Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) has announced continued investment in its technology demonstrations with the upcoming launch of the LM 400, a new, mid-sized, common, multi-mission space vehicle.

The LM 400 has completed testing and is currently preparing to embark on its journey on a Firefly Aerospace Alpha rocket in the first half of 2025.

The LM 400 was digitally designed and developed for:

• Any Mission: LM 400 is a common satellite bus design that provides significant customer cost savings. Missions could include remote sensing, communications, imaging and radar.  

• Any Orbit: LM 400 was designed with greater propulsion and better low Earth orbit (LEO), medium Earth orbit (MEO), and geosynchronous equatorial orbit (GEO) operability compared to others in its class. 

• Any Launch Configuration: LM 400 is compatible with a wide range of launch vehicles as a single, ride-share or multi-launch system.

• Mission Flexibility: LM 400 includes SmartSat, the company’s software-defined architecture that gives customers even greater mission flexibility and the ability to perform on-board data processing.

• Support to CJADC2: LM 400 can conform to a Modular Open Systems Architecture (MOSA), and interoperate with other platforms across the military services to support the Department of Defense’s vision for Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) operations.

This mission will join Lockheed Martin’s growing self-funded technology demonstration portfolio, including the Electronically Steerable Antenna  and Pony Express 2 (artistic rendition below). These launches are centered on innovation and designed to deliver proven capabilities with greater speed and agility, which means customers gain access to advanced manufacturing and digital engineering that has already been tested on-orbit to address emerging threats.

“The LM 400 is Lockheed Martin’s most capable space vehicle, and is able to serve any mission in any orbit,” said Jeff Schrader, vice president, strategy and business development at Lockheed Martin Space. “This mid-sized, common bus is a game changer, because it can support any type of customer, including military, civil and commercial users – and can be customized to each individual mission.”

To learn more about Lockheed Martin’s technology demonstrations, access this direct link…

Rivada Spec Networks, already suffering much negative press about missed financial deadlines, is now reported to have lost 12 dedicated launch slots on SpaceX. It is not said whether Rivada has paid ‘deposits’ on the launches when the contracts were signed. If deposits were paid then it is said that they will have been forfeited. Meanwhile, SpaceX can re-sell the reserved launches.

The lost launches follow on from Rivada losing its Liechtenstein issued priority spectrum filings because of non-payment of its annual 5 million Swiss Francs performance bond. Reports suggest that then Liechtenstein regulator was extremely patient in urging Rivada to pay up. Vaterland, the national newspaper of Liechtenstein, reported that the regulator was “deeply shaken” by Rivada’s failure to pay its annual bond. “The office has concerns about the financing of the project and has now lost confidence in Rivada”.

Meanwhile, Rivada on November 15th started an online marketing and awareness campaign featuring images of dozens of its staffers (its Rivada Space Academy), and stated, “We’ll let you in on a secret: it is our people and culture development platform, our (Rivada) place to get to know each other, to learn and share experiences, to translate our values into behaviors needed to achieve our goals. Do you want to work in a place where everyone, from C-suite to last month’s new joiner is an internal trainer, your trainer? Be fast, reach out to us […] and join the team.”

Meanwhile, a critic of Rivada, Pierre Lionnet (Research & MD at Eurospace) followed up the news by saying that he had heard directly from Rivada’s CEO Declan Ganley saying “multiple times that funding was secured? I’ve seen shady operations in the ‘newspace’ but Rivada Space tops them all.”

SmallSat Europe 2025 is ramping up with notable speakers and exhibitors and leading technical and business attendees. This event takes place in May 27-28, 2025, in RAI, Convention Centre / Amsterdam, Netherlands, where 1,200+ space pioneers will attend for two days of groundbreaking insights, innovation, and collaboration. They are now offering two options and are accepting submissions for presentations.

SmallSat Europe is now offering two options for submitting consideration to present in May 2025.  Due to high demand, we are implementing a “first come, first served” system for technical paper and workshop submissions. In cases where presentation areas are highly saturated, and the submissions have equal technical merit, priority will be given to the papers submitted first.  

By completing either the quick of full submission form early you will secure your place in the queue of potential speakers.

Be a pivotal part of the SmallSat community and shape the future of connectivity and space technology.

Submit your technical abstract for consideration. SmallSat Europe will host a variety of original conference papers, to be published and accompanied by a 15 minute oral presentation at the event in Amsterdam. The objective is to introduce your original research or new ideas to a wide technical audience to receive feedback from the SmallSat industry at large.

Proposals are being solicited for 90 minute workshops intended to offer opportunities for attendees to acquire technical knowledge on various SmallSat topics including but not limited to: Operational use of common products or software, identification and the use of  essential services, understanding regulatory regimes, areas of promising research, etc.

Some of the highlights include:
250+ Expert Speakers across 3 technical forums and a main business stage.
Take the opportunity to connect with 120+ key exhibitors.
Network with your target market, promote your tech, and gain strong leads.

Witness the Future Unfold as you get a glimpse into the next generation of SmallSat applications, from Earth observation, scientific discoveries, communications and defense to lunar exploration and beyond.

The 1,200 attendees include engineers, program managers and c-level executives.

Eutelsat’s OneWeb LEO system will be officially launched in Thailand in December and go fully ‘live’ in January for commercial users, according to The Bangkok Post. OneWeb and the nation’s National Telecom (NT) will co-launch the system which is being tested this month.

OneWeb’s gateway teleport facility is expected to support more than 50,000 users in Southeast Asia, excluding Thailand, within its first year of operation, according to NT president Col. Sanphachai Huvanandana.

The move came after the regulatory board of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) granted approval to the partnership to provide a satellite broadband internet service internationally under NT’s landing rights.

Eutelsat OneWeb and NT have reportedly invested more than $25 million in the local infrastructure to make Eutelsat OneWeb services possible in Thailand and the wider region.

Bala Balamurali, VP/Southeast and East Asia at Eutelsat OneWeb, said with the completion of this Thai gateway site, OneWeb’s low-latency, high-speed services can be activated to provide critical connectivity solutions across Thailand and throughout Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region.

The new OneWeb gateway can support communications through OneWeb’s LEO satellite network across the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Taiwan, South Korea, and parts of Indonesia.

Logos Space Services, a SATCOM operator for enterprise customers, has now been launched — the company will use spectrum differently than previous satellite operators to maximize security and avoid jamming.

The firm filed an application yesterday at the Federal Communications Commission to construct, launch, and operate a non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) system.

Logos provides MPLS and ethernet connectivity enabling enterprises and other telecom providers to extend their cloud, data center, and communication networks with fiber-like performance globally without touching the Internet. Internet connectivity is an option for customers such as airlines and maritime transportation that also want Internet access. Logos also will provide backup communications services for companies already connected by fiber or other terrestrial connectivity.   

Logos’ system will provide the enhanced security and resilience that businesses need. The LEO satellite service network will use the K-, V- and E-bands rather than the typical commercial satellite bands. Using higher frequencies and very narrow beams means that the system will avoid interference from other users and bad actors and enable the system to provide multi-gigabit service to users worldwide using closed user groups for enhanced security. 

As Logos’ system is resilient to interference, the company will solve a critical national security need. Logos’ system is designed to be highly resilient to electronic warfare (EW) — not just because of the very narrow beams it uses, but also due to specially designed control waveforms that are difficult to direct and jam. 

Logos is led by Milo Medin and Rama Akella, two veterans in space technology and broadband networks, and backed by Thomas Tull’s U.S. Innovative Technology fund.  

“Increasingly, our space systems are being targeted by jamming, and in the future, all spectrum access will likely be contested,” said Milo Medin, the founder and CEO of Logos Space. “We engineered Logos Space’s LEO system with this in mind to withstand electronic warfare and provide the enhanced security that businesses and the US Government need for their mission-critical communications.”

About Logos Space
Logos Space is a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite system purpose-built to serve the connectivity needs of the enterprise user, wherever they may be. We will help fill an important gap in the market, providing resilient, high-performance satellite-based connectivity services to enterprise customers worldwide.  

Firefly Aerospace, Inc., an end-to-end space transportation company, and space defense technology company True Anomaly, Inc., today announced a multi-launch agreement for three responsive launch missions aboard Firefly’s Alpha rocket.

The first mission will deploy the True Anomaly Jackal Autonomous Orbital Vehicle (AOV) for the U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command’s VICTUS HAZE Tactically Responsive Space (TacRS) mission targeted for 2025. The two additional missions are available for execution between 2025 and 2027.

True Anomaly first announced it was selected for the VICTUS HAZE mission in April of 2024. Now with support from Firefly, the company will execute four main phases: build, hot standby, launch, and on-orbit operations.

During the build phase, True Anomaly will complete development and testing of its Jackal Autonomous Orbital Vehicle at its factory GravityWorks in Denver, Colorado, and transport it to Firefly’s SLC-2 payload processing facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California for fueling, integration, and encapsulation in Alpha’s fairing. The True Anomaly and Firefly joint mission team will then enter the hot standby phase while the encapsulated payload remains stored in Firefly’s environmentally controlled processing facility.

True Anomaly and Firefly will remain on call until the U.S. Space Force provides the notice to launch. The Firefly team will then have 24 hours to transport the payload fairing to the pad, mate the fairing to Alpha, fuel the rocket, and launch within the first available window. Once True Anomaly’s Jackal spacecraft is deployed, True Anomaly will begin its on-orbit operations.

“VICTUS HAZE is an exemplar for how strong partnerships between the U.S. government and an exceptional industry team can create asymmetric capabilities at record speeds,” said Evan Rogers, Co-founder and CEO of True Anomaly. “Firefly Aerospace has consistently demonstrated innovation and agility in the rapidly evolving landscape of responsive space launch logistics and space vehicle deployment. We are confident that they will build on their track record from VICTUS NOX, enabling True Anomaly to deploy the Jackal Autonomous Orbital Vehicle for VICTUS HAZE. The procurement of additional rapid, responsive launch capacity from Firefly beyond VICTUS HAZE, paired with True Anomaly’s rapid manufacturing capability, will enable standing capacity for the U.S. National Security Space enterprise to rapidly respond to mission requirements in Low Earth Orbit and Medium Earth Orbit.“

Evan continued, “With the significant advantages in AI, and the workload of human operators required to rapidly interpret changes, it still remains critical that human guidance is available to continue to protect the users and technology in order to provide the ultimate outcome.”

“After launching VICTUS NOX last year, the Firefly team is ready to hit the ground running to support another rapid launch for tactically responsive space,” said Jason Kim, CEO at Firefly Aerospace. “We are honored by the vote of confidence from True Anomaly and the U.S. Space Force in Firefly’s ability to unlock repeatable, on-demand launch capabilities that enable our nation to respond to urgent on-orbit needs.”

VICTUS HAZE will be the second U.S. Space Force mission Firefly has supported with its rapid launch capabilities. In September 2023, Firefly successfully launched the U.S. Space Force’s VICTUS NOX mission following a 24-hour notice, demonstrating a critical capability for the United States to rapidly respond to on-orbit needs during a conflict or in response to a national security threat. The Firefly team has since operated every Alpha launch as a responsive space demonstration, enabling the team to continue practicing and streamlining its rapid launch capabilities for both government and commercial customers.

About Firefly Aerospace
Firefly Aerospace is an end-to-end space transportation company with launch, lunar, and on-orbit services. Headquartered in central Texas, Firefly is a portfolio company of AE Industrial Partners (“AEI”) focused on delivering responsive, reliable, and affordable space access for government and commercial customers. Firefly’s small- to medium-lift launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles provide the space industry with a single source for missions from low Earth orbit to the surface of the Moon and beyond.

In connection with closing, the board of directors in AAC Clyde Space, with support from the authorization granted at the annual general meeting held on May 23, 2024, resolved to issue 188,000 shares and 106,800 warrants to the current shareholders in Spacemetric, entailing a total increase of AAC Clyde Space’s share capital with 589,600 Swedish Krona, provided that all earn-out milestones are fulfilled and that the warrants are exercised for subscription of shares.

The consideration shares received as payment on closing are subject lock-up undertakings, whereby one third of the shares are subject to a lock-up for 360 days, one third of the shares are subject to a lock-up for 630 days and one third of the shares are subject to a lock-up for 810 days. Shares issued by exercise of the warrants will be subject to a lock-up for 360 days.

Luís Gomes, AAC Clyde Space CEO said, “I would like to welcome our new colleagues from Spacemetric to the AAC Clyde Space group. Their expertise will be invaluable in the expansion of our Earth Observation operations, both for our own Data & Services offerings and for our EO satellite customers, to whom we can now offer the complete solution to process and manage imaging data together with their satellite. Together we will make it easier for user to access the Earth Observation data that they need.”

LONG BEACH, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”), a global leader in launch services and space systems, has completed testing and integration of its second Pioneer spacecraft for Varda Space Industries, Inc. (“Varda”), the world’s first in-space pharmaceutical processing and hypersonic Earth re-entry logistics company.

Rocket Lab’s first Pioneer spacecraft for Varda was launched in June 2023. Varda successfully crystallized the HIV drug Ritonavir while on orbit and Rocket Lab and Varda successfully landed the re-entry capsule in the Utah desert in February 2024. The Company is now preparing Varda’s second mission during which Rocket Lab and Varda will once again conduct in-space operations, reentry positioning maneuvers, and deorbiting to recover Varda’s capsule. Varda received permission from the FAA under a Part 450 license earlier this month, making them the only company to ever secure a second reentry license.

Designed and built at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and Headquarters in Long Beach, California, the Pioneer spacecraft will provide power, communications, propulsion, and attitude control for Varda’s 120 kg reentry capsule. Each Pioneer spacecraft leverages the company’s vertically integrated spacecraft components and subsystems, including star trackers, reaction wheels, solar panels, flight software, and radios. Rocket Lab’s Pioneer spacecraft is a flight proven highly configurable medium delta-V platform designed to support large payloads, re-entry capabilities, and dynamic space operations.

“By leveraging Rocket Lab’s vertically integrated approach to spacecraft production, we can rapidly develop and deliver the highly capable and reliable spacecraft that Varda needs for their missions,” said Rocket Lab Founder and CEO, Sir Peter Beck. “This close collaboration allows us to push the boundaries of innovation, enabling Varda to create high-value products in microgravity and bring them back to Earth. We’re excited to work alongside Varda as they revolutionize manufacturing processes and open new markets through space.”

“Our partnership with Rocket Lab demonstrates the power of collaboration to evolve the orbital economy,” said Varda CEO and co-founder Will Bruey. “Each reentry is a remarkable milestone that paves the way for future innovations, and the day when reentry is as common as launch.”

D-Orbit has announced the second and final closing of the company’s 150 million euros Series C Round, making one the biggest space deals in the last 12 months.

This raise was underpinned by D-Orbit’s track record of 16 successful missions; 14 ION Satellite Carriers and the Company’s proprietary orbital transfer vehicle, which has been on-orbit since 2020, and a further seven launches that are planned for 2025.

These missions have allowed the company to test both D-Orbit’s proprietary technologies and pioneering third party innovations on-orbit and they range from sensors designed to track and map the size, speed, and paths of sub-centimeters debris to help protect satellites from collisions, to AI/ML applications designed, for example, to promptly detect flooding and relay flood maps to emergency responders, thereby accelerating response time to environmental crises, potentially saving lives, and minimizing damage to communities.

The round allows D-Orbit to continue developing its capabilities in space cloud computing and on-orbit servicing. It will also facilitate and accelerate its collaborations with governments and space agencies as well as broaden its customer reach across geographies and industries. It is also expected that part of the procedures will be used to make strategic acquisitions to broaden the Company’s product set.

The round is led by Marubeni Corporation, a powerhouse in the Japanese industrial sector, cementing a long-term commercial collaboration poised to revolutionize the space logistics industry. This partnership builds on Marubeni’s exclusive rights to distribute D-Orbit’s services in Japan, now expanding to Southeast Asia, and leverages Marubeni’s extensive network and expertise to accelerate D-Orbit’s growth as a leading provider of satellite logistics solutions in key global markets.

D-Orbit’s existing investors CDP Venture Capital, Seraphim Space Investment Trust, Indaco Venture Partners, Neva SGR (the Intesa Sanpaolo Group’s venture capital company), and Primo Ventures also participated.

The large size of the round has also allowed for new market leading investors to join the shareholder register. These include Avantgarde, a well-established family office with roots in the pharmaceutical and space industries, Iberis Capital, leading Portuguese private equity and venture capital portfolio manager, European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund that supports game changing innovative companies, Phaistos Investment Fund, a venture capital fund managed by 5G Ventures and backed by the Greek state, Terna Forward, the Corporate Venture Capital vehicle of the Italian Transmission System Operator Terna, and private investors with focus on tech investments. Furthermore, a consortium led by the existing shareholder United Ventures (primary Italian fund focused on technology), including the European Investment Bank, and the European Investment Fund, participated re-iterating strong support to the Company’s strategic plan.

These funds will support the development of a ‘circular space economy’, turning space debris into a valuable resource. This will include advances in in-orbit servicing to enable the collection and recycling of debris in orbit, as well as the manufacture of spacecraft for interplanetary travel. With the increasing number of satellites launches, D-Orbit remains dedicated to promoting space sustainability and environmental responsibility.

The Company is set to expand its services to include satellite lifespan extension and space debris removal alongside its existing satellite deployment and hosted payload on- orbit services.

Satellogic Inc. (NASDAQ: SATL) was recently selected as one of eight recipients of NASA’s Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition Program (CSDA) On-Ramp1 Multiple Award contract, with a maximum cumulative value of $476 million for all award winners — this award highlights Satellogic’s commitment to deliver high-quality Earth Observation (EO) data to advance scientific research and enhance life on Earth.

Under the CSDA On-Ramp1, Satellogic will provide NASA with high-resolution multispectral imagery under a multiple-award contract in effect until November 15, 2028. The program aims to offer NASA a cost-effective solution for augmenting or complementing the Earth observation data gathered by the agency, other U.S. government entities, and international agencies. This data will be pivotal in efforts to understand and mitigate the effects of climate change, monitor environmental trends, and improve various applications that benefit humanity.

The CSDA program is a strategic initiative designed to leverage the rapidly evolving commercial space sector. By working with commercial partners such as Satellogic, NASA can enhance its ability to gather crucial EO data efficiently and affordably. This collaboration underscores the importance of public-private partnerships in driving innovation and contributing to a better understanding of our planet.

“We are excited to contribute to NASA’s pioneering efforts in advancing Earth science research through commercial satellite data,” said Matt Tirman, President, at Satellogic. “This award recognizes our commitment to delivering accessible and actionable geospatial data, and we look forward to supporting NASA’s ongoing research and applications through this collaboration.”