Space Times

Space Times

The space industry is as vast and evolving as the environment it occupies, and we are here to help you navigate it! Every week we talk about advances in space technology and business, and we want to share our opinions and insights with you. Paul Mayer and Harrison Lambert met a decade ago working as aerospace engineers at Maxar. Since then, Harrison has spent that time working on space systems for a variety of applications, and Paul has become a venture capitalist helping grow nascent space companies. Now we want to share the next decades with you, discussing all the exciting times in space! spacetimespod.substack.com

  1. Weekly Recap #20

    3 DAYS AGO

    Weekly Recap #20

    Main Topics Communications * SpaceX is rumored to be developing its own Starlink-branded smartphone to connect with the company’s satellite services. The device is intended to help boost revenue as SpaceX prepares for an IPO. [source] * Spanish telco MasOrange will trial Starlink’s Direct-to-Cell service under a new agreement with SpaceX. MasOrange plans to carry out a technical pilot in the Spanish province of Valladolid. [source] * AT&T and Amazon announced an extensive strategic partnership that leverages Amazon LEO network to augment terrestrial fiber infrastructure across the US. [source] * CesiumAstro closes its $470M services C round to scale operations. This includes $200M in debt from EXIM and JP. Morgan that was reported a few weeks ago, along with $270 million in equity announced this week led by Trousdale Ventures. [source] * Gilat Satellite Networks receives an over $10M order from an undisclosed leading ground gateway antenna provider to support rollout of ground infrastructure for a LEO constellation. [source] * Gilmour Space has partnered with Singapore and US-based Transcelestial to integrate and test laser optical communications on their MMS2 ElaraSat mission later this year. [source] Earth Observation * HEX20 partners with Transcelestial to integrate laser-based inter-satellite communication into their DINK-N Earth observation constellation. [source] * Tomorrow.io raises $175M in equity led by Stonecourt Capital and HarbourVest to accelerate the deployment of their AI weather satellite constellation called DeepSky [source] * Vantor wins a $5.3 million contract under NGA’s Luno B program to detect and deliver automated insights on real-time changes to Earth’s landscape for global mapping and intelligence missions. [source] * Blacksky wins a seven figure multi-year contract with geospatial intelligence fusion company EMDYN to deliver space-based imagery services to international customers including API-enabled automated tip-and-cue tasking and fusing of signals and other intelligence sources. [source] Launch * SpaceX pausedFalcon 9 launches for four days after an issue with the rocket’s upper stage encountered at the end of a successful Starlink deployment mission on Feb 2. [source] * Artemis II encountered a hydrogen link, the issue has been fixed, but the launch is now delayed to early March. [source] * FAA approves Starship launches from LC-39A, pushing all future Dragon flights to SLC-40; SpaceX has begun construction on LC-39A to accommodate the larger rocket. [source] Business Moves * SpaceX merges with xAI to form the most valuable private company at ~$1.2B. The combined AI/space capability prepares them for launching orbital data centers, and a planned IPO. [source] * SpaceX has acquired Hexagon Purus ASA‘s high-pressure composite storage cylinder subsidiary for $15 million. [source] * York Space asked to dismiss its protest of Apex’s $46M SBIR contract, filed about a year ago, one day before going public. Judge Loren Smith accepted the motion, formally dismissing the case on Jan. 30 “with prejudice,” meaning it can’t be brought back to court [source] * Morpheus Space has secured a new strategic investment of $15 million to expand their team and boost industrial production at their Reloaded Facility in Dresden, Germany, enabling fast and reliable delivery of their field effect electric propulsion systems at full constellation scale. [source] Tech Advances * Viridian Space signed a five-year cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with the US Air Force to co-develop Viridian’s air-breathing electric propulsion tech, and to work together on studies leveraging VLEO. [source] * Satellite servicing startup Starfish Space taps Quindar for mission operations software for their first three Otter missions.[source] * Voyager Technologies and Max Space announced a strategic partnership to advance expandable space exploration technology, serving as the cornerstone of future lunar and deep-space exploration efforts for habitation and storage. [source] * The Finnish satellite manufacturer ReOrbit announced a partnership with Google Cloud yesterday to build a network of satellites to securely transport and process data on orbit—a network the partnership is calling the “Space Cloud.” [source] Get full access to Space Times Substack at spacetimespod.substack.com/subscribe

    51 min
  2. Samara Aerospace Interview + Weekly Recap #19

    2 FEB

    Samara Aerospace Interview + Weekly Recap #19

    Main Topics Communications * Northwood, a next-generation phased array ground station provider, has raised $100M in Series B funding led by Washington Harbour Partners LP and co-led by Andreessen Horowitz, this was announced alongside the closing of a $49 million Space Force deal. [source] * Eutelsat said a planned sale of its passive ground infrastructure to a private equity firm announced in August 2024 will not proceed, eliminating roughly $658 million in expected proceeds. [source] * Apolink has partnered with ground segment provider RBC Signals to resell the startup’s proposed in-orbit relay services, aiming to fill connectivity gaps when satellites are out of view of terrestrial command-and-control links. [source] * Airbus announced an agreement with Skynopy to leverage the startup’s software-defined ground station tech, which aims to decrease latency on Airbus’ Pléiades Neo high-resolution (30cm) Earth observation constellation. [source] * SpaceX submitted a revision to their BEAD (broadband equity, access, and deployment) filing to relax service requirements to low income households, making it easier for them to receive their $733m grant. NTIA has prompted states not to sign the petition. [source] * Globalstar is planning on launching a new constellation, doubling its current fleet to 54 satellites, including 6 in-orbit spares, and operating in the same 1,414-kilometer orbit by 2026. Globalstar is vague about what services its new C-3 constellation will offer, but will likely be a high power S-band D2D service primarily funded by Apple’s $1.1B investment, and built by MDA Space and Rocket Lab. [source] * Hanwha is exploring a South Korean defense constellation with MDA Space and Telesat, using the Aurora platform to make a lightspeed compatible LEO broadband network. [source] * Astranis is partnering with the MB Group to deliver a small GEO satellite to Oman, part of a $200M investment in sovereign connectivity and Oman’s Vision 2040 program. [source] * Luxembourg-based EmTroniX and France’s Anywaves have agreed to merge into a single industrial group spanning Europe and the United States, aiming to offer integrated radio frequency and payload subsystem technologies to commercial, institutional and defence space customers. [source] * Tokyo-based satellite company ArkEdge Space Inc. has signed letters of intent with three international organizations to develop a PNT satellite network in low-Earth orbit (LEO). The agreements with TrustPoint Inc., the Royal Institute of Navigation in the United Kingdom and FrontierSI aim to strengthen satellite-based PNT capabilities for civil, commercial and security applications. [source] * Terran Orbital to deliver Nebula bus for Mitsubishi Electric LEO demo mission. The Mitsubishi Electric LEO demo mission will feature Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and Optical Terminal payloads, provided by a Japanese team composed of members from the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), Mitsubishi Electric, and other Japanese partners. [source] Space Mobility * Blue Origin is halting New Shepherd launches for their space tourism business for at least 2 years to focus on lunar missions. They’ve completed 38 launches with 98 humans flown to space, and numerous science experiments. [source] * Rocket Lab has announced that during qualification testing of Neutron’s stage 1 tank, they encountered a rupture during a hydrostatic pressure trial. [source] * Atlas Cup announces the first satellite racing league to stage competitions between high mobility spacecraft on-orbit. [source] * Exotrail, a French company specializing in multi-orbit satellite mobility and focused on LEO service vehicles, together with Astroscale France, the French subsidiary of the Japan-based on-orbit servicing company, announced Jan. 28 a partnership aimed at testing deorbiting capabilities in low Earth orbit. [source] * UARX Space, a European leader in satellite deployment and in-space transportation systems, announced the signing of a contract with ATMOS Space Cargo, a European space logistics company developing reusable return systems. [source] * Epic Aerospace Chimera-1 made contact with Earth at 53,000,000 km away, this is the furthest communication for a commercial satellite, and they’re still working to return the OTV. [source] * UK defence space start up SHIELD SPACE has secured £2 million in new funding for the first launch of their satellite to provide protection capabilities and on-orbit resilience. The round was led by Mercia Ventures, with participation from Twin Path Ventures, ROI VENTURES and P3A. [source] Imagery * Starlink has turned the star trackers on 8,000 of their spacecraft into space situational awareness cameras, and is releasing Stargaze as a free satellite tracking service to all operators. [source] * HEO, an Australian non-Earth imaging (NEI) startup, announced the purchase of Satellogic’s NewSat-34. [source] * S2a systems detected a fragmentation event of a Luch/Olymp spacecraft in GEO graveyard orbit raising concerns about the safety of GEO disposal. [source] * L3Harris Technologies has received a contract from LIG Nex1 to provide the next-generation imaging payload for the Korea Meteorological Administration’s (KMA) geostationary weather satellite, which will be a new 18-channel meteorological imager with two channels for improved water vapor measurement and enhanced resolution. [source] * A Brazilian government agency will launch INPE’s Amazonia-1B earth observation satellite on a Vega C rocket, working with launch broker SpaceLaunch rather than contracting directly with Avio. [source] * Reflex Aerospace will develop and manufacture the satellite platforms for LiveEO`s newly announced stereo-imaging Earth observation constellation Twinspector to create 3D maps of power poles and trees. [source] * Leonardo DRS announced that it was awarded a subcontract to provide Infrared Mission Payloads in support of the Space Development Agency’s Tracking Layer Tranche 3. [source] * Kratos expands hypersonic infrastructure as VisionWave is unveiled as a new space-based Counter-UAS architecture targeting a portion of a $1.5B MACH TB2.0 contract. [source] Business Moves * York Space Systems went public at a $4.75B valuation. York netted $629M on the go public deal and plans to deploy that capital primarily to increase its production capacity. While at 300 satellites / year today, the target is closer to 1000 / year. York is also open to M&A opportunities to secure their supply chain should such opportunities present themselves. [source] * A shell company chaired by venture capitalist Raphael Roettgen began trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange Jan. 28 after raising $200 million to pursue a merger with a space-related business. Space Asset Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that offers a fast-track to the public markets for firms seeking capital, priced its initial public offering at $10 per unit. [source] * IonQ’s agreed to acquire SkyWater Technology for $1.8B in cash and stock. The acquisition is meant to accelerate IonQ’s roadmap—cutting design-to-first-sample time for its 256-qubit chip from nine months to two months, and targeting the first 200,000-qubit chip from the fab in 2028, which the company says could enable ~8,000 logical qubits and pull forward a 2 million-qubit timeline by up to a year. [source] * NordSpace, a Canadian launch vehicle manufacturer, received a $335k grant for additive manufacturing development. [source] Tech Advances * SpaceX has filed with the FCC to launch up to 1 million orbital data centers for AI into sun-synchronous low-earth orbit. [source] * Varda W-5 has returned to Earth successfully demonstrating autonomy, hypersonic flight and their new C-PICA heat shield for the Prometheus program; W-6 through W-9 planned for the rest of the year. [source] * NASA has selected Axiom Space for its fifth private astronaut mission to the ISS, they will be sending four astronauts for 14 days in 2027, and will be collaborating with Voyager. [source] Get full access to Space Times Substack at spacetimespod.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 25m

  3. 26 JAN

    Weekly Recap #18

    Major News Space Sovereignty * Loft Orbital wins €50M SAR contract from French space agency CNES to be prime contractor for DESIR SAR satellite with Thales and Tekever to deploy in early 2029. This project is part of France’s Defense Procurement Agency’s efforts to secure sovereign national radar imaging. [source] * Marble Imaging entered a strategic partnership with French aerospace and technology company Safran Space to use their high-performance optical payloads, Seeing230, in Marble’s upcoming satellite constellation for daily collection of high resolution multispectral imaging. [source] * First two Open Cosmos satellites planned to launch on Rocket Lab Electron on January 22 following their Ka-band spectrum licensing last week that Lichtenstein transferred from Rivada Space. [source] * SpaceRISE consortium consisting of almost every European prime, but primarily SES, Eutelsat, and Hispasat, initiates procurement for IRIS2 satellite and launch services to deploy sovereign military communication constellation. [source] * ESA member states have pledged €73 million towards further development of Swissto12’s HummingSat, a smallsat for GEO communications. The funding will accelerate the deployment and readiness of the platform to meet a growing demand for commercial and sovereign communications. [source] Space Infrastructure * Blue Origin announces Terawave, a hybrid LEO/MEO communications constellation consisting of 5,408 optically interconnected satellites enabling ultra-high-throughput (projected 6Tbps) links between global hubs and distributed user connections on the ground; planned for launch in Q4 2027. [source] * Italian space logistics specialist D-Orbit has raised $128 million in the first closing of a Series D investment round to enable strategic acquisitions, accelerate the build-out of D-Orbit’s orbital logistics infrastructure, expand in-orbit transportation services, scale industrial capacity for ION missions and advance new operational capabilities. [source] * United States Space Force awards $52.5M contract to Starfish Space to deorbit satellites in the SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture constellation when the sats reach their expiration date. [source] * Atomic-6 signs a new development agreement with Starpath to continue joint work on a deployable composite boom for vertical deployable solar array system for the moon. [source] * NASA and the Department of Energy have partnered to develop nuclear reactors for the moon and prepare to release request-for-proposals from commercial industry. [source] * Voyager Technologies announced a new contract with Space LiinTech to manifest a new payload to the International Space Station, advancing microgravity-enabled drug discovery. [source] * SpaceWorks and Astral Materials have successfully completed Payload Build Round 1 and move on to Build Round 2 to develop in-space manufacturing for semiconductors. [source] Launch * Astra ships 110 hall thrusters reaching $45M 2025 revenue, breakeven EBITDA, and 100% Satellite Engine Mission Reliability. [source] * Gilmour Space Technologies raises 217M at a billion+ valuation making the rocket company the first Australian Space Unicorn. [source] * Rocket Lab experiences a testing setback for Electron prompting schedule adjustments. The company stressed that the issue was identified during ground testing rather than flight, allowing corrective action before launch. [source] * German startup ISAR Aerospace delayed its second Spectrum rocket launch attempt after identifying a pressurization valve issue. Engineers emphasized the delay was precautionary, and the company stated the issue does not indicate a systemic design flaw. [source] * Scottish rocket builder Orbex files for bankruptcy and has signed a letter of intent to sell to European space logistics startup The Exploration Company. [source] * Blue Origin planned the next launch of New Glenn to reuse the booster from their second launch and deploy the second tranche of AST SpaceMobile’s Bluebird communications constellation. [source] Business Moves * Samara Aerospace closed their $10M seed round, led by Balerion Space Ventures, to deploy their solar panel stabilization technology for an ultra-stable satellite platform. [source] * Washington Harbour acquired Radome Services, which was rebranded as Outpost Mission Services, to anchor a roll-up strategy in their space ground station servicing business. [source] * TakeMe2Space raises $5M, led by Chiratae Ventures, to scale in-orbit AI inference compute for orbital data centers. [source] * Tomorrow.io has announced DeepSky AI enabled weather monitoring constellation [source] Tech Advances * Warpspace has completed the Series C financing round through a third-party allotment of new shares, led by the Space Frontier Fund II, to accelerate efforts toward the market launch of its multi-protocol optical modem “HOCSAI” and its Digital Twin System “DTS.” [source] * Teledyne’s Speedster HyViSI focal plane arrays launched aboard NASA’s BlackCAT CubeSat Mission to demonstrate new Si-PIN hybrid CMOS architecture for improved X-ray imaging. [source] * NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite data is now public following its launch late last year. [source] Get full access to Space Times Substack at spacetimespod.substack.com/subscribe

    57 min
  4. Atomic-6 Interview + Weekly Recap #17

    19 JAN

    Atomic-6 Interview + Weekly Recap #17

    Main Topics Space Dominance * China files for ~200,000 satellites in GEO with ITU, split between two constellations, CTC-1 and CTC-2, each for 96,714. Regardless of how many actually launch, this is illustrative of China’s priority to reserve slots in the less contested GEO orbits [source] * Vyoma has successfully launched Flamingo-1, its first space domain awareness satellite, to a 500 km sun-synchronous orbit [source] * Slingshot Aerospace awarded a $27M contract to support the U.S. Space Force in advancing next-generation training for space warfare. This work focuses on integrating TALOS AI into Space Force training environments—scaling scenario complexity, increasing realism, and enabling operators to prepare for rapidly evolving orbital threats at the speed and scale modern missions demand. [source] * Blackswan Space awarded a €600k ESA contract to mature Vision-Based Navigation (VBN) / RPO Kit to TRL6 in the next 12 months. This is to accelerate autonomous proximity ops & docking for the ASTRAL IoS mission in 2028 led by Orbit Fab UK [source] * In-orbit activation and verification activities of the PROBA-3 Rendezvous Experiment (RVX) have been successfully completed by Indra together with its partners in the RVX consortium including prime contractor Sener Aerospace & Defence and ESA’s operations team, the main RVX functions were tested and confirmed to perform as expected in orbit. [source] * Astroscale UK wins a £350k ESA contract for in-orbit refurbishment and upgrading services (IRUS) to do an eight-month Phase A study aimed at developing the technical groundwork and commercial case for such services. [source] * Aule Space has raised $2 million in a pre-seed funding to build satellites that can approach and attach to other satellites in orbit. The startup aims to use this technology to extend the life of high value satellites, inspect space assets at close range, and safely retire non functional satellites, helping make space operations more sustainable and cost effective. [source] * iSpace was awarded a contract by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for a lunar debris and disposal management study. [source] * ClearSpace and ESA target 2027 for PRELUDE in-orbit servicing + active debris removal, a 2027 demonstration mission is planned to develop core in-orbit servicing technologies and active debris removal. [source] * Atomic-6 Space Armor selected as debris collision protection for critical systems onboard Portal Space Systems Starburst-1 to launch later in 2026. [source] Low Earth Orbit * OroraTech and Kepler to launch “world’s first thermal livestream of Earth”. OroraTech launched four SAFIRE Gen4 sensor payloads aboard 10 Kepler satellites launched on Falcon-9 Twilight mission. OroraTech’s processed thermal insights will be delivered as persistent near-real-time IR data to support fast wildfire detection and thermal monitoring. [source] * Orbital Sentry has come out of Stealth mode building a revolutionary capability to persistently detect and track wildfires in real-time. Orbital Sentry will provide continuous spatial and temporal coverage to address a wide range of challenges including wildfire, defense, and commercial use cases aiming to be the first company to livestream the Earth from GEO. [source] * Planet wins a low 9-figure deal to deliver a suite of satellites, space-based data and AI intelligence solutions to the Swedish Armed Forces. That’s the third Satellite Services deal in just 12 months for over $500M in bookings. [source] * Portuguese Centre of Engineering and Product Development buys $18M worth of satellites from Satellogic, 2 NewSat Mark V 50cm-class imaging sats [source] * Airbus has been awarded a contract by Eutelsat to build a further 340 low Earth orbit OneWeb. The satellites will be manufactured at Airbus’s Toulouse facility on a newly installed production line, with delivery from the end of 2026. [source] * Aalyria has been selected to take part in the new Airbus UpNext SpaceRAN (Space Radio Access Network) demonstrator, whose mission is to test standardized global 5G Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) connectivity. The demo will combine Airbus’s software-defined satellite platform with Aalyria’s intelligent network orchestration and optimization capabilities to showcase advanced 5G communications from space. [source] * Lichtenstein revokes Rivada network’s Ka-band licenses and gives it to Open Cosmos in transfer of key spectrum between two UK sovereign LEO broadband satellite constellations. [source] * Orbion Space Technology delivers 33 Aurora propulsion systems to York Space Systems for defense constellation. The flight-ready hardware is designated for use on spacecraft within an upcoming military constellation. [source] * Aerospacelab to build eight satellites for Xona PNT constellation to support early rollout while they build out in-house production capability. [source] Launch * NASA SLS rolls out to pad for Artemis-2 launch to send 4 astronauts around the moon, this is the second mission after the Artemis-1 launch in November 2022. [source] * ISRO PSLV C62 fails during launch and loses 16 satellites; this follows the C61 failure back in May 2025 and brings the rocket’s success rate below 95%. [source] * In China, Galactic Energy Ceres-2 fails in its debut flight, while Ceres-1 successfully launched two days earlier. CAS Long March 3B/E failed earlier that day. The successful Ceres-1S Y7 launch was from converted sea platform Defu 15001 off the coast of Shandong with four satellites for the Tianqi constellation (numbers 37-40) successfully inserted into 850-km, 45-degree inclination orbits. Tianqi is one of China’s more mature Internet-of-things constellations and is operated by commercial startup Guodian Gaoke. A Long March 2C rocket launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. The payload was an Algerian Remote Sensing Satellite-3A, also known as AlSat-3A. [source] * TDK Ventures backs Indian rocket company Ethereal Exploration Guild in their Series A to pioneer fully reusable medium-lift launches. [source] * Canada Rocket Company enters the ‘Launch the North’ sweepstakes and raises $6.2M in seed round to fund methalox engine and reusable light lift rocket. [source] * Japanese launch vehicle startup Interstellar Technologies has raised nearly $130 million to continue development of its Zero small launch vehicle. [source] Business Moves * Parsons buys Altamira for $375 million to expand space and intelligence portfolio. The acquisition is for missile-warning and space data analytics capabilities. [source] * SkyFi raises $12.7 million to scale satellite data marketplace. Funding backs expansion of “virtual constellation” that aggregates imagery from commercial operators. [source] * Hydrosat, a thermal imagery startup focused on water-resource management, has raised $60 million in Series B funding from equity investors and sovereign wealth funds. Hydrosat plans to launch additional thermal infrared satellites and expand its global footprint. [source] * CesiumAstro has secured $200M in government financing. Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) and J.P. Morgan jointly provided the batch of financing to scale domestic manufacturing. [source] * ThinKom awarded SpaceWERX contract to provide containerized transportable ground stations for resilient MILSATCOM architecture. [source] * New-age manufacturing company Hadrian said it had raised an undisclosed amount of capital at a $1.6B valuation led by T. Rowe Price, with participation from Altimeter Capital, D1 Capital Partners L.P., StepStone Group, 1789 Capital, Founders Fund, Lux Capital, a16z, Construct Capital, and other existing investors to scale facilities and workforce. [source] * GomSpace Luxembourg has secured a €2.9M contract with a North American space company to design two small satellites for a lunar exploration mission. [source] * ArianeGroup establishes Sodern America subsidiary in the U.S. with the intent of establishing and increasing an American manufacturing presence. [source] * iSpace has initiated a new subsidiary in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, aiming to advance lunar exploration partnerships and marking the fourth global entity alongside Japan, Luxembourg, and the United States. [source] Tech Advances * PsiQuantum announced that the company is collaborating with Airbus, Europe’s largest aeronautics and space company, to advance applications in aerospace for fault-tolerant quantum computers. Under the QuLAB project at Airbus, the two companies are combining their expertise to develop and evaluate quantum algorithms for complex problems in fluid mechanics. [source] * Diffraqtion emerged from stealth with a $4.2M pre-seed round positioned as funding for developing quantum imagers to see farther in space, and to understand its environment faster, primarily focused on SDA use cases. [source] * Oxford Space Systems Wrapped Rib Antenna launched as part of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd satellite as CarbSAR IOD mission to demonstrate the performance of deployable synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technology. [source] * Voyager Technologies secures patent for in-orbit manufacturing of crystals for optical communications, microgravity-enabled manufacturing method to produce larger, purer crystals used in high-performance optical communications critical for optical comms as a backbone for data centers and the AI-driven economy. [source] * KSF Space commercializes additive-manufactured PA11 CubeSat structuresto expand the company’s lineup and lower costs and broaden access for smallsat missions. [source] * Two Axiom Space Orbital Data Center (ODC) nodes, ODC Nodes 1 and 2, were launched on Kepler’s satellites aboard the Falcon-9 Twilight mission as the first two of a multitude of planned free-flyer ODC nodes in low Earth orbit (LEO). [source] Get full access to Space Times Substack at spacetimespod.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 22m
  5. Weekly Recap #16

    12 JAN

    Weekly Recap #16

    Major News Earth Observation * Array Labs raises $20M Series A to scale production of radar satellites for 3D Earth mapping. The startup aims to mass-produce radar hardware and deploy formation-flying satellites. They’re making great progress out of Palo Alto on proprietary SAR capabilities, formation-flying, and 3D SAR mapping technology. [source] * Japan’s Ministry of Defense selected seven Japanese companies via public tender for a satellite constellation project intended to ensure stable acquisition of imagery supporting stand-off defense capabilities.The companies listed include SKY Perfect JSAT, Mitsubishi Electric, Mitsui & Co., Synspective, IQPS, Axelspace, and Mitsui Bussan Aerospace. The contract is valued at roughly 282 Bn Yen (~ $1.8 Bn) and is expected to run through 2031. [source] * Eartheye Space announced a contract to supply satellite imagery to an undisclosed Asia-Pacific customer, citing access to hundreds of satellites with resolution “as sharp as” 15 cm. The company brokers and integrates satellite access via partners for tasking and delivery. They do not manufacture or own any satellites themselves. One can expect this ‘secondary’ market for satellite capacity to grow and develop quickly as customer needs catch up to current inventory’s capacity and capability. [source] * Satellogic announced a seven-figure ‘continuous site monitoring’ agreement with a strategic customer. This award comes off the back of 8 figures of awards throughout 2025 that focus on explicitly providing low-latency imagery and data insights to customers. They’re solving what amounted to the key problem that government representatives expressed at GeoInt 2025. Continuous / persistent monitoring at low latency is one of Earth Observation’s - and National Security’s - white whales, so it will be interesting to see how close to realtime that imagery delivery is and who their customer winds up being. [source] Space Infrastructure * NASA has decided to bring home early four members of the International Space Station Crew-11 because of a medical issue with one of them, a first for NASA. The 4 member crew of the mission will be returning to Earth in the coming days. Once they depart, there will only be three people on the International Space Station, which will affect the station’s operations. The three include the two cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut from an earlier Soyuz mission. A new SpaceX crew isn’t slated to launch until February to help keep the massive orbiting lab running. [source] * Starlink performed 148,696 avoidance maneuvers between June and November 2025. The FCC approved a second tranche of 7,500 Starlink Gen2 satellites Jan. 9, expanding the size of SpaceX’s authorized next-generation constellation which will magnify the need for active collision avoidance in LEO. [source] * United Semiconductors is collaborating with Aegis Aerospace Inc. on a new in-space manufacturing facility to produce essential semiconductor materials. [source] * Araqys-D1 / Dcubed-1, manifested by Exolaunch, will fly on Falcon 9 on Jan 11, marking Araqys’ first on-orbit demonstration of manufacturing a structure directly in free space. Hawkeye 360 cluster 13 consisting of Hawk-13A, Hawk-13B and Hawk-13C joining this Twilight mission in dusk-dawn orbit. [source] * Astroscale Japan has been awarded a JPY 1 billion ($6.3m) contract by the Ministry of Defense to develop a general gripping mechanism system designed to securely grab national satellites under a wide range of on-orbit conditions. [source] * ThinkOrbital Inc. announces Seed Round led by TFX Capital to accelerate defense-driven space capabilities, on-orbit servicing, and in-space construction. [source] Launch Vehicles * AE Industrial Partners, LP has agreed to acquire a controlling interest in L3 Harris’ space propulsion and power systems business at a total enterprise value of $845 million. The RL-10 engine, a workhorse for the Vulcan rocket and ULA missions, is among the assets included in the pending 60% stake sale to AE Industrial Partners. The RL-25 System - relevant to SLS is excluded from the sale. AE Industrial Partners intends to rebrand the business group as Rocketdyne, reviving the Aerojet Rocketdyne brand that L3Harris acquired in 2023. [source] * SpaceX sweeps nine national security missions for SDA and NRO under NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 for $739m. They’re in competition with ULA, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, and Stoke Space for the full $5.6B. Last year SpaceX lost 2 contracts to ULA during both rounds in April and October. [source] * Commercial launch startup Landspace has secured formal contracts to launch satellites for China’s two main megaconstellation projects. One of those is 13000 Guowang satellites of which only 136 have been launched a dozen at a time on Long March rockets, which leaves ~1000 launches left. [source] * INNOSPACE signed a multi-launch agreement with the Atlantic Spaceport Consortium (ASC), choosing Santa Maria (Azores) as its European launch base. The deal provides priority, long-term access to the Malbusca Launch Center for a five-year period starting in 2026. This comes weeks after Innospace reached another launch facility agreement with Southern Launch in South Australia. They also have Alcantara (Brazil) and presumably Naro (South Korea). [source] Business Moves * Starlab Space announced an investment from Seven Grand Managers, an asset management firm with >$1B AUM. (Starlab Space is the joint venture between Voyager Space, Mitsubishi, MDA, and Airbus). There was no disclosure as to the amount of the investment by Seven Grand Managers.This reflects increased commercial acceptance of a private successor to the ISS or other space habitats. [source] * Lonestar data holdings closes $6.6M seed round and names new CEO. Stephen Eisele steps in as CEO to focus on market expansion and revenue growth as Chris Stott takes a new role as executive chair to continue Lonestar’s long-term strategy and building towards the vision of lunar data centers. [source] * CUS-GNC closes $760k pre seed round. GNC software is still a critical challenge for RPO, so it’s good to see additional entrants looking to solve this problem. [source] * Karman raises $5M to expand solid rocket motor nozzle production capacity as America continues to increase its domestic manufacturing capability for missiles. [source] Tech Advances * Momentus, a U.S. commercial space company offering in-space transportation and infrastructure services, announced the development of an additive-manufactured fuel tank. The fuel tank is scheduled to perform flight testing aboard Momentus’s Vigoride-7 Orbital Service Vehicle. The tank was produced in collaboration with Velo3D, a leading provider of advanced metal additive manufacturing technology. [source] * Cape Fear Ventures invests in pre-seed for Juno Aerospace for development of their rotating detonation rocket engine. They’re also partnered with Momentus through a NASA Reach grant Juno won for $2.5m back in Oct 2025. [source] * Schmidt Sciences philanthropy group led by Wendy and Eric Schmidt announce Lazuli Observatory to be deployed by 2029, this space based telescope will be larger than the hubble and include a planet-finding coronagraph, a high-resolution wide-field camera and a light-splitting spectrograph—will study the atmospheres of distant worlds, dissect the light from exploding stars and tackle mysteries such as the nature of dark energy. They’re also working on ground observatories including the Deep Synoptic Array, which will study the sky at radio wavelengths, while its counterpart the Argus Array will observe in visible light. A third smaller-but-scalable array will gather spectra of cosmic targets such as exoplanets and supernovae. [source] Get full access to Space Times Substack at spacetimespod.substack.com/subscribe

    47 min
  6. Space Phoenix Interview + Weekly Recap #15

    5 JAN

    Space Phoenix Interview + Weekly Recap #15

    This week Harrison and Paul break the news of Space Phoenix’s $7.5m seed raise and new customer Flawless Photonics during an exclusive interview with CEO Andrew Parlock. They discuss Space Phoenix in the context of other developments with in-space manufacturing, highlighting Space Forge’s plasma generation for on-orbit furnaces and Ombra’s $180,000 contract for an anaerobic bioreactor. They also address growing orbital congestion, noting China’s 90 successful launches in 2025 and its deployment of 136 Guowang satellites, and SpaceX's decision to lower the altitude of about half its Starlink constellation following a near-miss incident that led China to raise safety concerns at the UN General Assembly. Other key topics include China’s acceleration of sovereign space traffic monitoring with the Xingyan network, a collision involving the SpainSat NG II satellite on its way to GEO orbit, and US and European defense contracts awarded to companies such as CACI, L3 Harris Technologies, Avio, and Zenno Astronautics for network modernization, hypersonic motors, and autonomous satellite operations. Get full access to Space Times Substack at spacetimespod.substack.com/subscribe

    58 min
  7. Special New Years Episode - 2026 Predictions

    1 JAN

    Special New Years Episode - 2026 Predictions

    On this special episode of Space Times Podcast Paul and Harrison share their predictions for the space industry in 2026. They summarize the patterns that have happened in 2025 and extrapolate into the new year to share opinions on progress that will be made in the sectors of GEO, Space Defense, Direct-to-Device, Lunar Exploration, National Competition, and the Overall Market. Thank you for listening during our first year, and we can't wait to share what is shaping up to be an exciting 2026 with you! Get full access to Space Times Substack at spacetimespod.substack.com/subscribe

    49 min
  8. Space Times Weekly Review - December 28 2025

    29/12/2025

    Space Times Weekly Review - December 28 2025

    This week Harrison and Paul discuss several recent space launch updates and failures, including Innospace's Handbit Nano rocket failure, Japan's H3 rocket failing to deliver a satellite to orbit, and China's third reusable spacecraft failure this year. Also covered is the successful launch of Space Mobile's Bluebird satellites on an ISRO LVM3 rocket, Tori Bruno's resignation as CEO of ULA to become President of National Security at Blue Origin, and confirmation of Jared Isaacman as NASA Director. Other topics include CACI International's $2.6 billion acquisition of ARCA, the growing lunar economy, and success of optical communication and IoT demonstrations. Get full access to Space Times Substack at spacetimespod.substack.com/subscribe

    50 min
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About

The space industry is as vast and evolving as the environment it occupies, and we are here to help you navigate it! Every week we talk about advances in space technology and business, and we want to share our opinions and insights with you. Paul Mayer and Harrison Lambert met a decade ago working as aerospace engineers at Maxar. Since then, Harrison has spent that time working on space systems for a variety of applications, and Paul has become a venture capitalist helping grow nascent space companies. Now we want to share the next decades with you, discussing all the exciting times in space! spacetimespod.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Space Times
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    22
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Harrison Lambert
  • Show Website
    Space Times