Impulse Space‘s LEO Express 3 will be the third flight for Mira, the company’s high-thrust, highly maneuverable spacecraft—this will be the first mission for the upgraded vehicle design.

Building on the successful LEO Express 1 and 2 missions, LEO Express 3 will validate Mira’s improved systems ahead of future missions (including GEO flights beginning in 2026), provide flight heritage for multiple avionics components for future Helios flights as well as fulfill customer objectives.

With customer missions spanning hosted demos, non-Earth imaging (NEI), and CubeSat deployments, Mira is once again delivering advanced in-space mobility as a responsive, high delta-v platform.

Mission objectives include:

• Deploy Payloads: Deliver CubeSats from returning customer FOSSA Systems, using partner Exolaunch’s EXOpod Nova deployment system, to target orbital destinations

• Host Payloads: Support long-term NEI operations by returning customer HEO’s Holmes Mk2 NEI camera, as well as demonstrations from Samara Aerospace (the Cicada hardware, to validate MSAC technology) and Zenno Astronautics (the Supertorquer, a superconducting actuator generating strong magnetic fields)

• Deploy and Actuate Gimbaled Solar Arrays: Operate Mira’s new deployable, gimbaled solar arrays, which increase available onboard power for hosted missions

• Operate Reaction Wheels: Exercise precise attitude control with Mira’s new onboard reaction wheels

• Validate Helios Avionics Components: Flight testing for future Helios subsystems, including IMU, batteries, and radios

• Demonstrate Upgraded Propulsion Capabilities: Validate upper bounds of performance for the upgraded Mira’s propulsion systems, which offer a 25% increase in delta-v over prior versions

With the LEO Express 3 mission, Mira is advancing in-space mobility for customers and pushing the bounds of what’s possible for the space economy. This is one of the ways Impulse Space is working to accelerate the company’s future beyond Earth.

BlackSky Technology Inc. (NYSE: BKSY) CEO Brian O’Toole was named “Executive of the Year” by the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce and the Professional Services Council (PSC) at the annual 2025 Greater Washington GovCon awards. The award recognized O’Toole in the $75 to $300 million annual revenue category for his contributions to the company, the community and government contracting industry during the year.

As a pioneer in Earth Observation and geospatial intelligence systems, O’Toole developed the company’s foundational strategy and business plan that has driven BlackSky’s industry leading real-time, space-based intelligence solutions for some of the most demanding U.S. and international government agencies, commercial businesses and organizations around the world.

According to the award, O’Toole has demonstrated exceptional commitment to community and industry engagement through personal involvement and strategic corporate partnerships while advancing the beneficial impact geospatial intelligence has on communities worldwide.

This award is a reflection of our entire team’s dedication, innovation and commitment to lead the commercial Earth Observation sector by providing exceptional service to our customers,” said Brian O’Toole, BlackSky CEO. “We are pushing the limits of real-time, space-based intelligence to deliver critical insights at the speed of relevance for the vital missions of the U.S. government and allied partners throughout the world.”

VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq: VEON) has announced that Beeline Kazakhstan, the firm’s digital operator in Kazakhstan, is partnering with Starlink Direct to Cell to make essential connectivity accessible across Kazakhstan, including in remote areas that have not been covered by terrestrial networks. Beeline Kazakhstan plans to first launch messaging in 2026 and then introduce data connectivity as the next phase.

VEON has signed a non-exclusive agreement with Starlink that establishes the conditions for future collaboration on bringing Direct to Cell satellite connectivity to all of VEON’s operating markets. With this agreement, VEON became the first global telecom operator to enter into such a multi-country framework arrangement with Starlink.

Evgeniy Nastradin, CEO of Beeline Kazakhstan, said, “From the mountains to the steppe, our aim is to provide reliable communication, and integrating Starlink Direct to Cell satellite with terrestrial connectivity brings that vision closer. This integration is a great opportunity to address the coverage gap in the most remote regions of our country in an efficient way.”

The unique conditions of the markets where we operate requires innovative solutions that empower communities to stay connected. I’m delighted to see that we are on track to deliver this through our collaboration with Starlink Direct to Cell in a second VEON market – Kazakhstan – following Ukraine,” said Kaan Terzioglu, VEON Group CEO. “We will explore the potential to offer integrated terrestrial and satellite connectivity to VEON’s more than 150 million subscribers across all five of the markets where we operate.”

A British-built twin-satellite mission, designed to monitor key climate variables linked to water, has been prepared
for its journey into Earth orbit.

HydroGNSS is scheduled to launch this month aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, and this mission is backed by the UK Space Agency and forms part of the European Space Agency’s Scout framework.

Once it enters operations, the two-satellite system will monitor changes in satellite navigation signals caused by the physical properties of terrain, ice, oceans or vegetation to provide scientific data on the water cycle.

Once on-orbit, the two satellites will travel 180 degrees apart around Earth to maximize coverage. They will use an innovative technique called Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) reflectometry to quite literally ‘scout for water’.

Navigation satellites such as GPS and Galileo transmit L-band microwave signals that change when reflected off Earth’s surface. HydroGNSS will compare these reflected signals with the direct GNSS signals to extract valuable information about geophysical parameters related to the water cycle.

The mission focuses on four crucial variables, all recognised as Essential Climate Variables or closely related to them: soil moisture, freeze–thaw state over permafrost, inundation, and above-ground biomass.

These data are vital for improving our understanding of Earth’s water cycle, agricultural planning, flood prediction, and our understanding of wetlands, permafrost dynamics and forest carbon storage.As ESA’s first Scout mission, HydroGNSS is part of the agency’s Earth Observation FutureEO program. Scout missions are designed to deliver cutting-edge science quickly and affordably, complementing ESA’s larger Earth Explorer missions.

HydroGNSS was manufactured by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) in Guildford, UK, before being transported to California in early September. Since then, the satellites have undergone a series of final checks to prepare them for launch and are now ready to be enclosed in the rocket fairing.

Read the full story on ESA’s HydroGNSS Scout satellites getting ready for launch at this direct link…

Sateliot will test a pioneering system that allows its satellites to connect with IoT devices without relying on satellite navigation systems (GNSS) such as GPS.

This breakthrough opens new opportunities in sectors such as Security, where Europe’s technological autonomy and operation in “GNSS-denied” environments are strategic priorities.

LEO satellite constellations, such as the one developed by Sateliot, provide coverage in areas beyond the reach of terrestrial networks -over half of the planet’s surface. However, until now, they depended on GNSS, increasing both the energy consumption of devices and terminal costs.

The FreeGNSSNetwork project, signed with ESA and led jointly with GMV, eliminates this dependency using advanced algorithms that enable devices to calculate their position directly from the satellites’ signals. This maintains a stable and accurate connection even under complex conditions such as wartime scenarios.

According to the company, this project represents a paradigm shift and lays the groundwork for developing 6G technology, in which Sateliot actively contributes within the 3GPP framework. FreeGNSSNetwork enables device positioning with an accuracy of approximately 10 meters and provides extremely precise time synchronization services of 50 nanoseconds, the equivalent of 0.00000005 seconds.

The system is currently being tested in laboratories that replicate real satellite communication conditions and will be demonstrated in orbit with prototype satellites and terminals, sending Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) data directly to IoT devices.

According to Jaume Sanpera, co-founder and CEO of Sateliot, “this project positions Spain as a benchmark in satellite innovation and connects the European industry to new IoT and 5G service markets. With this research, Europe gains coverage and connectivity where there was none before, and Spain demonstrates its ability to deliver cutting-edge solutions. It is a dual-use technology, for civil applications, that enables greater autonomy, resilience, and energy efficiency.”

ICEYE’s Tactical Access is the only commercial SAR service providing guaranteed imaging slots, sub-hour delivery, and sovereign in-country processing – ensuring defense and intelligence organizations receive critical imagery when and where it’s needed.

ICEYE has launched their Tactical Access, a new commercial SAR product. Tactical Access is a subscription tasking product for customers with large annual imagery volumes requiring short tasking timelines, high planning flexibility, and prompt imagery delivery. Tactical Access includes an optional customer ground station, which provides users with direct downlink and imagery delivery within minutes. With Tactical Access, customers gain full tasking control over the industry’s largest and highest-resolution commercial SAR imaging fleet.

Traditional industry satellite tasking models rely on first-in, first-out (FIFO) scheduling. FIFO is suitable for many applications but cannot adapt to late-breaking intelligence needs and time-sensitive imaging targets. Tactical Access removes this constraint for product subscribers by providing reserved imaging capacity that guarantees availability on short notice for critical operations.

For image delivery, Tactical Access offers two options. First, customers may purchase a dedicated ground station consisting of an antenna and proprietary ICEYE Edge processor, enabling direct downlink of imagery data and delivery of finished imagery products within minutes after raw image data are downlinked from the spacecraft. A dedicated ground station also allows customers to maintain sole custody of image data following collection, a feature well-suited to national security requirements. Alternatively, in lieu of a dedicated ground station, customers may leverage secure cloud-based image delivery and receive finished imagery within hours following collection.

Tactical Access users will enjoy all the benefits of ICEYE’s industry-best imagery capabilities, including up to 16 cm resolution imagery from ICEYE’s Generation 4 satellites and large-footprint modes, such as Scan Wide (200 km x 300 km). Uniquely, Tactical Access customers also benefit from ICEYE’s electronic beam-steering technology, enabling dozens of high-resolution scenes captured in only minutes of satellite imaging time. Tactical Access exposes all these options through an easy-to-use user interface optimized for planning high volumes of imagery collections.

John Cartwright, Senior VP of Data Product at ICEYE, said, “Tactical Access serves the demanding needs of our imagery power users around the globe by breaking the paradigm of the traditional imagery planning and delivery model. We have high-volume national security customers requiring significant planning flexibility and very short tasking planning-to-delivery timelines. Tactical Access is the industry’s best product for these needs, providing access to the industry’s finest SAR imagery with maximum flexibility.”