Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and Satellogic Inc. (NASDAQ: SATL) have announced the successful deployment into space of TASL’s TSAT-1A satellite aboard the SpaceX Bandwagon-1 mission that launched from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center on April 7, 2024.

TSAT-1A has been assembled in TASL’s Assembly, Integration and Testing (AIT) plant at its Vemagal facility in Karnataka, India. This achievement follows the collaboration signed between TASL and Satellogic in November of 2023, leveraging Satellogic’s expertise to develop and integrate an advanced EO satellite in India and TASL’s capability to undertake complex system integration.

TSAT-1A will deliver high-resolution optical satellite images with increased collection capacity, dynamic range, and low-latency delivery through its multispectral and hyperspectral capabilities.

Satellogic provided industry knowledge transfer, foundational components, IP licensing terms, and support in constructing an AIT facility in India – features of the company’s Space Systems offering for direct satellite sales.

Sukaran Singh, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, TASL, said, “This milestone shows  TASL’s commitment to the space sector. This is a first step. Our partnership with Satellogic has enabled us to deliver an assembled and tested in India, best-in-class, fully integrated sub-meter optical satellite which was launched aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket for the Bandwagon-1 mission. We are grateful for the support we have received from various Indian Government authorities for required permissions.”

“Congratulations to both teams on the efficient collaboration that brought TSAT-1A to life and ready for launch,” said Emiliano Kargieman, CEO at Satellogic. “This illustrates the flexibility of Satellogic’s Space Systems program, offering governments and enterprises the ability to tailor a proven satellite model for their specific needs, and reach orbit within a favorable timeframe.”

Comtech (NASDAQ: CMTL) has announced the initiation of trial services to deliver LEO satellite connectivity services to multiple regions of Antarctica.

Launched in January of 2024, the service provides connectivity to customers in Antarctica. Through this trial, Comtech’s market-leading ELEVATE VSAT ground system supported Eutelsat OneWeb’s ability to deliver groundbreaking LEO connectivity services, with data rates reaching up to 120 Mbps, to one of the most challenging geographic regions in the world. Comtech worked with Eutelsat OneWeb to configure and install the company’s ELEVATE ground system to simultaneously route connectivity services over multiple OneWeb LEO satellites.

This trial showcased the importance of high-speed, low latency connectivity for the scientific community and wider Antarctic region. Through satellite-based LEO connectivity services, like those provided by Comtech and Eutelsat OneWeb, scientists in Antarctica can better conduct day-to-day activities by facilitating real-time support from scientific, technical or health teams around the world. LEO connectivity services also have the potential to improve the welfare of the scientists, outside of working hours, as they are often deployed for 18 months at a time in one of the most remote and geographically challenging areas of the world.

Comtech’s ELEVATE ground system is a transportable, software defined VSAT system, which is proven to provide commercial and government customers with access to high-speed connectivity across diverse satellite constellations in multiple orbits. ELEVATE is designed to identify, collect and route data from multiple satellite constellations and orbits as well as deliver next generation capabilities like 4K video streaming and voice services.

“This is a remarkable achievement—not only for the satellite industry, but also for the broader scientific, technology, and connectivity markets around the world,” said John Ratigan, Interim CEO of Comtech. “We are thrilled to partner with OneWeb to deliver LEO connectivity services to Antarctica, which further demonstrates the advanced capabilities of our ELEVATE VSAT ground system. With proprietary software-defined technology embedded at the core, we are continuing to build out network agnostic capabilities of our ELEVATE system to meet the future demands of innovative satellite constellations and hybrid network infrastructures.”

About Comtech
Comtech Telecommunications Corp. (Comtech) is a leading global technology company providing terrestrial and wireless network solutions, next-generation 9-1-1 emergency services, satellite and space communications technologies, and cloud native capabilities to commercial and government customers around the world. Our unique culture of innovation and employee empowerment unleashes a relentless passion for customer success. Comtech leverages our global presence, technology leadership, and decades of experience to create the world’s most innovative communications solutions.

About Eutelsat Group
Eutelsat Group is a global leader in satellite communications, delivering connectivity and broadcast services worldwide. The Group was formed through the combination of Eutelsat and OneWeb in 2023, becoming the first fully integrated GEO-LEO satellite operator with a fleet of 36 Geostationary satellites and a Low Orbit earth constellation of more than 600 satellites. The Group addresses the needs of customers in four key verticals of Video, where it distributes more than 6,500 television channels, and the high-growth connectivity markets of Mobile Connectivity, Fixed Connectivity, and Government Services. Eutelsat Group’s unique suite of in-orbit and on-ground assets enables it to deliver integrated solutions to meet the needs of global customers. The Company is headquartered in Paris and Eutelsat Group employs more than 1,700 from 50 different nationalities. The Group is committed to delivering safe, resilient, and environmentally sustainable connectivity to help bridge the digital divide. The Company is listed on the Euronext Paris Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange (ticker: ETL).

The United States Space Force (USSF)’s Space Systems Command (SSC)’s Space Safari Program Office, in partnership with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and SpaceWERX, is awarding contracts to two separate space industry vendors.

The vendors will exercise a realistic threat response scenario in an on-orbit space domain awareness (SDA) demonstration called VICTUS HAZE. DIU awarded a contract to Rocket Lab National Security at a value of $32 million.

SpaceWERX will award a contract to True Anomaly. Of the total $60 million needed for the effort, the government will fund $30 million, and True Anomaly will leverage $30 million of internal private capital.

With both efforts, VICTUS HAZE is leveraging commercially developed products to provide highly capable options for future TacRS operations. The multi-vehicle demonstration enables operationally relevant systems that can be leveraged for future urgent on-orbit needs. VICTUS HAZE will also enable the development of the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) for a rapid response to on-orbit threats.

True Anomaly and Rocket Lab will both demonstrate their ability to build rendezvous and proximity operation (RPO) capable space vehicles (SVs) and command and control centers with a delivery target no later than fall 2025. Once the build phase is completed the mission will enter several successive phases to include hot standby, activation, alert and launch phases. While this is a coordinated demonstration, each vendor will be given unique launch and mission profiles.

True Anomaly’s SV will launch from either Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida or Vandenberg Space Force Base in California via a rapid rideshare. Rocket Lab will launch via their Electron launch vehicle from either Mahia, New Zealand or Wallops Island, Virginia. Both SVs will quickly begin operations after reaching orbit. Once on-orbit, the operations teams will conduct a variety of scenarios to demonstrate SDA and characterization capabilities.

The planning and execution of VICTUS HAZE is a multi-organization Department of Defense effort. SSC’s Space Safari partnered with the DIU to leverage their commercial market expertise along with their Commercial Solutions Opening and Other Transaction (OT) Authority to rapidly award. DIU will lead the contract and acquisitions administration for Rocket Lab National Security while Space Safari will provide programmatic oversight and execute the mission.

Space Safari partnered with SpaceWERX for assistance in the technical and commercial evaluation of True Anomaly and the push for an emergent SBIR selection by Space Force leadership. Space Safari is leading the contract administration, providing programmatic oversight, and will execute the mission capabilities True Anomaly will bring.

As VICTUS HAZE continues toward mission success, many partners will be involved to play critical roles in this defining Space Force demonstration. VICTUS HAZE leverages state of the art, commercial products and will prove new capabilities that enhance future operational TacRS missions. This demonstration will ultimately prepare the United States Space Force to provide future forces to Combatant Commands to conduct rapid operations in response to adversary on-orbit aggression.

“The commercial space industry is advancing at an unprecedented pace that will provide the Space Force additional options to quickly respond to adversary aggression,” said Lt. Col. MacKenzie Birchenough, SSC’s materiel leader for Space Safari. “VICTUS HAZE will demonstrate and prove capabilities to be used for future TacRS operations in direct support of urgent Combatant Command on-orbit needs.”

“We recognize the significant opportunity to leverage the commercial space industry’s innovations to counter China as America’s pacing threat,” said Col. Bryon McClain, SSC’s program executive officer for Space Domain Awareness and Combat Power. “The United States has the most innovative space industry in the world. VICTUS HAZE will demonstrate, under operationally realistic conditions, our ability to respond to irresponsible behavior on orbit.”

Spire will deploy Neuraspace’s Space Traffic Management (STM) platform to its constellation of 100+ multipurpose satellites — all satellites will be monitored using Neuraspace’s software. This combined setup allows Spire to track and monitor potential conjunctions across its constellation and, at the same time, focus on its more critical assets.

Leveraging the Neuraspace platform, Spire will receive automated conjunctions alerts and in-depth analysis. In addition, the Neuraspace STM platform will provide Spire with collision avoidance maneuver suggestions, advanced conjunction analysis, maneuver management, and automated screening for its growing number of space assets equipped with onboard propulsion.

The Neuraspace platform facilitates agile, real-time decision-making which further reduces collision risks. The automatic update of the orbit positions by the Neuraspace platform enables a faster screening of maneuvers for potential collision avoidance. It also saves human conjunction screening time and effort.

Vincent Furia, Senior Director of Constellation Planning and Operations at Spire, said, “Spire is at the forefront of the Space-as-a-Service model. With the STM platform from Neuraspace, we can customize monitoring and analysis data, providing timely collision information. As our constellation expands and orbit congestion grows, Neuraspace’s AI-powered STM reduces human screening, preserving fuel and enables more efficient operations.“

Chiara Manfletti, CEO of Neuraspace, said,“Being selected by a successful NewSpace company like Spire with a large constellation is testimony to the trust they have in our STM solution. It also demonstrates the need for satellite operators to protect their assets in space. The threat stemming from increased orbital traffic and space debris is a growing concern and potentially a costly issue for satellite and constellation operators like Spire. With our automated STM solution using data from various sources, we can provide them with the most comprehensive overview and analysis. And as a result, we can reduce the threat to their assets and enable our customers to focus on their main business.”

Vyoma has successfully secured additional capital from a dedicated space fund backed by the European Investment Fund (EIF).

The EIF is an International financial institution owned by the European Investment Bank and the European Union that supports disruptive technologies through funds and private banks across different industries in the European continent. The EIF joins forces with Atlantic Labs, which is an existing investor of Vyoma based in Berlin, Germany, and manages the fund.

Vyoma is launching a space-based constellation for monitoring objects (space debris and satellites) from LEO to GEO. The first generation of the constellation will be composed of optical sensors. Pivotal technology for enhancing space domain awareness, these powerful sensors will provide 24/7 information about space traffic and feed predictive analytics algorithms with ground-breaking data that will map the evolution of assets in space at unprecedented accuracy. Importantly, anomalous behavior and ill-intent will also effectively be detected, and alerts issued to the respective defence authorities.

With this information, Vyoma guarantees independent surveillance of space objects assets and the safety of in-orbit assets, supporting Europe’s geostrategic autonomy and space sovereignty. The first units of this space-based monitoring system are primed for launch in early 2025. This additional capital will be used to advance its technical developments and hence the commercialization of space-based data from the first and second-generation of satellites. To support these efforts, Vyoma will also strengthen its engineering team.

Stefan Frey, co-founder and CEO of Vyoma,, said, “This investment is a recognition by the European Institutions of the pressing need to address hazards in orbit and guarantee safety of assets. With Vyoma’s space-based surveillance system, we can in effect not only monitor the majority of all space objects in low-Earth orbit larger than 1 cm, but also detect ill-intent and malignant actions. This confluence of technological solutions and geostrategic goals is what drives this investment. At the same time, we are proud to count once again on Atlantic Labs for its continuous support.”

“The NewSpace industry has the potential to unlock technologies that can have a ripple effect across a range of other sectors,” said Marjut Falkstedt, Chief Executive of the EI. “I am delighted that EIF support, with the backing of the InvestEU programme, will enable companies like Vyoma to advance their work in cutting-edge fields like orbital monitoring. This is not only important for ensuring the safety and security of space missions and satellite operations – it will also play a role in enhancing Europe’s overall security and technological sovereignty.”

About Vyoma
Vyoma is a Munich-based company that leverages ground-based and soon, space-based data to empower automated satellite operations. Officially founded in August 2020, Vyoma enables real-time space traffic management in congested orbits around Earth. While space is becoming increasingly crowded, Vyoma provides safe and automated satellite operations services, drastically reducing mission costs for its customers. The company’s operations services range from detection of close approaches between satellites and debris and optimisation of manoeuvres, all the way to full automation. Vyoma tends to operators, reinsurers, and space agencies. As a participant in the EU Commission and ESA programs for Space Domain Awareness (SDA) technology development, Vyoma relies on a specialised workforce of 25+ engineers and scientists.

Mercury Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRCY) has been awarded a $31 million contract from L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) to provide solid-state data recorders for the U.S. Space Development Agency (SDA)’s Tranche 2 Tracking Layer satellite constellation.

L3Harris was selected in January to design and build 18 satellites that will provide near-global missile warning and tracking coverage, with preliminary missile defense, under SDA’s Tranche 2 Tracking Layer program.

The Tracking Layer is part of SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), a layered network of military satellites supporting multiple missions in LEO. Tranche 2 follows the 16 satellite constellation L3Harris is building for Tranche 1 plus the four recently launched satellites the company built for the Tranche 0.

Mercury’s solid-state data recorders (SSDRs) are the primary storage devices on all three L3Harris constellations. These radiation-tolerant devices enable on-orbit sensor data processing and storage in a 3U VPX form factor, with a microprocessor and software-free design that ensure precise, long-term operation in harsh environments. Mercury SSDRs have a proven spaceflight heritage, powering missions such as NASA’s Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation science mission that is currently in operation aboard the International Space Station.

“We are extremely proud to provide the on-orbit data storage capabilities for this important national security mission,” said Tom Smelker, GM of Mercury’s Microsystems business unit. “The Mercury Processing Platform brings unique advantages to the space domain, with edge-ready products that turn data into decisions.”

About Mercury Systems
Mercury Systems is a technology company that delivers mission-critical processing power to the edge, making advanced technologies profoundly more accessible for today’s most challenging aerospace and defense missions. The Mercury Processing Platform allows customers to tap into innovative capabilities from silicon to system scale, turning data into decisions on timelines that matter. Mercury’s products and solutions are deployed in more than 300 programs and across 35 countries, enabling a broad range of applications in mission computing, sensor processing, command and control, and communications. Mercury is headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts, and has 24 locations worldwide.

Sidus Space, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIDU) announced during the recent Space Symposium in Colorado Springs that the company finalized an additional agreement with HEO, a leading provider of non-Earth imaging (“NEI”) and data, for NEI payload and data services.

Under the agreement, Sidus Space will host HEO’s NEI imager, HOLMES-006, onboard LizzieSat-3, as part of the SpaceX Bandwagon-2 launch scheduled for November of 2024, along with a monthly data services contract. This marks the second agreement between HEO and Sidus Space, as Sidus Space’s LizzieSat-2 will be hosting HEO’s HOLMES-004 on the same launch.

HEO’s Holmes Imager is a telescopic space camera designed and developed to be hosted as a secondary payload on spacecraft. Holmes is the world’s first commercial camera dedicated to NEI, which captures images of resident space objects. The images obtained can provide valuable information about the identification, physical characteristics, movements, and interactions of satellites in orbit. Sidus’s LizzieSats will take HEO’s NEI sensors to mid-inclination LEO for the first time, increasing orbit diversity and enabling higher-quality images and data on a range of new and previously covered space objects.

“We are accelerating our work to proliferate NEI sensors in orbit, and we love partnering with companies at the cutting edge of spacecraft deployment,” said Dr. Will Crowe, CEO and Co-Founder of HEO. “We’ve loved working with Sidus and are excited about their plans.”

“We are honored to have earned HEO’s trust and confidence in our ability to provide the platform for their NEI and data collection,” said Carol Craig, CEO of Sidus. “Our companies work well together, and we look forward to a strong partnership to further enhance and expand the space ecosystem by offering a variety of valuable imagery and data.”

Fleet Space Technologies has successfully deployed the company’s Centauri-6 satellite on SpaceX’s Bandwagon-1 mission, launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The addition of Centauri-6 to Fleet Space’s satellite constellation will play a vital role in servicing the global demand for its end-to-end mineral exploration solution, ExoSphere, while also building capacity to deliver advanced SATCOM capabilities with smallsat architectures.

The successful launch of Centauri-6 is the latest development from Fleet Space after a period of exponential growth and innovative breakthroughs unlocking new capabilities in the global space sector. Recently, Fleet Space’s Centauri-4 became the world’s smallest voice-enabled satellite after a demonstration of Push-To-Talk (PTT) capabilities to the Australian Defence Force Joint Capabilities Division as part of their ASCEND2LEO program.

Fleet Space’s SPIDER seismic technology will also head to the Moon to search for water ice and deliver new insights about the lunar regolith on Firefly Aerospace’s second lunar mission in 2026 as part of a NASA CLPS initiative.

Rapid global adoption of Fleet Space’s satellite-enabled mineral exploration solution, ExoSphere, has been the catalyst behind the company’s sustained innovation in space technologies and growth over the past year. Over 40 industry leading exploration companies – including Rio Tinto, Core Lithium,and Barrick Gold – have used the technology to complete 300+ surveys for a variety of critical minerals across five continents. In 2023, Fleet Space completed a heavily oversubscribed A$50 million Series C funding round, doubled its valuation to A350$ million, and was named Australia’s fastest growing company.

ExoSphere, Fleet Space’s flagship mineral exploration technology, combines the latest advances in satellite connectivity, edge computing, AI, and geophysics to deliver 3D subsurface models of a survey area in days with near-zero environmental impact. To generate the 3D models, Fleet Space’s patented satellite-enabled seismic sensors – called Geodes – are distributed into an array across a survey area, then the data is transmitted and processed by Fleet Space’s satellite constellation in LEO, providing near real-time access to survey results for exploration customers around the world. Traditionally, seismic data acquisition and processing has taken months or years before it can be used as part of an exploration campaign. By delivering 3D subsurface models up to a depth of 2.5km in days, Fleet Space is radically reducing the time and resources needed to accelerate mineral discovery in support of the clean energy transition.

“Humanity’s expanding satellite infrastructure is rapidly unlocking new capabilities that can help to address some of the most pressing challenges facing our planet. At current rates of mineral discoveries and production, our net-zero goals and clean energy future are unattainable in the coming decades,” said Flavia Tata Nardini, Co-Founder and CEO of Fleet Space. “Leveraging the latest advances in space technology, AI, and geophysics – Fleet Space is demonstrating a path to accelerate mineral exploration in a more data-driven, scalable, and sustainable way. Centauri-6 is a portal into a future of efficient, mass-scale satellite manufacturing that can unlock previously unimaginable satellite-enabled solutions to hard problems on Earth.”

“Innovation in microsatellite architectures is advancing at an unprecedented rate, unlocking new capabilities across sectors at scale. The reprogrammability of our Centauri satellites enables in-orbit software updates that can deliver all-new capabilities, as we recently demonstrated with Centauri-4 – making it the world’s smallest known voice-enabled satellite,” said Matt Pearson, Co-Founder and Chief Exploration Officer at Fleet Space. “This marks a significant leap forward in the history of spacecraft – making a future with more energy-efficient, high-performing, flexible, and resilient microsatellite infrastructure within reach for the global space sector.”