Univity
Apr 23 — Univity closed a **€27 million ($32 million)** Series A round to fund two demonstration satellites for its Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) connectivity constellation targeting Europe.
SPACEHAUS · Commercial space intelligence
Space Industry Weekly Briefing — 2026-04-24
Commercial space news and intelligence for the week ending 2026-04-24.
Week ending
Funding Rounds & Investment Activity
Contracts, Awards & Government Activity
SpaceX
Apr 23 — SpaceX won a **$57 million** U.S. military contract for a satellite crosslink demonstration program.
FCC
Apr 23 — The FCC rejected requests by SpaceX and other operators to allow sharing in MSS spectrum bands, maintaining exclusive rights for incumbent licensees as direct-to-device (D2D) dealmaking accelerates.
Ovzon
Apr 24 — Fixed and mobile satcom provider Ovzon reported operating profit, record EBITDA, and the return of the U.S. Department of Defense as a customer.
Mergers, Acquisitions & Partnerships
GomSpace
Apr 24 — GomSpace signed a deal with Ukrainian partner Stetman to establish a new joint venture focused on developing sovereign satellite communications capabilities in Ukraine.
SpinLaunch
Apr 23 — SpinLaunch will partner with digital infrastructure provider Equinix to deploy ultra-compact teleports at Equinix data centers to support ground infrastructure for its Meridian constellation.
CATALYST
Apr 24 — CATALYST partnered with DUAL UK to develop a satellite-enabled biodiversity risk solution for the insurance industry.
Launch Activity & Mission Milestones
Rocket Lab
Apr 24 — Rocket Lab successfully launched eight satellites for JAXA on its second dedicated mission for the space agency, the Kakushin Rising mission.
Apr 24 — Rocket Lab introduced the next-generation High-Performance Star Tracker (ST-HP), designed for longer duration spacecraft missions.
Industry Context
NASA
Apr 24 — Senator Ted Cruz pushed back on NASA budget cuts in the President's fiscal year 2027 budget request, telling Artemis engineers "we'll take care of the politics...so you can do your job," expressing concern about China's lunar ambitions.
International Artemis Accords
Apr 23 — Latvia and Jordan joined the Artemis Accords, bringing the total number of countries that have adopted the U.S.-led principles for responsible behavior on the Moon and beyond to **63**.
Space Development Agency (SDA)
Apr 24 — SDA's acting director described technology hurdles, supply chain challenges, and balancing speed with results as the agency strategically paused launches until May, pushing startups to deliver under accelerated timelines.
Iridium
Apr 23 — Iridium reported **2%** revenue growth year-over-year in Q1 2026, driven by continued IoT subscriber growth. CEO Matt Desch discussed NTN direct launch plans and spectrum strategy.
Additional Updates
Astrobotic
Apr 24 — Astrobotic successfully completed hot-fire testing of its Chakram rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE), an advanced propulsion technology designed to improve efficiency over conventional rocket engines.
Astra
Apr 24 — CEO Chris Kemp stated that Astra is targeting the "Golden Dome" (government/defense market) with its small rocket offerings.
OHB
Apr 24 — OHB completed a successful thermal vacuum test campaign for ESA's PLATO space telescope, a key milestone in preparing the exoplanet-hunting mission.
Northrop Grumman
Apr 24 — Northrop Grumman integrated AI into spacecraft engineering, reducing design cycles from years to hours. An AI model built with Flexcompute predicts thruster impingement **100 times faster** than traditional methods.