By Jeff Foust
In today's edition: Rocket Lab to acquire Iridium, SatVu's thermal imaging satellite enters service, FOSSA raises funding for a cubesat constellation and more.
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Top Stories
Rocket Lab announced Monday it will acquire Iridium in an $8 billion deal. The companies said Rocket Lab will purchase all outstanding Iridium shares for $54 in cash and stock, valuing Iridium at $8 billion. The deal is projected to close in mid-2027, pending regulatory approvals. Iridium operates a constellation of satellites that provide voice and data services. Rocket Lab said the deal will allow it to become an end-to-end space company, adding services to its current work in launch and satellite manufacturing. Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck has talked for more than a year about his interest in creating a satellite constellation, and he called the Iridium acquisition "a little bit of a shortcut" for those plans. He said the company has plans for "new constellations and new services" but did not elaborate. [SpaceNews]
British thermal imaging startup SatVu has resumed commercial services with a new satellite. The company said Monday its HotSat-2 satellite, launched in March, was now in commercial service, routinely delivering mid-wave infrared imagery to government and commercial customers such as Norwegian defense and aerospace giant Kongsberg's geospatial intelligence services. The company's first satellite, HotSat-1, failed in orbit in 2023 just six months after launch. SatVu is planning a constellation of at least 10 satellites to provide thermal imagery. [SpaceNews]
China has established a national very low Earth orbit (VLEO) industry alliance. The VLEO Technology Innovation and Industry Development Alliance, co-founded by 34 organizations including leading universities, research institutes and commercial space companies, was announced at a conference Saturday. VLEO offers potential significant advantages for Earth observation and communications, such as higher resolution imagery, lower signal latency and reduced power requirements, but satellites operating in orbits below 300 kilometers must also contend with increased atmospheric drag. Orbital data reveal that China currently has two experimental satellites operating in VLEO, while funding activity indicates a demand and backing for related technologies. [SpaceNews]
Spanish startup FOSSA Systems has raised about $10.5 million to expand its connectivity constellation. Spanish private investment firm Kibo Ventures led FOSSA's funding round announced last week, bringing its total raised to date to nearly 20 million euros. The round included participation from the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation, a technology investment vehicle backed by Spain's government. The proceeds will help fuel FOSSA's push beyond the tiny picosatellites it once used to connect low-power monitoring devices toward larger cubesats in low Earth orbit, enabling additional sovereign communications and space-based intelligence capabilities. [SpaceNews]
SpaceX won regulatory approval to acquire an optical communications startup. The Federal Trade Commission on Friday gave its approval for SpaceX to acquire Mesh, a startup established by former SpaceX engineers working on optical data center communication technology. Mesh emerged from stealth in February with a $50 million funding round. The startup could help SpaceX in its plans to develop orbital data centers. [Bloomberg]
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Other News
SpaceX completed a launch doubleheader Sunday. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 12:09 p.m. Eastern, placing 24 Starlink satellites into orbit. That was followed at 10:25 p.m. Eastern by a Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, carrying the SXM-11 satellite for satellite radio company SiriusXM. SXM-11, built by Lanteris Space Systems, weighed 7.5 tons and will help refresh the company's network of satellites that provide satellite radio services in North America. [Spaceflight Now]
Rocket Lab launched a radar-imaging satellite for Japanese company Synspective Friday. An Electron rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 1:43 p.m. Eastern, putting a StriX satellite into low Earth orbit. The launch was the 10th Electron mission to carry a Synspective satellite. The Japanese company has relied exclusively on Electron to deploy its satellites and has contracts for 17 more Electron launches. The launch was scheduled for about a week earlier but postponed for "additional checkouts;" during that delay, Rocket Lab launched the Victus Haze responsive launch mission. [SpaceNews]
Some in India are critical of the government's secrecy surrounding investigations into back-to-back PSLV launch failures. The rocket, the workhorse for India's space program, suffered third-stage malfunctions on launches in May 2025 and again in January, but the Indian space agency ISRO has not released details about the investigations into those failures. According to one source, the May 2025 launch failed because of problems with a graphite nozzle throat. ISRO changed that material to a carbon composite that then failed on the January launch. The secrecy about the investigations makes it difficult to commercialize the rocket and win international business for it, industry officials said. [The New Indian Express]
The first test flight of India's Gaganyaan crewed spacecraft might slip to 2027. In a presentation Saturday, the chairman of ISRO, V. Narayanan, said the uncrewed flight was on track to launch by the end of this year, but his slides said the launch would instead take place in the third quarter of 2027. Asked about the discrepancy, Narayanan said that the Gaganyaan program is "undergoing constant review" and did not say whether his comments or his slides were correct. [Express News Service]
NASA will support the development of dozens of space technologies with potential to assist its Artemis lunar exploration program. NASA announced Friday it selected 41 technologies from 37 companies for the latest round of its Announcement of Collaboration Opportunity (ACO) program. ACO gives companies access to NASA expertise and facilities on a no exchange of funds basis. The selected technologies range from power generation and in-space logistics to dust mitigation techniques. [NASA]
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The Week Ahead
Tuesday:
Various: Asteroid Day is marked in events worldwide, commemorating the 1908 Tunguska explosion and highlighting efforts to track near Earth objects. Kwajalein Atoll: Scheduled launch of a Pegasus XL carrying the Swift reboost mission at 6:23 a.m. Eastern. International Space Station: NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Chris Williams perform a spacewalk to repair the Canadarm2 robotic arm starting at 8:35 a.m. Eastern. Washington: The Washington Space Business Roundtable hosts a panel discussion on "When Launch Stops: Is the Space Economy Built for Disruption?" at 11:30 a.m. Eastern. Online: NASA holds a "virtual conversation" about its lunar base plans at 2:30 p.m. Eastern. Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand: Scheduled launch of an Electron carrying a radar-imaging satellite for Japanese company iQPS at 9 p.m. Eastern. Tuesday-Wednesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Cape Canaveral, Fla.: Scheduled launch of an Atlas 5 carrying a set of Amazon Leo satellites at 12:24 a.m. Eastern. Brussels: The European Space Security and Defence Forum will examine European military space topics. Wenchang, China: Projected launch of a Long March 8A with an undisclosed payload at 9:50 a.m. Eastern. Friday:
Saturday:
Saturday-Sunday:
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