AAC Clyde Space has been awarded SEK 4.7 million from the ESA Phi-Lab Sweden program to develop the foundation for its next-generation on-board computer. The work will be carried out by AAC Clyde Space in Uppsala, together with its subsidiary Spacemetric in Sollentuna and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

The project builds on the company’s flight-proven Sirius computer family and prepares the introduction of Sirius EDGE, a new AI-ready platform for small satellites and UAVs.

The SPEED project brings together AAC Clyde Space’s hardware development in Uppsala with Spacemetric’s software expertise, supported by KTH’s research into specialized low-power chip technology. This combination shows how the Group’s vertically integrated model strengthens its ability to develop advanced capabilities entirely in-house.

The project runs until the fourth quarter of 2026 and will deliver a laboratory demonstrator for Sirius EDGE. The platform is suitable for both civilian and security-related missions, supporting applications across satellites and UAVs. The technology will form part of AAC Clyde Space’s portfolio of space products and support the company’s long-term strategy to deliver high-value, space-based data services.

On Friday, November 28 at 10:44 a.m. PT, Falcon 9 launched the Transporter-15 mission to sun-synchronous orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

On board this mission were 140 payloads, including cubesats, microsats, hosted payloads, and orbital transfer vehicles carrying 13 of those payloads to be deployed at a later time.

This was the 30th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission which previously launched NROL-87, NROL-85, SARah-1, SWOT, Transporter-8, Transporter-9, NROL-146, Bandwagon-2, NROL-153, NROL-192, Transporter-14, and 18 Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, which was stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

SpaceX readies for Transporter 15 dedicated rideshare mission on Wednesday from California available at affordable rates

SpaceX is targeting Wednesday, November 26 for Falcon 9’s launch of the Transporter-15 mission to sun-synchronous orbit from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The 57-minute launch window opens at 10:18 a.m. PT.

Transporter 15 is a dedicated rideshare mission by SpaceX. SpaceX’s SmallSat Rideshare Program provides small satellite operators with regularly scheduled, dedicated Falcon 9 rideshare missions to SSO for ESPA class payloads for as low as $300,000 per mission that includes up to 50kg of payload mass.

A live webcast of this mission will begin about 15 minutes prior to liftoff, which you can watch on X @SpaceX. You can also watch the webcast on the X TV app.

Find all the information you need to make a reservation online, everything from plate configuration to technical specifications to licensing information. Once your reservation request is approved, SpaceX will provide you with a welcome package outlining next steps for launch.

Payloads are received at the launch site around L-30 and processed in a SpaceX facility. More details can be found in the Rideshare User’s Guide.

This will be the 30th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission which previously launched NROL-87, NROL-85, SARah-1, SWOT, Transporter-8, Transporter-9, NROL-146, Bandwagon-2, NROL-153, NROL-192, Transporter-14, and 18 Starlink missions. Following stage separation, Falcon 9 will land on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

There is the possibility that residents of and visitors to Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties may hear one or more sonic booms during the launch, but what residents experience will depend on weather and other conditions.

Spire Global, Inc. (NYSE: SPIR) launched 11 satellites aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-15 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

The launch included satellites for Spire’s Space Services customers, along with three replenishment satellites.

Spire launched two satellites for GHGSat carrying payloads to monitor greenhouse gas emissions, expanding GHGSat’s constellation dedicated to high-resolution methane detection.Spire has designed and now operates a total of five satellites for GHGSat.

Spire also launched four satellites for Lacuna Space, each combining a Spire-built platform with Lacuna’s latest-generation IoT payloads. The satellites expand Lacuna’s global constellation designed to deliver low-cost, reliable connectivity to sensors and mobile equipment in remote or underserved regions.

Spire also launched three satellites carrying advanced Radio Occultation (RO) and Automatic Identification System (AIS) payloads to deliver high-quality atmospheric and radio-frequency data for global weather, climate, and commercial intelligence.

This marks Spire’s sixth launch of 2025, bringing the Company’s total number of satellites launched this year to 39 and more than 230 overall.

The Italian EO IRIDE program with OBH Italia as the prime has added eight satellites to their second constellation, Eaglet II.

The Eaglet II satellites lifted off on board a Falcon 9 rocket at 19:44 CET (10:44 local time), November 28th, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, U.S. All satellites were placed into orbit about one hour after launch. Acquisition of signal for all satellites was confirmed several hours later by OHB’s Mission Control Centre in Rome.

Data from the IRIDE satellites, of which there are now 16 in orbit, will support products such as maps, monitoring services and multi-temporal analysis. Each satellite in the Eaglet II constellation carries a multispectral, high-resolution optical instrument, as well as an Automatic Identification System (AIS) instrument.

OHB Italia is the prime contractor for the satellite. They will orbit at an altitude between 467 km and 625 km above Earth’s surface and provide images with ground resolution of about 2 m. The Flight Operations Segment (FOS) was developed by Telespazio on SITAEL’s PLATINO platform and Leonardo’s hyperspectral radar sensor.

Dawn Aerospace and Cosmoserve Space have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to partner on enabling sustainable and scalable in-space servicing through refueling and debris removal technologies.

The strategic MoU expresses both parties’ intent to explore future collaboration on integrating Dawn’s refuelable propulsion systems and in-space refueling service; Loop, with Cosmoserve Space’s debris capture and removal missions.

Active debris removal represents one of the most complex challenges in space operations, requiring precise maneuvering, extended mission durations, and reliable propulsion systems. By combining Dawn Aerospace’s refueling and propulsion capabilities with Cosmoserve Space’s debris-removal platforms, the partnership aims to enhance mission endurance and reduce the environmental impact of space activity.

The key focus area of the MoU includes the investigation of technical interfaces, operational synergies and potential future missions, using the core technologies of both companies.

Kymeta Corporation and Innovative Rocket Technologies Inc. (iRocket) have engaged in a strategic collaboration to further develop, integrate and test Kymeta’s new, conformal, multi-orbit technology within iRocket’s missile interceptors.

As the Pentagon increases its reliance on commercial providers for defense technology, specifically satellite services, this partnership will enable a new generation of always-connected, highly responsive interceptor systems – a capability widely viewed as essential to the future Golden Dome vision for continental defense.

By integrating its conformal technology into iRocket’s missiles, Kymeta will enable multi-orbit, real-time satellite connectivity that delivers mid-course updates, improves accuracy, and enhances resilience in contested environments.

Kymeta’s conformal antenna innovation leverages the distinctive electromagnetic properties of metamaterials, the company’s proven engineering foundation. The conformal antenna innovation supersedes gimbaled or phased array systems, enabling a surface-integrated design that blends seamlessly into the interceptor’s body, reducing drag and detectability, while improving performance.

The lightweight, low profile of metamaterial components, combined with iRocket’s cutting-edge propulsion and interceptor capabilities, will deliver significant improvements in mission performance. These include:

• Enhanced interceptor performance: precise, agile beam steering for sensors and communications dramatically improves accuracy and effectiveness
• Reduced size, weight and power (SWaP): elimination of bulky mechanical parts, enabling smaller, lighter, and more power-efficient systems critical for range, speed, and maneuverability
• Superior signal detection and security: dynamic, low-power beamforming enhances tracking and communication while minimizing thermal and electromagnetic signatures for survivability in contested environments
• Comms resiliency: multi-orbit and multi-band connectivity supports a full PACE communications framework

iRocket views this partnership as a catalyst for breakthrough capabilities. This initiative marks a new chapter in leveraging advanced technologies for national security and defense, providing resilient, always-connected interceptor capability that will underpin the Golden Dome’s continental defense architecture. The two companies will begin joint development and testing immediately, with initial integration trials planned for second half of 2026.

With the U.S. government pushing to integrate cutting-edge commercial technology into military capabilities faster, and more flexibly, than traditional rigid procurement strategies allow, our work with iRocket meets this need and demonstrates how our metamaterial technology and their advanced rockets can jointly deliver critical new defense capabilities,” said Manny Mora, President and CEO of Kymeta. “We have demonstrated the power of our metamaterials for mobile, multi-orbit satellite communications. Now, we are applying that same innovation to help solve some of the most complex challenges in missile defense and space domain awareness.”

Integrating Kymeta’s metamaterial technology is a game-changer for our missile and space platforms,” said Asad Malik, Founder, Chairman and CEO of iRocket. “This collaboration will enable us to build smarter, faster, and more efficient systems that can outperform existing technologies. It is a critical step toward advancing our mission of delivering rapid, responsive, and reusable capabilities to the defense and space sectors.”

Included in the satellites is Spire’s next-generation Hyperspectral Microwave Sounder—a compact, space-ready sensor built to demonstrate global weather forecasting from space

Spire Global, Inc. (NYSE: SPIR) has now shipped nine satellites, all designed and built by the company’s in-house manufacturing team, have journeyed to Vandenberg Space Force Base in California prior to their launch aboard SpaceX’s upcoming Falcon 9 Twilight mission.

The mission includes the company’s Hyperspectral Microwave Sounder (HyMS) satellite demonstrator, a compact, space-ready sensor built to advance global weather forecasting from space.

Developed in collaboration with the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council’s RAL Space and STAR-Dundee Ltd., HyMS is designed to capture detailed internal views of the Earth’s atmosphere, measuring important atmospheric variables including temperature, humidity, and precipitation. As a first-of-its-kind hyperspectral microwave mission, it will aim to help forecasters better understand how weather systems form and evolve in real time.

In addition to the HyMS demonstrator, the Falcon 9 Twilight launch will include seven, Spire-built satellites for customers and one constellation replenishment satellite supporting the company’s operational data missions. All the satellites were designed, built, and tested by Spire’s teams in Glasgow, Scotland.

With more than 200 satellites launched across more than 40 launch campaigns, Spire’s vertically integrated approach – designing, manufacturing, testing, and operating satellites in-house – enables rapid iteration and deployment of new technology that helps customers across government and commercial sectors make faster, data-driven decisions.

HyMS marks a meaningful step in expanding how we observe Earth’s atmosphere from space,” said Theresa Condor, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Global. “Two of the most impactful sources of data for improving forecast accuracy are radio occultation and microwave observations, areas where Spire is uniquely positioned to lead. This mission is a critical milestone on that path to delivering deeper atmospheric insights from space.”

Portal Space Systems has introduced Starburst, an ESPA-class rapid-maneuverability spacecraft, and confirmed Starburst-1 will launch on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 in Q4 2026 for the company’s first free-flying mission with live payloads—this mission will demonstrate rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO), rapid re-tasking, and rapid orbital change for national security and commercial use cases.

Starburst is built to bring maneuverability to proliferated space architectures, giving operators a maneuverable bus that can be delivered to an orbit of interest and maneuver rapidly within LEO, MEO, or GEO. It is being developed in sync with Portal’s trans-orbital vehicle, Supernova, which is designed for cross-domain transitions from LEO to cislunar and a 6 km/s-class maneuverability profile. The two platforms share many core subsystems and manufacturing processes, including Supernova’s high performance RCS thrusters which will serve as the main translational propulsion for the Starburst vehicle. The shared architectures mean the 2026 mission will demonstrate the Starburst product while simultaneously validating key systems for Supernova. Starburst will be available for customer missions in 2027.

Starburst-1 will fly to sun-synchronous orbit (SS0) for a one-year primary mission. Targeted maneuverability is 1 km/sof total delta-v and will host two payload partners onboard. TRL11 will provide full-motion video with onboard edge processing to enable mission assurance through real-time health monitoring while capturing visuals for documenting mission outcomes. Zenno will demonstrate superconducting magnet technology for fuel-free control authority and precision interactions during close operations, using the world’s most powerful magnetic actuator ever built and flown to space.

Our strategy is to deliver what customers need now and accelerate what they’ll need next,” said Jeff Thornburg, CEO of Portal Space Systems. “Starburst gives operators a maneuverable bus that supports proliferated architectures in the orbit that matters to them. Supernova brings the trans-orbital reach. Flying Starburst-1 in 2026 lets us field capability quickly and advance the shared systems that raise confidence for Supernova’s 2027 debut.”

Zenno is building next-gen hardware for maneuverability in space, leveraging solar energy and Earth’s magnetic field to drive real impact,” said Max Arshavsky, Founder and CEO at Zenno. “Portal’s Starburst platform embodies that vision, and we’re proud to provide its debut flight with our Supertorquer – the world’s most powerful magnetic actuator ever flown.”

Together, these payloads highlight how on-orbit maneuverability converts sensing into decision speed for defense and commercial use cases.

About Portal Space Systems
Portal Space Systems is a next-generation spacecraft company headquartered in Washington state. The company builds reconfigurable, maneuverable spacecraft designed to support defense and commercial missions on operational timelines. Portal emerged from stealth in 2024, earned STRATFI support, raised one of the largest publicly announced seed rounds in the sector.