By Jeff Foust
In today's edition: a new Chinese rocket makes a successful debut, OHB wins a billion-dollar contract for IRIS² satellites, an orbital data center founder wants to send a spacecraft to another star and more.
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Top Stories
A new Chinese rocket reached orbit on its inaugural launch late Monday. Galactic Energy's Pallas-1 rocket lifted off at 10 p.m. Eastern from the Dongfeng commercial innovation launch site within the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China. The second stage achieved orbit, although there was no payload reported to be on board and there was no attempt to recover the rocket's first stage, which is designed to be reusable. Pallas-1 is capable of delivering 5,000 to 7,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit, with Galactic Energy targeting launching batches of satellites for Chinese megaconstellations. The rocket is rated for at least 25 reuses of its first stage, which is designed to land vertically on legs. Galactic Energy said it will conduct landing tests on the next two to three launches before moving to regular landing and reuse of the first stage. [SpaceNews]
Spanish launch company PLD Space has raised an additional $125 million. The company announced Tuesday an extension of a Series C funding round the company disclosed in March, led by Mitsubishi Electric Corp. with support from COFIDES, a Spanish public funds management company, and new investors Endeavor Catalyst and the Spain Oman Private Equity Fund. PLD Space has raised more than $550 million to date. The company says the additional funding will go toward production and test facilities for its Miura 5 small launch vehicle and support that rocket's shift to commercial operations. The company has yet to attempt a first flight of that small launch vehicle, and has not recently confirmed earlier statements it would launch the rocket by the end of the year. [SpaceNews]
OHB won a contract worth more than $1 billion to build medium Earth orbit satellites for Europe's IRIS² constellation. OHB said Monday it signed a contract with SES, which is responsible for the MEO shell of the constellation, to build 18 spacecraft. The contract is valued at nearly 1 billion euros ($1.16 billion). The satellites will weigh 2.6 tons each and provide 15 kilowatts of power, although the companies did not disclose details about the satellites' communications payloads, which SES will produce. SES already operates the O3b mPower constellation in MEO for broadband services, but that system uses satellites built by Boeing, an American company likely not eligible for awards for the IRIS² system. [SpaceNews]
Planet will launch another set of imaging satellites next month. The company announced Monday it delivered its second Tanager hyperspectral imaging satellite, along with 18 SuperDove satellites, to Vandenberg Space Force Base for launch on the SpaceX Transporter-18 rideshare mission scheduled for next month. The SuperDoves contribute to Planet's daily Earth imagery, while Tanager-2 will double Planet's ability to provide hyperspectral imagery, used for applications such as detecting methane and carbon dioxide emissions. Government and commercial demand is picking up for hyperspectral datasets, a company executive said in a recent interview. [SpaceNews]
Quindar won a contract to provide mission management services for spacecraft developed by Quantum Space. Quindar said Tuesday it will handle mission management services for Quantum's Scout and Ranger spacecraft. Quantum Space is developing maneuverable spacecraft for missions including payload hosting, space domain awareness, satellite servicing and logistics, with its first Ranger spacecraft set to launch in mid-2027. Quindar previously won contracts with Starfish Space and Portal Space Systems to provide mission management services for their maneuverable spacecraft. [SpaceNews]
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Other News
The founder of an orbital data center startup is pursuing a side project: developing an interstellar probe. The Fermi Explorer Mission, from Starcloud CEO Philip Johnston, proposes to launch a small spacecraft that would undertake an 80,000-year journey to Alpha Centauri, about 4.4 light-years away. The spacecraft would use electric propulsion and a series of close approaches to the sun, called a "perihelion pump maneuver," to escape the sun. According to Fermi, an undisclosed experienced U.S. satellite bus maker has already submitted a proposal to complete the mission for less than $15 million. [SpaceNews]
Turkey is the latest country to sign the Artemis Accords. The country's minister of industry and technology signed the Accords at NASA Headquarters on Monday. Turkey is the 71st country to sign the Accords and the 12th so far this year. The Accords are designed to outline best practices in space exploration, and NASA intends to use them to coordinate international participation in its lunar base. Turkey is planning to launch its first lunar mission, an orbiter, next year. Turkey is also hosting next month's International Astronautical Congress, which will include a meeting of Artemis Accords signatories. [SpaceNews]
Blue Origin has started construction of a new payload processing facility at Cape Canaveral. The company held a groundbreaking ceremony Monday for the facility, which will be built at the site of the former Launch Complex 18 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The 120,000-square-foot facility will be able to support very large payloads intended for the upgraded version of the company's New Glenn rocket. The facility is scheduled for completion in late 2027. [Spectrum News]
The president of the European Commission is expected to give a speech devoted to space topics next week. Ursula von der Leyen will reportedly talk about space at the International Space Summit in Paris, the first by her devoted exclusively to space issues. The contents of the address have not been disclosed, but the speech comes as the EU is increasing spending on defense and space, including a proposed European Space Shield. [Politico.eu]
A spaceport once planned for use by a U.K. launch company has been sold to a Scottish development agency. Highlands and Islands Enterprise said last week it acquired the assets of Sutherland Spaceport Ltd., the subsidiary of launch vehicle developer Orbex responsible for developing a spaceport in northern Scotland. Those plans were put on hold in late 2024 when Orbex said it would instead launch from SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands; Orbex went bankrupt earlier this year, having never attempted a launch. Highlands and Islands Enterprise said it plans to work with both the local community and the space industry to determine any future use of the Sutherland spaceport site. [European Spaceflight]
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We Regret to Inform You, Mr. President
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"Boy, it looked beautiful on television. I just called Jared to find out, is there anything negative that I should know about? Like, it will never be able to return. Little things like that."
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– President Donald Trump, calling NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman during a NASA press conference Sunday after the successful launch of the Roman Space Telescope. That spacecraft will operate at the Earth-sun L-2 Lagrange point, with no plans to return to Earth at the end of its mission.
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FROM SPACENEWS |
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Join us in Washington D.C. on Sept. 9 for our next Discovery Series conversation at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center. This in-person event will explore the latest plans for NASA's Moon to Mars architecture alongside the commercial opportunities, investments, and policies needed to build and support work on the lunar surface for months and eventually years at a time. We'll be joined by leaders from NASA, Firefly Aerospace, Astrolab and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Register now. |
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