By Jeff Foust
In today's edition: a new CEO at L3Harris, a new name for a D2D company formed through a merger, a new rideshare launch opportunity, and more.
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Top Stories
L3Harris has abruptly replaced its CEO. The company announced Monday that its board of directors named Sam Mehta as president and CEO, replacing Christopher Kubasik, a move that the company said is effective immediately. L3Harris said in its statement that it "became aware of certain conduct by Kubasik that was not consistent" with its values, adding that it was not linked to company finances or customer relationships. Kubasik was also removed from the company's board. Mehta joined L3Harris in 2023 as president of its communications systems segment and was most recently president of its Space & Mission Systems and Communications & Spectrum Dominance segments, overseeing its work on military space programs. [SpaceNews]
Lynk Global has completed its merger with Omnispace to provide direct-to-device (D2D) services under a new name. The two companies announced Monday they completed a merger announced last October, renaming the combined company Elveo Mobile. The merged company combines Omnispace's 60 megahertz of S-band spectrum with Lynk's D2D platform, which has been providing intermittent messaging and alert services across a small group of island nations after deploying seven small satellites. Omnispace had planned to provide D2D services using a constellation of more than 600 satellites, but those efforts stalled after reporting interference with SpaceX's D2D operations in the United States. Lynk had been using cellular frequencies from mobile network operator partners, but dedicated satellite spectrum could help support more bandwidth-heavy data applications. [SpaceNews]
Companies in NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program are anticipating several more awards this year, including one for an orbiter. In earnings calls last week, executives with Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines said they expect three more CLPS task orders to be awarded this year. While most CLPS missions have been landers, the companies said one of the task orders will be for an orbiter that will replace the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been orbiting the moon since 2009 providing high-resolution imagery and other data. The companies are also gearing up for CLPS 2.0, a new contract for future lunar missions. That includes development of larger landers needed to support NASA's proposed lunar base. [SpaceNews]
A Japanese navigation satellite launched last week included a U.S. Space Force surveillance sensor. The Michibiki-7, or QZS-7, satellite features a hosted payload from the Space Force that will monitor objects in geostationary orbit. A similar sensor was on Japan's QZS-6 satellite launched in 2025. Data from the sensors will be fed in near real time into the U.S. Space Surveillance Network, the collection of sensors used by the military to detect, track and characterize satellites and other objects in orbit. [SpaceNews]
Launch services provider SEOPS has added a second dedicated rideshare mission. The company announced Monday it will fly a mid-inclination Waymaker rideshare mission on a Falcon 9 in early 2028, joining its original Waymaker mission to sun-synchronous orbit planned for late 2028. SEOPS announced that first Waymaker mission in late May and the company says it is more than 90% sold out. For the mid-inclination mission, SEOPS will use a Falcon 9 originally purchased for a geostationary transfer orbit rideshare mission, stating that demand for low Earth orbit rideshare is much stronger now than for GTO. SEOPS plans a series of Waymaker missions and is in talks with other launch vehicle developers for later missions. [SpaceNews]
Satellite operators are increasingly emphasizing they have secured launches, in some cases years in advance, amid a constrained launch market. Several companies used earnings calls last week to assure investors that they are able to launch satellites as planned despite difficulties finding rides. AST SpaceMobile says it has 10 launches under contract with Blue Origin and SpaceX, enough to launch its initial constellation of about 45 satellites by early 2027. The company, though, said it is not counting on Blue Origin's New Glenn to resume launches by the end of the year. HawkEye 360 and Spire, two companies that regularly use SpaceX rideshare launches, said they have secured launches for future satellites through 2028 despite industry concerns SpaceX may soon wind down its rideshare offerings. HawkEye 360 said it is looking into other launch providers to assure access to space after 2028. [SpaceNews]
Three companies have been selected to study options for providing satellite deorbiting services to the U.S. government. D-Orbit USA, Firefly Aerospace and Katalyst Space received contracts of undisclosed value from the Defense Innovation Unit and the Space Development Agency for a "deorbit-as-a-service" project, the agencies announced last week. The work is focused on relocating spacecraft that were not designed to be serviced and may be unable to cooperate with an approaching vehicle. The awards broaden an SDA effort to develop commercial options for disposing of satellites in its LEO constellations after awarding a $52.5 million contract to Starfish Space in January to deorbit up to seven spacecraft. [SpaceNews]
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Other News
China performed two launches over the weekend, the first since a Long March 7A launch failure last Monday. A Long March 12 lifted off at 12:10 a.m. Eastern Sunday from the commercial spaceport on Hainan. It placed into orbit a set of satellites for the Guowang constellation. A Long March 2C lifted off at 11:02 p.m. Eastern Sunday from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, putting into orbit the Satellite for Earth Observation, a spacecraft developed by the UAE. The launches were the first since the Long March 7A failure. The Long March 12 uses engines from the same family as the Long March 7A, suggesting that failure was not related to the vehicle's engines. [SpaceNews]
SpaceX set a record Saturday night for the closest interval between Falcon 9 launches. One Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 9:12 p.m. Eastern carrying eight satellites for Globalstar. The satellites, built by MDA Space using buses from Rocket Lab, are part of a set to replenish Globalstar's low Earth orbit communications constellation that the company is proceeding with development despite being acquired by Amazon. That launch was followed at 9:50 p.m. Eastern by another Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. That launch was for a classified Space Force mission designated USSF-366. [Spaceflight Now]
Both launch companies and local officials say now is the time to upgrade infrastructure at Wallops Flight Facility ahead of a projected surge of launches. A theme of a Wallops industry day last week was that the Virginia site will see a surge of launches as companies such as Firefly Aerospace and Rocket Lab ramp up operations there. Wallops is attractive to launch companies since it is less congested than Cape Canaveral, but they said they will need some improved site infrastructure to accommodate that projected growth. Local officials said they also need to improve the "social infrastructure" of the region to attract and retain workers, ranging from hotels and restaurants to child care and expanded health care services. [SpaceNews]
Ukraine's military attacked a Russian factory that produces Soyuz rockets. The Ukrainian government said that Flamingo cruise missiles hit the Progress Rocket Space Centre in the Russian city of Samara Saturday. That center produces the Soyuz-2 rocket used for most Russian civil and military launches. The site was targeted because Soyuz rockets are being used to launch satellites for Rassvet, a Russian constellation intended to provide broadband communications services for the Russian military. The extent of the damage and the effects on the production of Soyuz rockets, which are also used to launch missions to the International Space Station, remains unclear. [United24]
NOAA awarded new contracts to PlanetiQ and Spire for radio-occultation data. NOAA's National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service Commercial Data Program announced last week it awarded Spire a $3.7 million contract and PlanetiQ a $2.7 million contract to provide data such as atmospheric profiles derived from observing occultations of GPS and other navigation satellite signals used in weather forecasting. The contracts run from Sept. 18 to Dec. 1, and are a stopgap as NOAA prepares to award long-term indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts for the data, with a ceiling of $2.35 billion over 10 years. [SpaceNews]
NASA plans to hold an air show at the Kennedy Space Center in November, using a name Homer Simpson would likely endorse. NASA announced Friday it will host the "MAX POWER" show at KSC Nov. 7 and 8. The event will include flights by NASA aircraft and the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, as well as guest speakers, exhibits and tours. NASA and industry partners are selling various ticket packages for the event. Some noted that, in an episode of "The Simpsons" years ago, Homer Simpson changed his name to Max Power, which he got from a hair dryer. "Strap yourself in and feel the G's," he said in that episode, a line that will presumably also be uttered at the air show. [Space.com]
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The Week Ahead
Tuesday:
International Space Station: NASA astronaut Anil Menon and ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot perform a spacewalk to replace an antenna starting at 8:35 a.m. Eastern.
Online: The Beyond Earth Institute hosts a webinar titled "Blueprints for Off-World Living: Scaling Human Settlements in Space" at 1 p.m. Eastern. Jiuquan, China: Rescheduled launch of Landspace's Zhuque-2 rocket on its second test flight at 7:35 p.m. Eastern. Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.: Scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 carrying Starlink satellites at 10 p.m. Eastern. Thursday:
Thursday-Friday:
Saturday:
Sunday:
Sunday-Wednesday, Aug. 26:
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