OST Staff

OST Insights: One Asteroid vs The Entire Global Economy

Peter H. Diamandis recently published "A Quadrillion Dollar Future", which laid out a striking case for why the space-based economy will vastly increase humanity's economic footprint. He points to Christopher Columbus' 1942 Atlantic crossing leading to a "New World", which became one

Satellites

SiriusXM Lofts Most Powerful Satellite Yet on Falcon 9, Built by Intuitive Machines Subsidiary

SpaceX launched SiriusXM's SXM-11 satellite aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Sunday, sending a 7.5-ton broadcasting spacecraft toward geostationary orbit. The satellite, the most powerful in SiriusXM's fleet, is built to replace two aging satellites and was

Markets

Rocket Lab to Acquire Iridium in an $8 Billion Cash and Stock Transaction

Rocket Lab announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Iridium Communications. Rocket Lab will acquire all the outstanding shares of Iridium common stock for $54 per share in a cash and stock deal. This represents an enterprise value for Iridium of approximately $8.0 billion.

Deep Space

Hayabusa2 Targets July 5 Flyby of Asteroid Torifune in One of the Closest Encounters Ever Attempted

Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft is on course to fly within about 1 kilometer of the near-Earth asteroid Torifune on July 5, in what mission scientists describe as one of the closest asteroid encounters ever attempted by a spacecraft of its class. The maneuver extends the mission of a

Markets

NASA Taps Two Companies to Land Lunar Rovers Before Artemis Crew Arrives

NASA has selected Astrolab and Lunar Outpost to develop lunar terrain vehicles intended to reach the Moon by the end of 2027, ahead of the first crewed landing of the Artemis program. The decision means astronauts could arrive at the lunar south pole to find rovers already waiting for them,

Markets

Canadian Firms Land $1.7 Billion in Japanese Space Deals Days After New Transfer Pact Takes Effect

A Canadian trade mission to Japan concluded with Canadian companies securing $1.7 billion in commercial agreements, with MDA Space (NYSE: MDA) and RSAT Space signing satellite technology contracts with Japanese defense partners. The deals followed the entry into force of a new bilateral framework just days earlier, marking its

Launch

Rocket Lab Marks 10th Straight Success for Synspective With "Ten Owl of Ten" Launch

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB) launched a radar-imaging satellite for Japanese company Synspective on June 26th, completing its 10th dedicated mission for the customer with a 100 percent success rate across all ten flights. The launch lifted off from New Zealand under the mission name "Ten Owl of Ten.

Markets

Boeing Wins $2 Billion Space Force Contract for MUOS Satellites, Unseating Lockheed Martin

The U.S. Space Force awarded Boeing a $2 billion contract to build two narrowband communication satellites for the Mobile User Objective System, known as MUOS. The award unseats Lockheed Martin, which built every MUOS satellite currently operating in orbit, making it a genuine incumbent upset. Lockheed Martin built the

Launch

SpaceX Plans Eight-Mile "Starpipe" Natural Gas Line to Fuel Starship in Texas

SpaceX intends to begin construction next month on a private natural gas pipeline to supply its Texas launch facilities, according to county filings. The eight-mile line, named "Starpipe," is meant to fuel the company's Starship rocket as SpaceX works to increase its launch cadence. The

Markets

Firefly Buys the Vision Navigation Company Behind Its Blue Ghost Moon Landing

Firefly Aerospace has acquired Space-ng, the AI-powered vision navigation and autonomous guidance provider whose software guided Firefly's Blue Ghost Mission 1 to a successful lunar landing. The deal brings autonomous landing capability fully in-house and installs Space-ng cofounder and CEO Ethan Rublee as Firefly&

Policy

NGSO Operators Form SpaceConnect Association in Washington Without SpaceX

A new trade association representing non-geostationary satellite operators launched in Washington this week with Amazon, Globalstar, Iridium and Telesat as founding members and a conspicuous absence where SpaceX should be. The group, called SpaceConnect Association, says its mission is to give NGSO operators a dedicated voice on licensing rules,

Satellites Featured

OST Insights: Orbital Datacenter Profitability Comes Down to One Number

The first datacenter-grade GPU in orbit was an Nvidia H100, launched on Starcloud-1 in November 2025. It was a 2022-era chip flown on a roughly 60kg (132lbs) test satellite, and it did something genuinely new: it trained a model in space and ran an open-source version

Deep Space

Webb Detects Water in Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS With 30 Times More Heavy Hydrogen Than Solar System Comets

New observations from the James Webb Space Telescope, released June 22, 2026, reveal that the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS contains water with an unusually high concentration of deuterium and an anomalously low level of carbon-13. The deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio in the comet is more than 30 times higher

Satellites

Musk Confirms Starmind as Name for SpaceX AI Satellite Constellation

Elon Musk confirmed that Starmind will be the official name of SpaceX's planned AI satellite constellation, a network described to the FCC as comprising up to one million AI satellites. Unlike Starlink, which relays connectivity, Starmind satellites would compute data in orbit, a shift its proponents say could

Markets

Firefly Aerospace Buys the Navigation System That Guided Blue Ghost to the Moon

Firefly Aerospace announced on June 25, 2026 that it has acquired Space-ng Inc., the developer of the AI-powered vision navigation system that guided the company's Blue Ghost lander to a precise touchdown on the Moon. The deal brings proven spacecraft software and camera hardware in-house,

Defense

Commercial Radar Firm Detects Object Released by China's Shenlong Space Plane

A private space surveillance company has detected an unknown object apparently released by China's Shenlong space plane while it operates on a classified orbital mission. The detection, made by commercial radar rather than a government agency, marks the latest in a series of object deployments observers have linked

Markets

SpaceX Launches First Ever Bond Sale, Raising $25 billion in Debt Financing

SpaceX commenced its first-ever public bond offering today (June 22, 2026), reportedly raising $25 billion in senior unsecured notes as per a Form 8-K filed with the SEC. The move comes just days after the company completed the largest initial public offering in history, marking a rapid escalation

Defense

Rocket Lab Lofts Space Force Satellite Less Than 17 Hours After Receiving Launch Order

Rocket Lab launched the U.S. Space Force's VICTUS HAZE mission on June 19, 2026, just 16 hours and 42 minutes after receiving the Notice to Launch from Space Systems Command. The launch beat the previous responsive space record by more than 10 hours, marking a major step

Defense

Senate Committee Blocks Space Force Bid to Cancel Polar Missile Warning Satellite

The Senate Armed Services Committee rejected a Space Force proposal to cancel the Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared-Polar program, becoming the third of four defense committees to push back on the move. The Senate bill includes $500 million for the program, deepening a standoff between lawmakers and the service

Launch

SpaceX Readies First Flight of Secret Disk-Shaped Starfall Reentry Capsule

SpaceX is targeting Tuesday, June 23 for the debut flight of Starfall, a reentry capsule developed almost entirely in private, with a Falcon 9 launch window opening at 6:43 a.m. ET from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The vehicle targets the orbital manufacturing

Launch

Roman Space Telescope Reaches Kennedy for Falcon Heavy Launch No Earlier Than August 30

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope arrived at the Kennedy Space Center aboard the agency's Pegasus barge late Sunday morning, June 21, beginning the final stretch before a targeted launch from Launch Complex 39A. The $4.3 billion observatory now faces roughly 70 days of prelaunch

Markets

OHB Launches Share Sale With KKR to Chase Higher Valuation in Wake of SpaceX IPO

German satellite manufacturer OHB said on June 22, 2026 that it is launching a share sale in partnership with private equity firm KKR. The company aims to attract new investors and secure a higher valuation, a move tied directly to rising investor interest in space stocks following SpaceX's

Launch

South Korea Launches Search for Second Spaceport to Handle Reusable Rocket Surge

South Korea will open a nationwide search for the site of a second spaceport, the Korea AeroSpace Administration said, preparing for an expected jump in launch activity driven by reusable rockets. The agency announced Sunday it would accept bids from local governments through August 6 to host the facility, which

Deep Space

NASA Advances DAPHNE Twin-Satellite Mission to Study How Earth Weather Disrupts Space

NASA has selected the Dynamic Atmosphere-Ionosphere Explorer, known as DAPHNE, to enter Phase B of development, a heliophysics mission designed to investigate how turbulence in Earth's lower atmosphere ripples upward to disrupt the space environment. By detailing how terrestrial and solar forces collide, the mission aims to

Markets

MDA Space Buys Blue Canyon Technologies for $620 Million in U.S. Defense Push

Canadian satellite company MDA Space has agreed to acquire smallsat manufacturer Blue Canyon Technologies from RTX in an all-cash deal valued at $620 million. The purchase gives the company an established U.S. presence and a pathway to compete for classified work and prime contracts in the American defense