SpaceNews

This week: Setting the stage for SmallSat Europe, the trickle-down effects of acquisition reform and more

The internet was ‘too expensive’ too Every new infrastructure platform can look uneconomic at first. Early systems are often bespoke, supply chains immature and scaling doesn’t yet exist. The result: cost structures can appear daunting, if not irrational, when judged by the standards of those more traditional models. Today, a familiar pattern is playing out in orbital data centers (ODCs), which have at times been dismissed as prohibitively costly and technically impractical....

Starship underpins SpaceX’s growth ambitions As SpaceX prepares for its next Starship test flight, the company’s prospectus underlines how critical that vehicle is to its ambitions....

CEO Series: Open Cosmos’ Rafel Jorda Siquier on finding a niche in space. In this episode of Space Minds, Mike Gruss talks with Open Cosmos’ CEO Rafel Jorda Siquier about combining Earth observation, connectivity and IoT into a single platform. They also discuss what to expect in 2026. Sponsored by Arcfield is a systems and digital engineering company, purpose-built to relentlessly protect the nation and its allies from national security threats. The company has seven decades of proven expertise supporting space superiority, hypersonic defense and nuclear deterrence, digital transformation, and surface and undersea warfare missions....

LatConnect 60 announces accelerated growth investment round to build AUKUS-aligned Highest Resolution SWIR Satellite constellation Perth, Western Australia — 21 May 2026 — LatConnect 60 (LC60), an Australian Earth observation and AI company, announced its growth investment round that is in-progress to accelerate development plans for a proliferated,  Short-Wave Infrared (SWIR) satellite constellation with the highest resolution globally,  designed for dual-use applications at the  ECU–LC60 opening of Edith Cowan University’s new Space Integration Facility. The event was graced by the presence of Caitlin Collins parliamentary secretary to WA Minister for Defence Industries, US and Japan Consul Generals,  Colleen Alstock and Atsushi Karimata....

Space Force eyes 2027 demonstrations of in-space refueling and satellite servicing USSF-23 mission will launch vehicles to demonstrate refueling and satellite servicing in geostationary orbit...

SpaceX filed documents for an initial public offering of stock May 20, revealing the company’s finances and enormous ambitions

U.S. ‘more prepared’ for next WRC White House officials say they will go into a major international conference next year better prepared than ever to defend key radio-frequency spectrum priorities....

Secured, resilient satcom is the backbone of military operations. This conversation on the SpaceNews Defense Stage at SmallSat Europe considers the region's options for protected communications and how to integrate public-private capabilities. Speakers: Henning Horst, Sales Director, SES Space & Defense José Luis Alcolea Coronel, 5G Strategy Manager, Hispasat Srinath Logasubramanian, SVP, Sales, ReOrbit Michael Nebel, VP - Strategy Key Account Defense, OHB SE Moderated by Torsten Kriening, Publisher and CEO, SpaceWatch.Global See the full agenda and register now: https://lnkd.in/gEJuYGx5

Orbital Data Centers: Power and Thermal Management for Scalable Architectures As orbital data centers move from concept to reality, scalable power generation and efficient thermal management are emerging as critical enabling technologies. A new whitepaper from Redwire examines how power generation and distribution, along with thermal rejection, will fundamentally shape the future of large-scale orbital compute infrastructure. Drawing on decades of Redwire spaceflight heritage in deployable structures, high-power solar arrays, and thermal management systems, the whitepaper highlights how existing flight-proven technologies can support practical and scalable orbital compute architectures....