investors, with the rest coming from secondary placements of stock. The new round values the company at more than 10 billion euros. The company operates a constellation of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging satellites and also sells satellites to governments. Iceye said the funding will allow it to scale up work with other governments worldwide while doubling satellite production to 100 per year. [SpaceNews]
German launch company Isar Aerospace raised 270 million euros, also for global expansion. The company announced Tuesday a Series D round featuring new and existing investors. The company plans to use the funding to expand production of its Spectrum small launch vehicle while working to launch the rocket from new sites worldwide. The company launches from Andøya in Norway and announced a letter of intent last month to consider launching from a Canadian site. Isar also said it has rescheduled the second launch of Spectrum to between June 15 to 21 after technical and range issues postponed launch attempts earlier this year. [SpaceNews]
The FCC has agreed to let Amazon waive a launch requirement for its broadband constellation, but at a temporary price. The FCC granted Amazon a waiver for a July 30 deadline to have half of its 3,232 Amazon Leo satellites in orbit, citing the launch delays Amazon faced from multiple providers. The company still has a July 2029 deadline to deploy the full constellation. While the FCC waived the impending deadline, it will strip from satellites launched after July 30 the priority status gained from the regulator's 2020 Ka/Ku-band and 2021 V-band processing rounds. Amazon Leo will have the same coordination status as any system licensed following the 2020 and 2021 processing rounds, meaning it must protect satellites processed in earlier FCC application rounds or show they will not cause harmful interference. That status will last until March 2028, but can be shortened by five months if Amazon proves it has built and secured launches for half the constellation. [SpaceNews]
Quantum Space, a company led by former NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine that is developing highly maneuverable spacecraft, is going public. The company announced Monday an agreement to merge with Inflection Point Acquisition Corp. VI, a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC). That will allow Quantum Space to go public on the Nasdaq as soon as the merger closes, which is expected in the fourth quarter. The SPAC has $253 million in trust before redemptions, and Inflection Point is separately investing $300 million into the company. Quantum Space says the funding will allow it to accelerate work on Ranger, a highly maneuverable spacecraft in development by the company primarily for national security space applications. [SpaceNews]
BlackSky won a modification to an NRO contract to accelerate development of broad-area imaging satellites. The company said Tuesday it received the modification that puts the company on a "direct path" toward a multi-spectral, large-area mapping spacecraft in 2028. BlackSky announced in 2025 plans for satellites called AROS that would take imagery over wide areas, complementing its Gen-3 high-resolution imaging satellites. BlackSky did not disclose the value of the NRO contract modification, nor is the company saying how many AROS satellites it plans to deploy. [SpaceNews]
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Other News
The Chinese government has selected four Chinese launch companies for a commercial cargo transportation program. Launch firms Galactic Energy, CAS Space, OrienSpace and Landspace were shortlisted to launch the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft, following the launch of a prototype of the supply vessel in March. The full-scale Qingzhou cargo spacecraft, one of two low-cost space station resupply spacecraft being developed to support the Tiangong space station, is tentatively scheduled for launch in January 2027. The announcement of the shortlisted companies did not disclose when a final provider for the launch would be announced. [SpaceNews]
The New Glenn launch pad explosion is providing officials with information about the explosive potential of a new propellant combination. New Glenn is one of several new vehicles using methane and liquid oxygen propellants, a combination whose explosive potential in an accident is not well understood. The Space Force has been taking a conservative approach, assuming a 100% TNT equivalency of that propellant combination with wide exclusion zones. Launch companies have lobbied for smaller exclusion zones, arguing that the current approach could mean operations at one pad would halt work at neighboring pads. The investigation into the New Glenn explosion so far has shown debris remained well within the exclusion zone. [Ars Technica]
NASA may be looking for additional funding for Artemis. NASA has reportedly been in talks with congressional staff about supplemental funding, perhaps through a budget reconciliation bill, that could provide the agency with up to several billion dollars. The money would support accelerating the development of crewed lunar landers needed for Artemis by Blue Origin and SpaceX, an effort complicated by the New Glenn explosion. Congressional sources, though, noted doubts that a supplemental spending bill could pass in the coming months. [Politico]
A Czech astronaut will go to the International Space Station on a Vast private astronaut mission. Vast said Monday it will work with the European Space Agency to send Aleš Svoboda to the ISS as the pilot on Vast's private astronaut mission in 2027. Svoboda is one of 12 reserve astronauts selected by ESA in 2022 for short-term flight opportunities such as this. Vast announced last week that veteran ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet of France will command that mission. [Vast]
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Everything's Late
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"I'm not in the space sector, but I'm struggling to see something that is not running at least two years behind schedule."
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– Lorenzo Bertelli, chief marketing officer of Prada Group, when asked about delays in the development of a spacesuit that Axiom Space is producing for NASA Artemis missions in partnership with Prada.
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FROM SPACENEWS |
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The June 2026 issue of SpaceNews magazine is out now: Once rare beasts, billion-dollar startups are multiplying across new orbital markets. Read Jason Rainbow's analysis of the 30 privately held space companies with unicorn status. Also in this issue: How New Glenn forced an explosive rewrite for NASA’s plans to build a moon base and why proponents see offshore launch as a possible answer to crowded ranges, military resilience concerns. Read the issue now. |
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