Author: starpathwp-production
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Space Force Pays Five Companies $60 Million to Connect to SpaceX-Built Data Network
The Space Data Network, or SDN, is a planned mesh communications architecture in low Earth orbit designed to move large volumes of data among satellites and between space and the ground. SpaceX won a $2.29 billion contract in May to build the Space Data Network Backbone, or SDN-B, a proliferated constellation using optical crosslinks to…
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Intuitive Machines Books $600 Million Order for Three GEO Communications Satellites
Intuitive Machines entered the GEO satellite manufacturing business through its acquisition late last year of Lanteris Space Systems, formerly Maxar Space Systems. It produces GEO satellites using its 1300-series bus, now called IM 1300. Chief executive Steve Altemus said the company continues to see strong demand for the platform, describing it as flight-proven. Altemus provided…
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Space Force Awards Space Data Network Contracts to Five Satellite Manufacturers
The U.S Space Force has awarded a series of contracts to five companies as it looks to reap the benefits of a a more diverse multi-vendor architecture approach related to its Space Data Network (SDN). The five companies selected were Amazon LEO for Government, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Rocket Lab and York Space Systems. The…
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Northrop Grumman Redirects Paused Gateway Hardware Toward Lunar South Pole Survival Testing
The work follows NASA’s decision in March 2026 to pause Gateway in its current form and concentrate on infrastructure supporting sustained surface operations. Northrop Grumman built the Habitation and Logistics Outpost, known as HALO, along with associated ground hardware and test infrastructure for a station once intended for assembly in lunar orbit. NASA now wants…
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Stoke Space Raising $1 Billion to Fund Fully Reusable Nova Rocket
The round reflects investor confidence in a company that has pursued full reusability from the start rather than the partial reuse seen on other vehicles. Stoke has positioned itself as one of the most technically ambitious newcomers in the launch sector, with Nova designed to recover both stages. The raise totals $1 billion and was…
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Intuitive Machines Posts Record $206 Million Quarter as Backlog Swells to $1.8 Billion
The quarter capped a stretch of aggressive expansion across commercial, civil, and national security markets. Backlog rose $1.5 billion from year-end 2025, driven by what the company described as record levels of diverse awards. In August, the company closed its acquisition of Goonhilly Earth Station and COMSAT to expand its space-to-ground data services network configured…
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We’ve flown a radiation-blocking vest to the Moon and back, and it worked
Solar storms, like the one in August 1972 that hit during the gap between the Apollo 16 and Apollo 17 missions, throw bursts of protons intense enough to raise an astronaut’s cancer risk or even cause radiation sickness. Earth’s atmosphere and magnetic field absorb this radiation, but crews heading to the Moon or Mars won’t…
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Space Kinetic Wins $50M Space Force Award to Develop Whirlwind Maneuvering System
The company describes a thesis rooted in applying drone economics to orbit, where payloads are cheap, responsive, and potentially disposable. Space Kinetic says it has spent years working with government partners to confirm the underlying physics before maturing the hardware. In November, it received a multimillion dollar DARPA contract to accelerate its architecture for asymmetric…
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Virgin Galactic wants your help naming its new Delta class spaceship
As Virgin Galactic nears christening the first of its next-generation spaceship designed to launch customers on suborbital flights, it still is missing a key component—a name. The self-described “commercial spaceline,” which was founded by British tycoon Richard Branson, has turned to the public to vote on what to call the new vehicle. The spaceplane will…
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Exclusive: Space Kinetic Awarded $50M for Space Maneuverability
Cheap, swarming, and potentially disposable—all words used in drone economics and now one startup wants to apply them to space. On Thursday, Space Kinetic announced a $50M OTA award from the Space Force to develop Whirlwind—its space maneuverability and deployment system. It’s the largest award yet for the company, which raised a $12M seed round…