Starfish Space
Apr 7 — On-orbit services startup Starfish Space raised **$110 million** in a Series B funding round. The capital will be used to execute orbital servicing missions already on contract and boost production capacity.
SPACEHAUS · Commercial space intelligence
Space Industry Weekly Briefing — 2026-04-08
Commercial space news and intelligence for the week ending 2026-04-08.
Week ending
Funding Rounds & Investment Activity
PLD Space
Apr 7 — Spanish launch services provider PLD Space secured a **€30 million** loan from the European Investment Bank, one month after closing a **€180 million** Series C funding round. The company is preparing for the inaugural flight of its MIURA 5 rocket later this year.
Contracts, Awards & Government Activity
Capella Space
Apr 8 — Capella Space won a **$49 million** contract for a military communications satellite demonstration program.
Astroscale
Apr 8 — Astroscale's UK subsidiary passed a Critical Design Review milestone for the Orpheus mission, a UK military space-tracking cubesat program. The company is developing space domain awareness satellites for defense applications.
Northrop Grumman
Apr 7 — Hungary selected Northrop Grumman to build its first national geostationary communications satellite. A ceremonial signing took place with Hungarian partner 4iG.
All.Space
Apr 7 — The Royal Canadian Navy will trial All.Space's Hydra 4 multi-band, multi-orbit mobility terminal to inform short-term satcom architecture decisions.
EdgeRunner AI
Apr 7 — EdgeRunner AI won a U.S. Space Force contract to deploy on-device, domain-specific AI agents in the IL-5 environment.
Mergers, Acquisitions & Partnerships
SpaceX
Apr 7 — Intel announced it is partnering with Elon Musk's Terafab AI chip project in Austin, Texas. The facility will supply AI chips to SpaceX (newly merged with xAI) and Tesla.
Firefly Aerospace
Apr 8 — Firefly Aerospace announced a collaboration with NVIDIA to enable rapid on-orbit processing in lunar orbit. Firefly's AI software will run on NVIDIA Jetson modules onboard its Elytra spacecraft to provide faster data-driven insights from the Moon.
e-GEOS
Apr 8 — e-GEOS and VENG strengthened their global partnership for SAOCOM satellite data distribution, expanding their collaboration in satellite data services.
EnduroSat
Apr 8 — EnduroSat and Shield Space announced Project Nexus, planning an inspection cubesat demonstration as the first step toward an orbital defense mothership capability.
Launch Activity & Mission Milestones
NASA
Apr 8 — Artemis 2 science activities began as the Orion spacecraft started its return trip to Earth following a successful lunar flyby. The crew, having traveled farther from Earth than any humans in over **50 years**, completed a historic loop around the Moon on April 6-7, capturing stunning images and conducting scientific observations.
Boeing
Apr 7 — A new Boeing-built satellite has been successfully delivered to its launch site as of April 7, 2026, marking progress in the company's satellite manufacturing operations.
Industry Context
Industry-Wide
Apr 8 — Space security moved to the forefront as threats to satellites spread, with industry leaders emphasizing the need for enhanced protection and resilience measures across orbital assets.
Apr 8 — Industry navigates NASA's start-and-stop approach to commercial space stations, with companies like Blue Origin's Orbital Reef facing funding uncertainty and programmatic delays.
Apr 8 — NASA budget battle preparations underway as advocates mobilize for the next round of science funding debates, following previous cuts that threatened missions like Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Apr 7 — Space sector experts unanimously agree that space already functions as critical infrastructure in practice, despite not being officially designated as the United States' 17th critical infrastructure sector.
Apr 7 — European defense capabilities under scrutiny amid concerns about whether Europe is moving fast enough to close its space defense gaps as Russia builds up military powers.
Additional Updates
LeoLabs
Apr 8 — LeoLabs debuted DELTA, a new space monitoring platform tool designed specifically for military users, featuring advanced dashboards for tracking satellite maneuvers and space domain awareness.
Planet
Apr 7 — Planet performed AI-driven object detection directly onboard its Pelican-4 satellite using an onboard NVIDIA Jetson Orin module, marking a significant milestone in on-orbit AI processing capabilities.
Redwire
Apr 8 — Redwire expanded its European footprint by opening a new UK office to support Ministry of Defense programs, strengthening its international defense and space infrastructure capabilities.
Astroscale
Apr 7 — Astroscale announced plans for a world-first multi-orbit satellite inspection mission, expanding its capabilities in on-orbit servicing and space debris management.