SPACE.HAUS · WEEKLY INTEL BRIEFING

Space Industry Weekly Briefing — Thursday, April 2, 2026

Weekly intelligence briefing for the commercial space industry, week ending Thursday, April 2, 2026. 17 stories across 6 categories including Funding Rounds & Investment Activity, Contracts, Awards & Government Activity, Mergers, Acquisitions & Partnerships, Launch Activity & Mission Milestones, Industry Context, Additional Updates. AI-curated by space.haus from 50+ industry sources.

Sources scanned: 50
Companies with news: 17
Funding activity: $175.5M+
Top story: SpaceX files for $1.75T IPO

Funding Rounds & Investment Activity

Aspect Aerospace — N/A

FUNDING

Apr 1 — Aspect Aerospace secured early-stage funding to advance its swarm-deployable Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) satellite technology. Funding amount not disclosed. Source

Starcloud — N/A

FUNDING

Apr 1 — Starcloud raised $170M to scale orbital data centers and advance AI computing infrastructure in space. Source

Anvil Robotics — N/A

FUNDING

Apr 2 — Anvil Robotics, an eight-month-old startup building a 'Legos for robots' platform for physical AI teams, raised $5.5M in seed funding. Source

Contracts, Awards & Government Activity

Spire Global — Vienna, VA

CONTRACT LAUNCH

Apr 1 — Spire Global successfully deployed a satellite for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's (NGA) MagQuest geomagnetic challenge, demonstrating capabilities in geomagnetic data collection from orbit. Source

ThrustMe — France

CONTRACT PARTNERSHIP

Apr 2 — ThrustMe will equip 40 Japanese Earth observation satellites with its propulsion systems, announced during French President Macron's visit to Japan. The partnership marks a significant expansion into the Asian market. Source

Mergers, Acquisitions & Partnerships

Phantom Space — Tucson, AZ

M&A

Apr 2 — Phantom Space acquired a thermal management technologies specialist to support its push into orbital data center operations. The acquisition strengthens Phantom's capabilities in thermal control systems critical for space-based computing infrastructure. Source

SpaceData — N/A

PARTNERSHIP

Apr 2 — SpaceData partnered with Look Up to build a Space Situational Awareness (SSA) data platform in Japan, expanding joint capabilities in tracking and monitoring objects in orbit. Source

Launch Activity & Mission Milestones

NASA — Washington, DC

LAUNCH

Apr 1 — NASA successfully launched Artemis 2 at 6:35 PM EDT on April 1, 2026, sending four astronauts on the first crewed mission to the Moon in over 50 years. The mission will conduct a 10-day lunar flyby to test Orion spacecraft systems and ESA's European Service Module. A minor toilet malfunction was reported but crews are troubleshooting. Source

ESA (Juice Mission) — Paris, France

OPS UPDATE

Apr 2 — ESA's Juice spacecraft captured new observations of interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS, revealing five key scientific findings about its composition and behavior. The mission characterized the comet as 'extreme but not exotic' based on initial data from the JANUS science camera. Source

Industry Context

SpaceX — Hawthorne, CA

FUNDING

Apr 1 — SpaceX has confidentially filed for an IPO with the SEC, according to Bloomberg and CNBC reports. The offering, internally codenamed 'Project Apex,' is potentially valued at $1.75 trillion and has lined up 21 banks to manage what could be the largest IPO in history. Under SEC rules, the S-1 prospectus must be made public within 15 days of the offering. Source

European Union (Iris2) — Brussels, Belgium

CONTRACT

Apr 1 — Europe's Iris2 constellation program appears ready to pass go-ahead review after adopting compromises and securing approval from SES. The sovereign secure communications constellation represents a major EU space infrastructure initiative. Source

FCC — Washington, DC

OPS UPDATE

Mar 31 — The FCC issued a notice seeking public comment on expanding spectrum access for non-traditional space applications, colloquially referred to as 'weird space stuff,' signaling potential regulatory changes for novel orbital operations. Source

Additional Updates

Fortastra — N/A

OPS UPDATE

Apr 2 — Fortastra added executives from Relativity Space, Hermeus, Astrion, and Divergent to its C-suite, signaling aggressive team expansion and growth plans. Source

Teledyne — Thousand Oaks, CA

OPS UPDATE

Apr 1 — Teledyne formed a dedicated space business unit to capture rising demand across the space sector, consolidating its space-related operations and signaling increased focus on the commercial space market. Source

Measat Global — Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

OPS UPDATE

Apr 1 — Measat Global appointed John Loke as Chief Technology Officer to oversee digital evolution and regional strategy, strengthening technical leadership. Source

Arianespace — Evry-Courcouronnes, France

LAUNCH OPS UPDATE

Apr 1 — Arianespace CEO David Cavaillolès previewed Ariane 6 ramp-up plans amid the ongoing Amazon Leo launch campaign. The next mission for Amazon is planned for April following the first launch in February. Source

CanarySat Satellite Services — Canary Islands, Spain

OPS UPDATE

Apr 1 — CanarySat CEO Antonio Abad outlined the sovereign, secure approach behind the Magec Ka-band LEO constellation unveiled at SATShow Week. The Arquimea-backed operator is emerging from Spain's Canary Islands. Source