Eclipse Space — N/A
FUNDING
- — Starlink veterans launched Eclipse Space, a startup aiming to broaden megaconstellation ownership. The company is founded by former SpaceX Starlink team members. Source
SPACE.HAUS · WEEKLY INTEL BRIEFING
Space Industry Weekly Briefing — Friday, June 26, 2026
Weekly intelligence briefing for the commercial space industry, week ending Friday, June 26, 2026. 73 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
- 73
- Funding activity
- $0
- Top story
- Boeing wins $2B MUOS satellite contract
Funding Rounds & Investment Activity
OHB — Bremen, Germany
FUNDING
- — OHB raised funding for expansion and acquisitions. The European satellite manufacturer secured financing to support growth initiatives. Source
Sophia Space — N/A
FUNDING PARTNERSHIP
- — Sophia Space raised $7M and selected Apex to build its orbital debris cataloging (ODC) satellite for a 2027 demonstration flight. Source
Ubotica — N/A
FUNDING
- — Ubotica raised $11M for its satellite-based AI technology, including its Live Maritime Intelligence platform for tracking maritime activity. Source
ElevationSpace — N/A
FUNDING
- — ElevationSpace closed a $40M Series B funding round to advance its ELS-R satellite platform development. Source
FOSSA Systems — Madrid, Spain
FUNDING
- — Spanish IoT satellite company FOSSA secured €9.25 million ($10.5 million) to fund international expansion and global deployment of its sovereign satellite capabilities, including defense constellation and SIGINT infrastructure. Source
OHB — Bremen, Germany
FUNDING
- — German space technology company OHB announced plans to raise up to €510.7 million by issuing approximately 1.7 million new shares. Proceeds will primarily bolster production capacity, fund planned acquisitions, investments in launch vehicles, and future tangible projects. Source
Menlo Ventures — Menlo Park, CA
FUNDING
- — Venture firm Menlo Ventures raised $3 billion across two new funds, the largest capital raise in its 50-year history, to invest in AI startups from seed through growth stage, targeting sectors from enterprise tools to healthcare. Source
XCures — N/A
FUNDING
- — XCures, a startup using AI to streamline patient data and medical records, closed an Innovius Capital-led $46 million Series B financing round. Source
AppsFlyer — N/A
FUNDING
- — Data analytics company AppsFlyer reportedly secured more than $1 billion in a Series E funding round at a $2.7 billion valuation, eyeing public markets. Source
Contracts, Awards & Government Activity
Rocket Lab — Long Beach, CA
CONTRACT
- — Rocket Lab won a NASA award for three Electron launches under the agency's Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) program. Source
Boeing — Chicago, IL
CONTRACT
- — Boeing's 702MP spacecraft platform will be used for the Space Force's new MUOS (Mobile User Objective System) satellites for military communications. Source
- — Boeing won a $2 billion Space Force contract for communications satellites, expanding its military satellite communications portfolio. Source
MDA Space — Brampton, Canada
CONTRACT
- — MDA Space won a contract from the Canadian government for a Radarsat replenishment satellite called Chorus, continuing Canada's radar Earth observation capabilities. Source
Vantor — N/A
CONTRACT PARTNERSHIP
- — Vantor selected BAE Systems to build its next-generation Vantage imaging satellites, expanding its Earth observation constellation capabilities. Source
U.S. Space Force — Washington, DC
CONTRACT
- — House Appropriations Committee approved $55.5 billion for the U.S. Space Force in the fiscal year 2027 defense spending bill. Source
- — Space Force issued a fresh solicitation for satellite-control antennas, seeking new bidders for ground station infrastructure to support its satellite operations. Source
NASA — Washington, DC
CONTRACT
- — Canceled NASA exploration projects including the Mobile Launcher 2 and other Artemis program hardware suffered billions of dollars in cost overruns before cancellation, according to an audit. The canceled contracts reached $5.9 billion in total value. Source
- — NASA's inspector general warned that launch sites at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral are nearing capacity, requiring $1 billion in infrastructure upgrades to support Artemis and growing commercial launch demand. Source
- — NASA is paying $30 million for a first-of-its-kind rescue mission called Swift Boost to save the nearly 22-year-old Swift observatory from atmospheric drag. The mission launches June 27. Source
Botswana — Gaborone, Botswana
CONTRACT
- — Botswana signed the Artemis Accords, becoming the latest nation to join the U.S.-led international framework for lunar exploration cooperation. Source
Boeing — Arlington, VA
CONTRACT
- — The U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command awarded Boeing a $2 billion contract for the next two Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellites for service life extension. Source
MDA Space — Brampton, ON, Canada
CONTRACT
- — Mitsubishi Electric Corporation contracted MDA Space to build the digital payload, antennas, and related systems for a next-generation defense communications satellite for Japan. Source
NASA — Washington, DC
CONTRACT
- — NASA expanded commercial satellite data integration in a $476 million cloud-driven push under its Commercial Satellite Data Acquisition (CSDA) program, aiming to integrate more Earth observation data from commercial providers. Source
ICEYE — Espoo, Finland
CONTRACT
- — Norway selected ICEYE for a nationwide space-based flood and hazard monitoring system using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technology. Source
Sedaro — N/A
CONTRACT
- — Space Force tapped Sedaro to build a federated engineering platform using digital twins for space command operations. Source
Satlantis U.S. — N/A
CONTRACT
- — Satlantis U.S. was selected by NASA as a Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition (CSDA) awardee. Source
Rocket Lab — Long Beach, CA
CONTRACT
- — Rocket Lab will launch two NASA space science missions next year aboard the Electron launch vehicle. Source
FCC — Washington, DC
CONTRACT
- — The FCC Advanced Wireless Services (AWS-3) spectrum auction concluded with a $3.57 billion milestone. Source
Boeing — Chicago, IL
CONTRACT
- — Boeing secured a $2 billion contract from the U.S. Space Force to build two narrowband communication satellites for the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS). The award will extend the MUOS constellation's operational life until 2035, with Boeing beating out Lockheed Martin, which built the current fleet. Source
University of Leicester — Leicester, United Kingdom
CONTRACT
- — The European Research Council awarded a €2 million Advanced Grant to Professor Leigh Fletcher's team at the University of Leicester School of Physics and Astronomy. The project, titled "JWST as the New Voyager: A Chemical Inventory of the Giant Planets," will study giant planets using the James Webb Space Telescope. Source
Mergers, Acquisitions & Partnerships
Shield Space — N/A
PARTNERSHIP
- — Shield Space and ClearSpace announced a partnership to defend satellites from orbital threats, combining their capabilities in space security and debris removal. Source
Vast — Long Beach, CA
PARTNERSHIP
- — Vast signed additional research partners for its Haven-1 commercial space station, expanding its microgravity research capabilities and customer base. Source
SpaceComputer — N/A
PARTNERSHIP
- — SpaceComputer and Spacemanic partnered on a security demonstration mission featuring SpaceComputer's Space Fabric technology for satellite cybersecurity. Source
Firefly Aerospace — Cedar Park, TX
M&A
- — Firefly Aerospace acquired an autonomous space operations company to enhance its spacecraft autonomy capabilities for missions including its Blue Ghost lunar landers. Source
NGSO Alliance — Washington, DC
PARTNERSHIP
- — A new non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) trade association launched representing satellite operators including Telesat, but notably without SpaceX as a member despite its dominant Starlink constellation. Source
MDA Space — Brampton, ON, Canada
M&A
- — MDA Space announced plans to acquire RTX's Blue Canyon Technologies for 3.9x forecasted 2026 revenue and 20x EBITDA. The acquisition is expected to provide US market access for MDA's Aurora satellite platform. Source
Firefly Aerospace — Cedar Park, TX
M&A
- — Firefly Aerospace acquired AI navigation startup Space-ng to integrate autonomous navigation capabilities into its lunar landers and orbital vehicles for future Moon, Mars, and beyond missions. Source
Amazon — Seattle, WA
PARTNERSHIP
- — Amazon Leo made inroads into the construction industry with a new agreement with Hitachi Construction Machinery, now part of its service preview for enterprises, to provide satellite connectivity for construction equipment. Source
SpaceConnect Association — N/A
PARTNERSHIP
- — Amazon, Iridium, Telesat, and Globalstar launched SpaceConnect Association, a new trade association to represent Non-Geostationary (NGSO) satellite issues. Source
BAE Systems — Farnborough, UK
PARTNERSHIP
- — BAE Systems secured an agreement to build the buses for Vantor's Vantage 20 centimeter imaging satellites, with the first two satellites expected to start operating by 2029. Source
Infleqtion — N/A
PARTNERSHIP
- — Infleqtion, Voyager Technologies, Monarch Quantum, Armada, and the University of Colorado Boulder joined forces in a new quantum space initiative to advance U.S. quantum space ambitions. Source
R-Space — Vienna, Austria
PARTNERSHIP
- — R-Space is set to launch Austria's first commercial satellite aboard Isar Aerospace's Spectrum vehicle. Source
Firefly Aerospace — Cedar Park, TX
M&A
- — Firefly Aerospace (Nasdaq: FLY) announced the acquisition of Space-ng Inc., a leader in AI-powered vision navigation and autonomous guidance systems. The acquisition advances Firefly's capabilities in autonomous space operations following their successful Blue Ghost lunar landing in March 2025. Source
Launch Activity & Mission Milestones
SpaceX — Hawthorne, CA
LAUNCH OPS UPDATE
- — SpaceX launched the secretive Starfall reentry demonstration mission on a Falcon 9 rocket to test capabilities for global cargo delivery from orbit. The mission supports development of point-to-point transport and delivery of goods through space. Source
- — SpaceX launched 24 Starlink satellites to orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on a Falcon 9 rocket (Starlink Group 17-45 mission). Source
- — SpaceX named its planned AI megaconstellation Starmind, continuing the company's stellar naming theme alongside Starlink and Starshield. Source
- — A spent SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage is set to impact the moon in August 2026, though experts are uncertain if the crash will be visible from Earth. Source
- — Analysis shows that SpaceX alumni have collectively raised $9.2 billion across various startups, demonstrating the company's role as an incubator for space entrepreneurship. Source
Rocket Lab — Long Beach, CA
LAUNCH
- — Rocket Lab is launching the Ten Owl of Ten mission from New Zealand for Japanese company Synspective, adding to the SAR imaging constellation. Source
Weather Stream — N/A
OPS UPDATE
- — Weather Stream released first light imagery from its GEMS2 microwave radiometer, demonstrating the satellite payload's operational capabilities for weather monitoring. Source
York Space Systems — Denver, CO
OPS UPDATE
- — York Space Systems satellite successfully demonstrated two-way UHF communications from low Earth orbit, validating the platform's communications capabilities. Source
China National Space Administration — Beijing, China
LAUNCH
- — China scheduled a Long March 10B rocket launch and recovery attempt, testing reusability technology for the vehicle being developed for lunar missions. Source
NASA Perseverance — N/A
OPS UPDATE
- — NASA's Perseverance rover detected complex organic carbon compounds in Red Planet rocks at Jezero crater, representing hundreds of organic detections and the most robust organic detection yet—potential evidence of ancient life on Mars. Source
SpaceX — Hawthorne, CA
LAUNCH
- — SpaceX launched the Starlink 17-45 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 8:30 p.m. PDT, continuing expansion of the Starlink network. Source
- — SpaceX launched a reentry capsule demo mission called 'Starfall' featuring a new reentry capsule weighing about 2,100 kg (4,600 lbs) from Cape Canaveral at 6:53 a.m. EDT. Source
- — SpaceX launched 24 Starlink satellites on the Starlink 17-28 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 9:39:06 a.m. PDT, the 58th mission deploying broadband satellites into low Earth orbit. Source
NASA — Washington, DC
LAUNCH
- — NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, valued at $4.3 billion, arrived in Florida for about 70 days of prelaunch processing at Kennedy Space Center before launching on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket no earlier than August 30. Source
Northrop Grumman — Falls Church, VA
LAUNCH
- — A Northrop Grumman Pegasus rocket is set to launch a servicing spacecraft to reboost NASA's Swift Observatory before it re-enters Earth's atmosphere. Source
Rocket Lab — Long Beach, CA
LAUNCH
- — Rocket Lab launched the U.S. Space Force's VICTUS HAZE mission in 16 hours 42 minutes, surpassing previous records for rapid launch response. Source
European Space Agency — Paris, France
OPS UPDATE
- — ESA's Euclid telescope produced a record-breaking image of the Milky Way's core, mapping over 60 million stars in the sharpest view ever captured of the galactic center. Source
Industry Context
International Space Station — N/A
OPS UPDATE
- — ISS repair spacewalk in March 2026 highlighted growing concerns about station health and aging infrastructure as the facility approaches end-of-life planning. Source
Small Satellite Industry — N/A
OPS UPDATE
- — Small satellite operators are confronting a bottleneck to space access as rideshare opportunities become increasingly constrained despite growing demand for launches. Source
European Space Agency — Paris, France
OPS UPDATE
- — Analysis highlights that Europe's next major security challenge is in orbit, focusing on space situational awareness and protection of European space assets. Source
- — Europe expanded its launch opportunities to new companies including Isar Aerospace, diversifying access beyond traditional providers to support emerging launchers. Source
Japan — Tokyo, Japan
OPS UPDATE
- — Japan is exploring development of a sovereign direct-to-device (D2D) satellite network to provide emergency communications and connectivity capabilities. Source
ESA — Paris, France
OPS UPDATE
- — ESA opened its European Flight Ticket Initiative to more launch service providers, expanding support for European launch capabilities. Source
- — ESA detailed next steps for its Gateway contributions after NASA 'paused' the programme, deciding to proceed with developing most planned Gateway hardware while awaiting repurposing studies. Source
- — ESA's EarthCARE satellite data is being used for the first time to sharpen weather forecasts, providing unique simultaneous measurements of clouds and aerosols. Source
Open Cosmos — Harwell, UK
OPS UPDATE
- — Open Cosmos asked the ITU to extend the deadline for its broadband constellation, citing launcher shortage as a force majeure event. Source
Boeing — Arlington, VA
OPS UPDATE
- — NASA and Boeing remain committed to the Starliner-1 launch despite an unclear timeline, as the uncrewed spacecraft continues testing and analysis before a return-to-flight mission is approved. Source
Kyivstar — Kyiv, Ukraine
OPS UPDATE
- — Ukrainian mobile operator Kyivstar reported 6 million users of Starlink Mobile D2D using 2x5 MHz with no interference issues. Source
Industry-Wide — N/A
OPS UPDATE
- — Iranian-aligned hackers are increasingly using AI to scale and refine cyberattacks targeting military and civilian satellite infrastructure, with cybersecurity experts warning of more sophisticated intrusion capabilities. Source
Additional Updates
Space Shuttle Endeavour — Los Angeles, CA
OPS UPDATE
- — Space Shuttle Endeavour was displayed vertically in its new exhibit at the California Science Center's Air & Space Center, which opens November 13, 2026. The spectacular facility is more than three decades in the making. Source
Northwood Space — N/A
OPS UPDATE
- — Northwood Space unveiled its new Prism antenna and expanded network capacity for satellite ground station services, enhancing data downlink capabilities. Source
ESA Euclid — N/A
OPS UPDATE
- — ESA's Euclid space telescope produced the largest and most detailed image of the Milky Way's heart ever created, capturing over 60 million stars and 50 exoplanet systems. Source
Capella Space — San Francisco, CA
OPS UPDATE
- — Capella Space validated a Mynaric optical communications terminal on its newest SAR satellite, marking the first time Capella has deployed an optical terminal. Source
Rocket Factory Augsburg — Augsburg, Germany
OPS UPDATE
- — Rocket Factory Augsburg outlined its planned path towards developing a fully reusable heavy-lift rocket called RFA TWO, while detailing RFA ONE upgrades. Source
Vyoma — N/A
OPS UPDATE
- — Vyoma's Flamingo-1 space-based surveillance telescope is set to begin routine operations for space situational awareness. Source
PLD Space — Elche, Spain
OPS UPDATE
- — PLD Space appointed Hilario Albarracín as an independent director, strengthening its corporate governance. Source
Neo Space Group — N/A
OPS UPDATE
- — Neo Space Group announced Dr. Abdullah Aljohani as Chief Technology and Operations Officer. Source
Contrivian — N/A
OPS UPDATE
- — Contrivian launched 'Horizon Plus' to deliver intelligent multi-orbit field communications with hybrid edge mobility capabilities. Source
GMV — Madrid, Spain
OPS UPDATE
- — GMV deployed Earth observation and AI capabilities to fight invasive Pacific seaweed in Portugal, demonstrating space technology's application to environmental challenges. Source
Qualinx — N/A
OPS UPDATE
- — Qualinx's QLX3Gx series chip brings authenticated GNSS positioning to ultra-low-power devices. Source
Terma — N/A
OPS UPDATE
- — Terma took a central role in the BIFROST mission while joining forces to strengthen Europe's defense capabilities. Source
Sierra Space — Louisville, CO
OPS UPDATE
- — Sierra Space appointed Jill Pomeroy as Senior Vice President of Government Relations, where she will serve as the company's principal liaison with government stakeholders. The appointment supports Sierra Space's positioning as a defense-tech space company focused on national security missions. Source