By Jeff Foust
In today's edition: the growing importance of space for militaries on both sides of the Atlantic, the national security implications of Artemis, Isar Aerospace prepares to begin commercial Spectrum launches and more.
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Top Stories
Growing threats to space systems are prompting European nations to strengthen domestic space capabilities and better coordinate with allies. At the Space Security and Defense Summit in Paris Tuesday, government officials said even major European space powers such as France cannot go it alone in space, prompting the country to work closely with allies including Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. French military officials said they are aiming to increase their own capabilities while leveraging commercial systems. A priority for Germany is creation of a European Space Component Command, which German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius discussed at the International Space Summit in Paris earlier this month. [SpaceNews]
In the United States, the Space Force says that the Iran conflict illustrated the growing role the young service plays in combat operations. Gen. Douglas Schiess, in his first major speech since becoming chief of space operations, said at the Air Space & Cyber conference Tuesday that Space Force capabilities were included in the "minimum force package" U.S. commanders determined they needed before launching Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. military campaign against Iran. His remarks portrayed the Iran conflict as a significant evolution in the six-year-old service's combat role, with guardians moving beyond the satellite-based support that has traditionally defined military space operations and instead to deliver combat effects directly against an adversary. An example he cited was a specialist in the 42nd Electromagnetic Warfare Combat Detachment who "waged electromagnetic warfare against a determined adversary." [SpaceNews]
The German government will acquire dedicated Earth observation capacity from Planet's German subsidiary. Under the agreement, the German Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy will coordinate and distribute high-resolution tasked imagery from Planet Lab Germany as well as related services. Germany is the first nation to adopt Planet's Constellation Services for civil government support. Through Constellation Services, Planet provides customers with dedicated capacity on Planet satellites with a path towards sovereign constellation ownership. [SpaceNews]
Isar Aerospace says it is ready to begin commercial Spectrum launches after a successful test flight earlier this month. Company officials said at a briefing Tuesday that the Sept. 5 launch, the second for the small launch vehicle, "achieved everything that we wanted" and will allow the company to begin commercial operations. The next Spectrum flight will carry smallsats from ESA's Boost! program, but Isar did not disclose a date for the mission. The company expects to perform four launches in 2027 and more than double that amount in 2028. Isar also announced it won a contract from launch services aggregator SEOPS for five Spectrum launches from 2028 to 2030. [SpaceNews]
NASA's return to the moon has national security implications, the agency's administrator says. In a speech at the Air Space & Cyber conference Tuesday, Jared Isaacman argued that the outcome of the intensifying lunar competition with China could shape alliances, technology standards and perceptions of U.S. power. He said NASA should collaborate with the Space Force, describing a division of labor in which NASA establishes a sustained American presence beyond Earth while the Space Force and Pentagon protect U.S. interests and work with the civilian agency on technologies and infrastructure useful to both. [SpaceNews]
Viasat expects to announce a contract within weeks to build the first satellites for Equatys, a direct-to-device joint venture with Space42. A contract naming the U.S. satellite broadband operator as prime contractor will come shortly after Equatys clears remaining corporate regulatory approvals for the shared orbital infrastructure project, Viasat CEO Mark Dankberg said Tuesday. While the two companies have spectrum filings for a combined 2,800 satellites, Equatys will start with fewer than 200 satellites that they plan to have in service by the end of 2029. Viasat and Space42 earlier announced at the World Space Business Week conference that they will each commit $400 million of equity to Equatys, once the joint venture is formed. Space42 said it expects to invest an additional $200 million in a future equity funding round open to third-party investors. [SpaceNews]
The Air Force and Space Force are watching supply chains as they seek to scale up operations. While officials promoted plans at the Air, Space & Cyber for larger satellite systems as well as more aircraft and munitions, they said the ability to scale varies by program. The Space Development Agency, which is building the Pentagon's proliferated low Earth orbit satellite architecture, is still encountering supply-chain problems despite sending industry a relatively clear demand signal. Optical communications hardware and focal-plane arrays are areas where suppliers have struggled with throughput, as well as the difficulty of manufacturing hardware that can withstand launch. [SpaceNews]
The Space Force's new acquisition chief is focusing on using a recent acquisition overhaul to deliver satellites and other capabilities faster. Erich Hernandez-Baquero, in his first public remarks since taking office, said Tuesday that his priorities are making the Space Force's new portfolio acquisition structure work, ensuring separately developed systems function together and strengthening the workforce responsible for buying increasingly complex military space capabilities. At the center of the effort are nine newly established Portfolio Acquisition Executives, or PAEs, who have been given broader authority over entire mission areas. Hernandez-Baquero is also looking at how the government can encourage industry to build more capacity as military demand for launches and satellites grows. [SpaceNews]
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Other News
Chinese rockets performed two launches within 24 hours. A Zhuque-2E rocket lifted off at 2:26 a.m. Eastern Tuesday from the Dongfeng commercial space innovation pilot zone at the Jiuquan spaceport, putting into orbit 10 satellites. The satellites were described as a megaconstellation, but media reports did not identify the constellation. A Gravity-1 rocket lifted off at 6 p.m. Eastern Tuesday from a ship in waters offshore from Shanghai. It placed into orbit a set of Qianfan satellites and a technology demonstration satellite called EUHT. The launch set records for a China sea-based launch by reaching an altitude of 800 kilometers and carrying three tons of payload. [Xinhua]
SpaceX scrubbed a national security launch Tuesday. The company was scheduled to conduct a Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California during a four-hour window that opened at 9 p.m. Eastern, but postponed the launch without explanation, rescheduling it for Wednesday night. The rocket is carrying a classified payload for the Space Force on a mission designated USSF-259. [Spaceflight Now]
Space Cargo Unlimited has signed a contract to fly payloads on SpaceX's Starfall reentry vehicle. The Luxembourg-based company said Tuesday it will fly a one-ton "space factory" on a Starfall spacecraft in 2028, launched on SpaceX's Starship. Starfall is SpaceX's vehicle designed for microgravity research and manufacturing, much larger than other commercial reentry vehicles. Space Cargo Unlimited says it plans to use the mission for customers ready to move from R&D to production, with smaller vehicles reserved for those still working on experimentation. The company has also taken a stake in Novespace, the French company that operates an Airbus jet for parabolic aircraft flights that provide brief periods of microgravity. [SpaceNews]
Commercial imagery and other forms of geospatial information are becoming available to a much broader range of military users. Companies say they are providing more services to national security customers, such as one, Danti, that supported Pentagon analysts and operators during the conflict with Iran. AI tools combine those collections with maritime tracking data, signals, weather information, news reports and other open sources, then identify what has changed and why it may be important. Some military customers are also using Danti to automate parts of intelligence production. [SpaceNews]
Hydrosat's next-generation Osiris constellation will provide thermal infrared observations for government and commercial customers. The company said at World Space Business Week that in addition to providing wide-area, high-resolution observations for Hydrosat's commercial data business, the Osiris constellation will include satellites deployed for government agencies focused on water and food security, critical infrastructure and natural security. the first two satellites are scheduled for launch in 2027. In addition to the thermal-infrared instrument, Osiris satellites will be equipped with a nine-band visible and near-infrared sensor to gather imagery with a resolution of 10 meters per pixel. [SpaceNews]
Djibouti signed the Artemis Accords this week as the State Department provides new opportunities for signatories. Djibouti's ambassador to the U.S. signed the Accords on Monday at NASA Headquarters, becoming the 72nd country to do so. The signing comes days after the State Department announced the Space Catalyst Partnership, which will collaborate with companies that signed the Accords on foreign assistance projects, diplomatic outreach and fostering engagement on space-related issues. The partnership is starting with a rural connectivity project in Peru valued at $6.5 million. [SpaceNews]
A former SES executive is now the interim head of the Luxembourg Space Agency. The government appointed Ruy Pinto, former CTO and interim CEO of SES, as acting CEO of the agency. Pinto will serve in that role for six months with the possibility of an extension. Pinto replaces Marc Serres, who resigned for reasons neither he nor the agency disclosed. The agency’s deputy CEO left two months ago to take a job with Exobiosphere, a space biotech company. [Delano]
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Sorry, Mars
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"We can make the moon the second nicest place in the solar system to live, after Earth. It's not going to be nicer than Earth, no matter how many Starships we fly there, but we can make it the second."
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– Nicholas Cummings, a senior director at SpaceX, discussing his company's plans for lunar exploration and development during a panel at the Glenn Space Technology Symposium on Tuesday.
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