OST Staff

Deep Space

Inouye Solar Telescope Resolves Wave Structures Never Before Seen on the Sun's Surface

The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope has captured the sharpest images ever taken of the Sun's visible surface, revealing swirling wave-like vortices that have never been observed there before. Published August 5th in Nature, the observations resolve features as small as 19 kilometers across and could help

Markets

Rocket Lab Lands $397 Million Space Force Deal to Build and Fly SB-AMTI "Flatellites"

Rocket Lab has won a $397 million contract from the U.S. Space Force to build and launch satellites for the Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator program, known as SB-AMTI. The award, reported August 5, 2026, marks a significant step in the company's move from small

Markets

SpaceX Commits Exclusively to Nvidia for Orbital AI Hardware

SpaceX announced a partnership with Nvidia to design the compute payload for Starmind AI1, the first satellite in a planned constellation built to run AI workloads directly in orbit. Hours later, on the company's first earnings call as a public company, Elon Musk pledged that SpaceX will build

Markets

Neuraspace Raises 15.6 Million Euros to Build European Space Domain Awareness Platform

Portuguese space traffic management startup Neuraspace announced 15.6 million euros ($18 million) in fresh funding on Aug. 5 to expand European space domain awareness and defense capabilities. The financing will directly support NeuraspaceDEF, an AI-powered platform serving both civil and defense users, and advance Europe's push

Launch

SpaceX Delivers Three More BlueBird Satellites to Orbit for AST SpaceMobile

A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched three of AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird Block 2 satellites into low Earth orbit before dawn on Wednesday, adding satellites numbered 11, 12, and 13 to the company's direct-to-device constellation. The mission marks the latest step in building out a network

Launch

SpaceX Sets IFT-14 for Late August With First Operational Starlinks and Ship Catch Attempt

SpaceX will fly the next Starship test, IFT-14, as soon as the end of August, deploying operational Starlink Version 3 satellites into orbit for the first time and attempting to catch the Starship upper stage back at Starbase, Texas. Company officials confirmed the plan during SpaceX's first

Launch

Discarded Falcon 9 Upper Stage Strikes the Moon at 5,400mph

A four-tonne piece of a spent SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that had drifted in space since last year is believed to have crashed into the Moon on Wednesday, gouging out a new lunar crater. The unintentional collision posed no danger to Earth, and NASA and SpaceX said they are

Deep Space

Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Carries Water With Heavy-Hydrogen Ratio 40 Times Earth's

Scientists have measured water on 3I/ATLAS, only the third confirmed interstellar object ever detected, and found a deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio roughly 40 times higher than in Earth's ocean water. The finding, reported in the week of August 3 to 5, 2026, points to the comet having

Markets

Intuitive Machines Wins L3Harris Selection for 18 Missile Tracking Spacecraft

Intuitive Machines has been selected by L3Harris Technologies to design, build, and deliver 18 spacecraft platforms for the Space Development Agency's Accelerated Missile Defense Tranche 3 mission. The selection, announced August 4, 2026, expands the Houston company beyond its lunar lander work into national security space and America&

Markets

Four Commercial Landers Race Toward 2028 Cargo Deliveries for NASA's Moon Base

NASA confirmed on August 4, 2026, that Blue Origin, Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines, and Voyager Lunar Systems are working to deliver cargo landers to the lunar surface by 2028 in support of its Moon Base program. The landers will deliver the foundational architecture for a sustained outpost near the Moon&

Markets

AST SpaceMobile Activates Direct-to-Cell Service in Japan With Rakuten

AST SpaceMobile has formally notified the Federal Communications Commission that it has begun active direct-to-cellular service operations in Japan alongside partner Rakuten Mobile. The activation marks the company's first commercial service outside the United States, establishing a direct orbital link to standard mobile handsets across the

Deep Space

PUNCH Mission Pins Solar Storm Arrival to Within 30 Minutes in First Test

NASA's PUNCH mission has predicted the near-Earth arrival of a solar eruption to within 30 minutes in an initial proof of concept test, using continuous imagery of the inner solar system. The results, presented Tuesday at the Committee on Space Research Scientific Meeting and under review at

Launch

SpaceX Recovers Intact Ship 40 From Indian Ocean as Ship 41 Readies for Engine Testing

SpaceX is recovering the intact Ship 40 from the Indian Ocean after the vehicle executed a soft landing on Flight 13, marking the first time a Starship upper stage has survived splashdown rather than being destroyed. At the same time, teams are preparing Ship 41 for engine testing at Massey&

Deep Space

NASA's PUNCH Nails Solar Storm Arrival to Within 30 Minutes in Proof-of-Concept Test

NASA's PUNCH mission predicted the near-Earth arrival of a solar eruption to within 30 minutes in an initial proof-of-concept test, using continuous imagery to track the storm across the inner solar system. The result, roughly 10 times more precise than current methods, could reshape how

Markets

Rocketdyne Returns as Standalone Space Company After $845 Million Sale

Rocketdyne is again an independent company as AE Industrial Partners completed its purchase of L3Harris Technologies' space propulsion, power and electronics units on August 4. The deal separates a 1,300-person space supplier from the missile businesses L3Harris plans to keep, and revives one of the best-known

Policy

Greece Commits 350 Million Euros to Sovereign Satellite Programme

Greece unveiled Hellas-Space 2.0, a 350 million euro national space programme, on August 3, 2026, to expand national space infrastructure and domestic industrial capabilities. The Ministry of Digital Governance and Artificial Intelligence announced the initiative, which centers on deploying very high-resolution optical and thermal imaging satellites. The

Markets

Intuitive Machines Closes Goonhilly and COMSAT Deals, Adding Ground Stations Ahead of IM-3 and Altus-1

Intuitive Machines has completed its acquisition of Goonhilly Earth Station Limited and COMSAT LLC, two deep space communications providers with ground station assets in the United Kingdom and the United States. The move expands the Houston company's space infrastructure network as it prepares for its upcoming IM-3

Defense

True Anomaly Completes First In-Space Pursuit of an Evading Satellite Under VICTUS HAZE

True Anomaly said it has become the first company to execute an in-space pursuit of an evading target, a milestone reached during the Space Force's tactical responsive space mission VICTUS HAZE. The company's Jackal spacecraft tracked and imaged a Rocket Lab-built satellite called Puma

Markets

NASA Ships Shoebox-Sized Navigation Payload to Intuitive Machines for First Lunar Relay Satellite

NASA delivered its NavCube3-mini navigation payload on July 13 to Intuitive Machines for integration into Altus-1, the company's first lunar relay satellite. The delivery marks a milestone in developing the communications and navigation services intended to support astronauts and rovers at NASA's future Moon

Longest Total Solar Eclipse Until 2114 Set to Cross Spain and North Africa Next August

A total solar eclipse on August 2, 2027, exactly one year away, will sweep across Spain and North Africa, delivering the longest period of totality visible from land until the year 2114. Near Luxor, Egypt, totality will last 6 minutes and 22 seconds, and the path will cross over 89

Launch

Rocket Factory Augsburg Halts UK Launch Debut After Pad Test Reveals Vehicle Issue

German startup Rocket Factory Augsburg has paused its first orbital launch attempt after discovering a problem with its RFA One rocket during testing on the launch pad at the U.K.'s SaxaVord Spaceport in Shetland, Scotland. The company announced on July 28 that it found "an issue

Launch

SpaceX Targets Pecan Island for Third US Launch Site

SpaceX is planning to build a new launch facility along an 18-mile stretch of coastal south Louisiana known as Pecan Island, a source close to the deal confirmed. The move would give the company a third domestic launch site alongside its existing operations in Texas and Florida. The confirmation

Defense

Stratolaunch Passes 10 Successful Talon-A Hypersonic Flights

Stratolaunch has now completed more than 10 successful flights with its reusable, autonomous Talon-A hypersonic aircraft, the California-based company announced late last month. The milestone marks a maturity marker for a test platform designed to make hypersonic flight data a routine service rather than a rare event. Talon-

Markets

Intermap to Buy Out PCI Geomatics for $11 Million, Merging Elevation Models With Image Processing

Intermap Technologies has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the remaining shares of Canadian software developer PCI Geomatics Group for $11 million in cash. The deal consolidates the Englewood, Colorado geospatial intelligence provider's existing ownership stake in PCI and combines the two firms' processing and analytics capabilities

Four Sky Events Converge on August 12 in Rare Skywatching Window

Skywatchers across North America and Europe face an exceptional 24 hours on Wednesday, August 12, when a daytime solar eclipse, the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, a brilliant Venus and glowing views of the Milky Way arrive within a single calendar day. The concentration of celestial events on one