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Aerospacelab has closed an extended Series B funding round totaling 94 million euros ($110 million) throughout a dual-tranche funding of 56 million euros ($66 million) alongside a 38 million euros ($44 million) commitment from a European financial institution.

This Series B round has been strategically implemented to align with Aerospacelab’s ambitious industrial roadmap and solidify its position as a major force in the aerospace industry.

This substantial investment has served to propel Aeropacelab’s growth trajectory and fuel its products’ readiness, resulting in a fleet of ready-to-sell satellites to demanding customers active in a variety of industries (e.g. Earth Observation (EO), telecom, etc). Additionally, it has been directed towards the full verticalization of all key subsystems, reinforcing its industrial autonomy and accelerating its product development.

Aerospacelab’s Megafactory, a cornerstone of its industrial strategy, has already benefited from the Series B funding, enabling the company to build one of the most advanced satellite production sites in Europe, with a manufacturing capacity of up to 500 satellites per year.

The capital has also been instrumental in accelerating R&D, attracting top-tier engineering talent, and fully verticalizing subsystems—all of which directly enhance the reliability, performance, and delivery timelines for telecommunications customers and other commercial partners. Construction of the Megafactory began in 2024, with its first satellites’ production expected in 2026 and with a full production capacity to be reached by 2027.

Backed by a strong coalition of investors, including both returning and new partners, this round reflects the market’s growing confidence in Aerospacelab’s mission to drive innovation, speed, and performance through its vertically integrated technology stack.

This Series B is more than just capital — it’s a strong endorsement of our vision to deliver and scale our manufacturing capabilities powering the next generation of constellations”, said Benoît Deper, CEO and Founder of Aerospacelab. “It reinforces our position at a pivotal moment: our products are mature and ready to deploy, our industrial infrastructure is scaling up for mass production, and we are prepared to meet rising global demand with speed and precision. We are ready for what’s next.”

Pay-TV operator EchoStar is selling $23 billions-worth (€19.8 billion) of terrestrial spectrum designed to improve 5G and home Internet access.

AT&T and EchoStar have also agreed to enhance their long-term wholesale network services agreement, enabling EchoStar to operate as a hybrid mobile network operator providing wireless service under EchoStar’s Boost Mobile brand. AT&T will be the primary network services partner to EchoStar as it continues to serve wireless customers.

AT&T says it will acquire approximately 30 MHz of nationwide 3.45 GHz mid-band spectrum and approximately 20 MHz of nationwide 600 MHz low-band spectrum for approximately $23 billion in an all-cash deal, subject to certain conditions.

The agreement will see improved AT&T services in some 400 urban and suburban markets in the U.S.

The deal eases the financial pressures on EchoStar which only a few weeks ago was rumoured to be considering bankruptcy. EchoStar’s share price rocketed 74 percent on the deal’s announcement.

However, despite the wording of co-operation between EchoStar and AT&T, the deal seem to put an end to EchoStar’s hope of becoming the USA’s fourth cellular nationwide network. EchoStar will now become a hybrid mobile network operator, which is a carrier that operates on its own network, in addition to using other companies’ infrastructure.

John Stankey, Chairman and CEO, AT&T, said, “This acquisition bolsters and expands our spectrum portfolio while enhancing customers’ 5G wireless and home internet experience in even more markets. No one brings wireless and fiber internet to more places or does it better than AT&T – and we do it with the industry’s first and only guarantee for both wireless and fibre. We’re adding fuel to our winning strategy of investing in valuable wireless and broadband assets to become America’s best connectivity provider.”

The EU-backed IRIS2 mega-constellation of super-secure satellites has seen the SpaceRISE consortium, which is managing the project, launch its first contest for the building of the 270-satellite LEO segment of the scheme—the two competing suppliers are Aerospacelab of Belgium and Airbus Defense & Space of France.

The competition (‘competitive dialogue’) will wrap with the selection of prime contractors for the LEO segment. Formal bids are reportedly due in September and the aim is for the winning supplier to be in place by the end of October.

Complicating the specification is that, whoever wins, they must apportion 30 percent of the contracts value to smaller and mid-sized businesses in the space ecosystem.

The SpaceRISE consortium is comprised of SES, Eutelsat and Hispasat, and their brief is to have made their various decisions by year end so that the European Commission can confirm the project, its financing and timetable.

That timetable is tight, and the Commission wants both the LEO elements and the MEO components to be launched and in service by 2030.

Recently, Telesat Government Solutions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Telesat (Nasdaq and TSX: TSAT), and ALL.SPACE announced a Memorandum of Understanding to integrate ALL.SPACE user terminals with the Telesat Lightspeed Low Earth Orbit (LEO) network.

Telesat Government Solutions will provide detailed Telesat Lightspeed network interface specifications to facilitate the development of ALL.SPACE multi-orbit, electronically steered terminals. The companies will collaborate on joint customer use-case evaluations and field demonstrations utilizing Telesat’s LEO 3 demonstration satellite. This collaboration is intended to ensure that ALL.SPACE terminals achieve type certification and are fully operational when Telesat Lightspeed services commence in late 2027.

Development efforts will include the ALL.SPACE Hydra-2 MAX terminal that maintains two simultaneous satellite connections with commercial and military Ka-band spacecraft across GEO, MEO and LEO orbits.

Additionally, the collaboration extends to the advanced Hydra-4 MAX MILSATCOM terminal that connects to four satellites simultaneously by combining a Hydra-2 MAX terminal, a Ku-band terminal and a global L-band antenna into a single chassis.

This important collaboration will ensure that Hydra 2 and Hydra 4 terminals that are deployed today, including those delivered to the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army, can seamlessly access Telesat Lightspeed in the future.

Chuck Cynamon, President of Telesat Government Solutions, said, “As the Department of Defense pursues proliferated architectures for assured connectivity, secure, ruggedized multi-band and multi-orbit terminals provide increased flexibility and resiliency in the congested and contested battlespace. The combination of our secure, advanced Telesat Lightspeed services and innovative ALL.SPACE terminals will increase operational advantage for the DoD in the digital battlespace.”

Paul McCarter, CEO of ALL.SPACE, said, “The future of resilient, global connectivity hinges on multi-orbit, multi-network architectures and our collaboration with Telesat marks a powerful step forward. Integrating our field-proven Hydra terminals with the advanced Telesat Lightspeed LEO capabilities will give government and defense users a critical operational edge – enabling seamless, secure, and scalable communications across every domain. This joint effort reflects our shared commitment to delivering the most agile and interoperable SATCOM solutions on the market.”

Globalstar (NASDAQ: GSAT) has gained significant momentum in the government market through multiple recent contract awards and strategic partnerships.

Leveraging the company’s Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation, licensed spectrum assets, and advanced networking technologies, Globalstar is delivering mission-critical communications solutions for defense and other government agencies and applications.

Recent contract awards and expanding government solutions capabilities include:

• Satellite-Enabled Software-Defined Communications: Globalstar completed a successful proof of concept with Parsons, a leading defense technology provider, advancing the solution to the commercial phase with the parties executing a commercial access agreement. The software-defined waveform technology addresses critical challenges in compromised signal environments and was developed to enable rapid deployment across diverse, mission-critical applications. The partnership is expected to provide accelerated go-to-market channels for other Globalstar developed government and defense products and services.

• Advanced XCOM RAN-Based 5G Research: XCOM RAN will be used to evaluate high-capacity architecture for 5G defense applications. The technology’s plug-and-play architecture and high reliability capabilities, combined with Band 53 spectrum assets, enable rapid ad-hoc deployments worldwide for mission-critical applications including autonomous systems support, tactical operations centers, and training facilities using XR technologies.

• Strategic Defense Agency Collaboration: Globalstar entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the U.S. Army to demonstrate edge computing capabilities for enhanced situational awareness and decision-making in tactical environments. This collaboration, combined with expanding opportunities for secure asset tracking and location services across defense applications, demonstrates the versatility of Globalstar’s satellite solutions with global coverage and low latency for mission-critical government operations.

Globalstar’s combination of satellite constellation, licensed spectrum assets, and advanced 5G RAN technologies enables seamless connectivity solutions that transition between satellite and terrestrial networks based on operational needs, providing defense and government customers with unmatched flexibility and resilience across critical mission requirements.

With current contracts expected to generate a minimum of $60 million in revenue over the next five years, Globalstar’s growing government customer base is projected to significantly increase this revenue category. Additionally, the Company’s expanding pipeline of opportunities across defense and government agencies positions this market vertical to deliver revenue significantly larger than current contracted minimums.

These recent wins validate the mission-critical reliability of our satellite and terrestrial solutions in the most demanding operational environments,” said Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, Globalstar CEO. “The government area of our business has established a strong foothold and represents an important growth driver for the Company.“

Oxford Space Systems has completed the in-space deployment of the company’s large Very High Frequency (VHF) isoflux helical antenna on the IOD-2 mission for Startical‘s ECHOES project, marking a significant milestone in the advancement of space-based air traffic management (ATM).

The antenna, nearly 4 meters in length and designed to operate within the 117 to 138 MHz range, is a crucial component of the ECHOES initiative, contributing to enhanced global communication and surveillance capabilities for ATM purposes.

The ECHOES project, spearheaded by Startical—a joint venture between ENAIRE (the Spanish air navigation service provider) and Indra (one of the world’s leading companies in defence, air traffic, and space)—aims to prove the viability of space-based communications and surveillance capabilities for ATM services in a real scenario. This concept will revolutionize air navigation through a constellation of satellites that provide global VHF communication.

The antenna developed by Oxford Space Systems as an ECHOES project subcontractor and integrated onto the satellite enables radio connectivity in remote areas where reliable communication is essential to future air traffic management.

The ECHOES project, performed within the SESAR Joint Undertaking (SJU) framework and compromising of Startical, ENAIRE and Indra, as well as Nav Portugal, DLR, Crida and Mitiga, has received substantial funding from the European Union, supported by the Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF Transport).

This financial backing, along with the technical expertise of Oxford Space Systems, Startical, ENAIRE and Indra, ensures that the project will set new standards in air traffic management, particularly in regions where traditional systems are less effective.

Sean Sutcliffe, CEO of Oxford Space Systems, said, “We are delighted that Startical has announced the successful deployment in-space of Oxford Space Systems’ antenna for their ECHOES project. This project demonstrates the ability of Oxford Space Systems to deliver high performance, technically demanding deployable antennas within a tight timescale while conducting a rigorous design, development and verification program. In this case the program took just 12 months from first order to delivery, including designing and testing an innovative antenna to meet Startical’s requirements. This was enabled by our team’s ability to draw on extensive product knowledge and heritage, rapid execution with a strong integrated project team covering the range of skills needed, and the highly collaborative approach with the project partners—Startical, Indra and NanoAvionics.”

Blue Canyon Technologies recently unveiled the firm’s latest spacecraft bus, the Saturn-400. This new, larger satellite offers flexibility and reliability to help customers achieve their mission objectives more effectively.

The Saturn-400 spacecraft offers increased payload capacity, allowing for more instruments and larger sensors for complex missions—up to 600 kg—depending on the launch vehicle. It’s also the company’s first satellite to offer an optional built-in attitude control system, known as a control moment gyroscope, which enhances its agility and stability.

As an alternative to the integrated control moment gyroscope, the Saturn-400 offers three reaction wheel options: Blue Canyon’s RW4, RW8, and the larger RW16. Reaction wheels use motor-driven flywheels for attitude control, while CMGs use a spinning rotor and motorized gimbals. Both options provide precise, low-jitter agility, allowing customers to optimize performance based on their mission needs and budget.

The Saturn-400 has rideshare capability while offering higher power and volume scaling through larger solar arrays and scalable power subsystems up to two kilowatts.

Our advanced control moment gyroscope technology is a key differentiator for Blue Canyon, and is now available in a turnkey spacecraft,” said Chris Winslett, general manager of Blue Canyon Technologies. “The Saturn-400 shares commonality with many BCT products, all of which leverage the same modular software. This approach enhances efficiency and lowers program risk, enabling customers to meet mission needs more quickly and affordably.”

Since the company’s inception, Blue Canyon has launched 83 small satellites and more than 2,700 components in support of successful missions in dynamic environments and in multiple orbital classifications, including interplanetary journeys.

Sidus Space (NASDAQ: SIDU) has successfully deployed the company’s new, autonomous, guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) software, SpacePilot, and has also commissioned the Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) on LizzieSat®-3 (LS3).

Designed for next-generation satellite operations, SpacePilot integrates real-time star tracker, sun sensor, magnetometer, gyroscope, and GPS data onboard LS3 to enable high-precision orbital control with minimal ground intervention. Key features include:

• Attitude Determination: Real-time estimation of spacecraft orientation for mission-critical accuracy
• Attitude Control: Stabilization and mission-aligned adjustments to support payload operations
• Optimal Trajectory: Fuel-efficient, time-optimized flight paths for extended mission life
• Autonomous Guidance: Precise rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) with minimal operator input
• Adaptive Autonomy: Dynamic response to changing orbital conditions and fault scenarios
• Lightweight Design: Optimized for resource-constrained small satellite platforms

The successful commissioning of the ADCS marks a critical step toward LS3’s full mission readiness. With the deployment of autonomous SpacePilot, the satellite can achieve accurate sun-pointing for maximum power generation, stabilize payload orientation for improved data collection, and maintain antenna alignment for reliable communications. This milestone also paves the way for more rapid commissioning of the remaining onboard technologies, including Sidus’s proprietary sensor suite.

LS3’s successful commissioning and SpacePilot deployment reinforce Sidus Space’s commitment to advancing autonomous satellite technologies as part of its growing LizzieSat® constellation.

Activating SpacePilot and commissioning the ADCS marks a critical milestone for LS3’s mission,” said Carol Craig, Founder and CEO of Sidus Space. “This software enables a higher level of autonomy, ensuring greater efficiency and mission resilience while reducing reliance on ground resources.”

Ascending Node Technologies (ANT) has unveiled the company’s Spaceline® constellation design tool that enables startups and established operators to collectively plot, create, and simulate systems tailormade to their mission plans and operations.

This first-of-its-kind, collaborative design tool allows project engineers and developers to plug mission specs and requirements into ANT’s Spaceline visualization software platform, which does the math and provides an accurate blueprint for new and expanding constellations.

Spaceline enables operators to clearly see how their constellations will perform in the future and helps to ensure they deploy the right number of spacecraft and deliver the necessary coverage and services, such as Earth and orbital debris observation.

The new constellation design tool joins the affordable web-based Spaceline suite of data analysis and visualization capabilities developed to help today’s dispersed mission teams effectively collaborate in real time during every mission phase, from design through live operations and post-mission review.

Spaceline is a relatively small investment that enables multi-million-dollar missions to dramatically boost operational accuracy, efficiency, and productivity by automating and streamlining many of the manual, cumbersome calculations and processes still in use today.

NASA is relying on Spaceline and the Ascending Node Technologies team as a critical asset of its $20 million Aspera small-sat UV astrophysics mission set to explore nearby galaxies from LEO beginning next year.

NASA and the University of Arizona space team are leveraging Spaceline to help solve the mysteries surrounding how galaxies evolve and obtain fuel for the formation of stars.

Spaceline was born from NASA’s historic and complex OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer) asteroid sample collection mission that traveled to the near-Earth asteroid Bennu to retrieve rock and dust samples as part of a seven-year exploration.

By the time asteroid samples were delivered to Earth in 2023, a trio of OSIRIS-REx engineers and scientists had founded Ascending Node Technologies and revolutionized the space industry’s slow, siloed, costly, and often manual data processing practices.

Multiple NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts have funded next-generation Spaceline visualization apps and enhancements to the Spaceline visualization software platform.

The industry continues to underestimate the complexity of space, so our web-based Spaceline architecture and new design tool allow teams to collaborate, develop ideas, create and operate a simulated constellation long before the first spacecraft is launched,” said John Kidd, Chief Aerospace Engineer for Ascending Node Technologies. “The ability to effectively plug-in specific mission data and automatically create constellations of spacecraft to meet specific objectives allows startups to build a compelling case for venture funding and big operators to grow with accuracy and confidence.”

The Norwegian Space Agency (NOSA) has awarded a contract to SFL Missions Inc. to develop the AISSat-4 maritime ship tracking microsatellite for launch in less than one year. AISSat-4 is needed to expand operational capacity in Norway’s maritime situational awareness network.

AISSat-4 is being developed on SFL’s SPARTAN 6U nanosatellite platform and will carry a single payload—a miniaturized Automatic Identification System (AIS) receiver built by Kongsberg Seatex of Trondheim, Norway. The SPARTAN bus is space proven with 18 commercial communications satellites previously deployed using this platform.

SFL Missions is uniquely prepared to develop AISSat-4 on an accelerated schedule. Additionally, the SPARTAN platform relies on heritage hardware and software and is easily tailored to accommodate the AIS receiver and antennas.

Norway launched the first ship-tracking satellite of its operational AISSat series in 2010 and then funded a parallel series of larger NorSat microsatellites. While the smaller AISSat nanosatellites each carry a single payload focused solely on collection of AIS signals, the NorSats each operate a ship-tracking device along with one or more technology demonstration payloads. NorSat-1 and -2 are both eight years old and have operated beyond their five-year design lives.

Norway’s leadership in space-based maritime monitoring includes eight spacecraft spanning more than 15 years, all of which were developed with SFL…

AISSat-1 was launched in 2010 with funding from Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) to prove that AIS signals from ships at sea could be detected by an AIS receiver in orbit. AISSat-1 was quickly transitioned to operational status where it collected data for 12 years.

AISSat-2, a twin to AISSat-1, launched as an operational asset in 2014 until decommissioning nine years later.

NorSat-1 and -2 launched in 2017, each carrying successively improved AIS receivers developed by Kongsberg Seatex. Additionally, NorSat-1 carries two experimental space science instruments, while NorSat-2 tested a two-way communication VHF data exchange device.

NorSat-3 launched in 2021 with an experimental radar navigation detector to augment the ship-tracking capabilities of its AIS receiver.

NorSat-TD launched in 2023 with a suite of technology demonstration payloads including a Dutch-built laser communications device that successfully enabled faster, more secure optical transmission of data between the spacecraft and ground station.

NorSat-4 launched in January 2025 carrying a fifth-generation AIS receiver complemented by a first-of-its-kind low-light imaging camera to detect and identify “dark” ships not operating their AIS transponders.

AISSat-4, now under development, will have the capacity to capture 1.5 million unique AIS signals every day even in crowded shipping lanes.

Additionally, Norwegian AIS data collected from space will continue to serve as the mainstay of the Blue Justice Ocean Surveillance Program initiated by Norway in September of 2023 to fight international fisheries crimes. Participants in this program share coastal data to uncover illegal fishing activities worldwide.

Under the leadership of NOSA and the Norwegian Coastal Administration, Norway operates the world’s most extensive and sophisticated space-based marine monitoring system to protect the safety of vessels and sustainability of resources in its vast territorial waters.

We have extensive experience in implementing AIS missions, and therefore we have the expertise and design heritage needed to implement the AISSat-4 mission on a short schedule,” said Dr. Robert E. Zee, SFL Missions Director and CEO.

More broadly,” he added, “SFL Missions Inc. has the capacity to work on many satellite missions concurrently, and since the team is vertically integrated, it maintains full control over the subsystem and spacecraft level assembly, integration, and testing schedules.

The societal benefits we gain from collecting AIS information from satellites is significant. It is therefore important that we ensure the maintenance of this capability,” said Coastal Administration Director Einar Vik Arset. “AISSat-4 will be a valuable addition at a time when several of our operational satellites are nearing the end of their expected lifespan.”