NASA to increase value of CLPS contract to support surge of lunar lander missions
Friday, 01 May 2026 21:43
NASA is planning to increase the total value of a contract for robotic lunar lander missions to support a proposed surge in flights for the agency’s moon base plans.
The opportunity beyond orbital data centers
Friday, 01 May 2026 18:10
Investor attention is starting to shift toward ventures that could be enabled by orbital data centers, even as the massive computing networks proposed by SpaceX and others remain years from reality.
Week in images: 27 April - 01 May 2026
Friday, 01 May 2026 12:15
Week in images: 27 April - 01 May 2026
Discover our week through the lens
Starcloud seeks more orbital data center funding shortly after unicorn status
Friday, 01 May 2026 11:57
Starcloud is looking to raise at least $200 million in a deal that would double the two-year-old orbital data center startup’s valuation to about $2.2 billion, a source close to the situation confirmed.
Trump nominates Schiess as next Space Force chief
Friday, 01 May 2026 11:55
Career space operator would succeed Gen. Chance Saltzman atop military space branch
Amazon Leo passes 300 satellites with Atlas and Ariane launches
Friday, 01 May 2026 11:01
A pair of launches this week pushed the number of Amazon Leo satellites deployed to more than 300, but the company is still far short of a looming FCC milestone.
DARPA selects three companies for lunar orbiter studies
Friday, 01 May 2026 09:53
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has awarded contracts to three companies to study concepts for a lunar mission to search for water ice in very low orbits.
Sentinel-1D goes live: a milestone for Europe’s radar mission
Friday, 01 May 2026 07:32
The Copernicus Sentinel-1D satellite, launched last November, is now fully operational after successfully completing its critical in-orbit commissioning phase.
With all four Sentinel-1 satellites having now been deployed, this achievement marks a major milestone for this flagship radar mission – a journey that began more than a decade ago and that has helped pave the way for the future of Earth observation.
Earth from Space: Netherlands in bloom
Friday, 01 May 2026 07:00
Image:
Captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission on 21 April 2026, this image shows a double bloom in the Netherlands: an array of vibrant colours in the tulip fields as well as the blue-greenish swirls of phytoplankton in the North Sea. The Pentagon Wants to Kill a Missile-Warning Program Congress Already Saved
Friday, 01 May 2026 06:41
The Pentagon wants to kill a missile-warning satellite program just as its prime contractor finishes building the hardware. Northrop Grumman delivered a missile-warning sensor for the Next-Gen OPIR Polar program, days before the Defense Department’s fiscal year 2027 budget request proposed terminating the effort entirely. The timing captures something essential about how big defense programs […]
The post The Pentagon Wants to Kill a Missile-Warning Program Congress Already Saved appeared first on Space Daily.
York’s $355M Antenna Bet: How the Pentagon’s Single-Vendor Wishlist Is Reshaping Smallsat M&A
Friday, 01 May 2026 04:38
York Space Systems will pay roughly $355 million to acquire UK-based satellite communications terminal maker All.Space, the Denver satellite manufacturer announced April 30, marking its second acquisition since going public and its most aggressive move yet to assemble a vertically integrated satcom business spanning spacecraft, ground stations, and user terminals. The deal, structured as $155 […]
The post York’s $355M Antenna Bet: How the Pentagon’s Single-Vendor Wishlist Is Reshaping Smallsat M&A appeared first on Space Daily.
Space Force taps K2 satellites to test laser communications for missile-defense
Thursday, 30 April 2026 23:30
Experiments will attempt to establish crosslinks from medium Earth orbit satellites
SpaceComputer to conduct on-orbit test of secure computing infrastructure
Thursday, 30 April 2026 22:38
SAN FRANCISCO — SpaceComputer, a Singapore-based startup developing distributed computing infrastructure, is preparing to test its hardware and software in orbit later this year.
Northrop Grumman delivers sensor for missile-warning satellite as Pentagon cancels program
Thursday, 30 April 2026 21:37
The Next-Generation OPIR Polar satellite procurement faces ax as Pentagon cites alternatives in low and medium Earth orbit to replace coverage
U.S. investors dominate Europe’s private-led space scale-up rounds
Thursday, 30 April 2026 17:51
While European space startups are attracting more venture capital, their private-led growth rounds remain anchored by U.S.

