Markets

A collection of 95 posts

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&

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

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,

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

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

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

Markets

EQT Makes First Space Sector Bet With Acquisition of Germany's Exolaunch

EQT Private Equity of Sweden is buying Exolaunch, a German rideshare mission management and integration provider, in a transaction of undisclosed value. The deal marks EQT's first investment in the space sector and arrives as Exolaunch projects a 250 percent revenue increase this year. The transaction is expected

Markets

NASA Bets Mars Atmospheric Mission on Relativity Space's Unproven Terran R

NASA announced a public-private partnership with Relativity Space to deliver an atmospheric-science payload to Mars, with the agency providing instruments and the company supplying the spacecraft, rocket, and cruise operations. The deal hands a NASA planetary science mission to a company whose only rocket, Terran 1, never reached

Markets

Air Force Selects Anduril and General Atomics to Build First AI Drone Wingmen

The U.S. Air Force on June 17 awarded contracts under its Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, selecting Anduril and General Atomics to build the first Increment 1 unmanned aircraft designed to fly alongside crewed fighters including the F-35. The decision marks the program's shift from concept to

Markets

Katalyst Raises $12 Million for GEO Servicing as Swift Reboost Mission Nears Launch

Satellite servicing startup Katalyst Space Technologies has closed a $12 million funding round to develop a geosynchronous orbit demonstration spacecraft, the company announced June 16. The round comes weeks before Katalyst launches a separate mission to raise the orbit of a NASA astrophysics observatory whose orbit is decaying. The funding

Markets

Space Force Finalizes $514 Million Order for Two More Hardened GPS IIIF Satellites

The U.S. Space Force has finalized a $514 million contract modification with Lockheed Martin Space to begin production on GPS IIIF Space Vehicles 23 and 24. The award brings the military's total commitment for the next-generation IIIF line to 14 spacecraft, advancing a campaign to harden

Markets

Gilat to Acquire Comtech's Satellite and Space Business for $157.5 Million, Six Years After Failed Merger

Israel's Gilat Satellite Networks has agreed to buy most of Comtech's space-related communications business for $157.5 million in cash, the company announced June 15. The deal expands Gilat's defense capabilities and U.S. presence six years after a takeover bid running the

Launch

Astrobotic Unveils Griffin-1 Lunar Lander, Now NASA's Moon Base 2 Mission, Ahead of Late-2026 Launch

Astrobotic showed off its nearly completed Griffin-1 lunar lander on June 15 at its Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania facility, marking a major milestone for the robotic vehicle before it ships to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California for environmental testing later this month. The lander, which carries a 650

Markets

SpaceX's First Move as a Public Company Is a $60 Billion AI Acquisition

SpaceX has announced it has exercised its option to acquire AI coding startup Cursor in an all-stock deal valued at $60 billion, its first acquisition since completing the largest IPO in history last week. The transaction, announced June 16, lands just days after SpaceX went public and less than

Markets

Intuitive Machines Left Out of NASA's First Lunar Rover Awards

NASA selected Astrolab and Lunar Outpost for its initial major lunar rover contracts, leaving Intuitive Machines out of the first round. The company, which trades publicly as LUNR and has positioned itself as a core player in the emerging lunar economy, was not among the initial awardees, a direct setback

Markets

Rocket Lab Enters the Nasdaq-100 on the Same Day SpaceX Begins Trading

Rocket Lab Corporation announced today that it has been added to the Nasdaq-100 Index, placing it among the 100 largest non-financial companies listed on the exchange. The move took effect the same day SpaceX began trading on the Nasdaq, putting two major space companies on the same exchange

Satellites

China's Satellite Broadband Push Targets Markets Where Starlink Has Stalled

State-backed Chinese startup Spacesail is actively signing agreements with governments and operators that SpaceX has been unable to serve, positioning itself as a direct competitor to Starlink in underserved global markets. The move comes as SpaceX pursues its IPO, and it strikes at the markets the company needs to

Markets

Space Force Bets Commercial Operators Can Build Jam-Resistant Military Satellites

The U.S. Space Force awarded $437.7 million to Viasat and Intelsat for the first satellites in a new protected communications program, marking a significant pivot toward commercial telecom operators for military-grade secure links. The awards represent the first production contracts under the Protected Tactical SATCOM-Global program

Markets

SpaceX Targets Late 2027 Orbital AI Computing Demonstrations Ahead of IPO

SpaceX is targeting late 2027 to demonstrate operational artificial intelligence computing infrastructure in orbit, an accelerated timeline the company outlined to investors in presentations ahead of its public offering. The target arrives six months earlier than SpaceX's IPO filing disclosures and represents a critical validation test for technology

Markets

German Launch Startup Isar Aerospace Raises $312 Million Despite September Failure

German launch company Isar Aerospace has secured 270 million euros ($312 million) in Series D funding as it prepares to reattempt its Spectrum rocket launch after a failure last September. The round, led by new investors Island Green Capital and Molten Ventures, signals strong backer confidence in the company'

Markets

ICEYE Reaches $12 Billion Valuation as Defense Demand Drives European Space Sector

Finnish synthetic aperture radar company ICEYE closed a $520 million Series F funding round at a $12 billion valuation, becoming one of Europe's most valuable space companies. The raise reflects surging government demand for all-weather Earth observation capabilities, particularly among defense and intelligence agencies seeking persistent surveillance

Satellites

Indonesia's PSN Confirms Role as Secret Customer for Rocket Lab's Equatorial Satellite Launch

Indonesia's Pasifik Satellit Nusantara revealed on June 8 that it was the undisclosed customer behind a recent Rocket Lab Electron launch deploying six Internet of Things satellites to equatorial orbit. The constellation will deliver connectivity across Indonesia's sprawling archipelago, marking a shift in how emerging space

Markets

Prada and Axiom Space Partner on Cooling Garment for Artemis Moon Missions

Axiom Space and Prada have unveiled the liquid cooling and ventilation garment that will regulate astronaut body temperature during lunar surface operations on NASA's Artemis III mission. The collaboration, announced June 7, represents the first time a luxury fashion brand has contributed functional engineering to spaceflight hardware, signaling

Markets

UK Startup NewOrbit Raises $18.5M to Pursue Very Low Earth Orbit Imaging

NewOrbit closed an oversubscribed $18.5 million Series A funding round to develop satellites operating below 450 kilometers altitude, a frontier that promises sharper Earth imagery and lower latency than traditional low Earth orbit. The UK-based company has not yet launched any spacecraft but plans to fly its NEO-

Markets

Quantum Space to Go Public on Strength of Former NASA Chief and Space Force Contracts

Quantum Space, a spacecraft developer focused on orbital servicing and national security missions, will merge with a SPAC to raise capital and go public at an $800 million valuation. Quantum Space was co-founded by Dr. Kam Ghaffarian, the Company’s Executive Chairman and a visionary entrepreneur and co-founder