If SpaceX achieves VP of Flight Kiko Dontchev’s recently established goal of another 26 launches by the end of the year, the company will not only notch a new record, but set the stage for an even higher flight rate in 2025.

Constellations are never quick, and Europe’s IRIS² is no exception.

On Oct. 21, United Launch Alliance began integrating its third Vulcan rocket on a mission that, if done this year, positions the company to make good on an ambitious launch cadence in 2025.

On Oct. 11, SpaceX filed with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requesting to modify Starlink’s architecture and establish what it calls “SpaceX V3.”

The Defense Department doles out study contracts in the six-to-seven figure range so often they are rarely worth mentioning in the grand scheme of needle movers, but the Space Development Agency’s Commercial Disposal Services awards are different. 

Military agencies have long been ideal customers for the satellite industry because of their willingness to pay a premium for resilient communications.

Every year at the perennial Paris pilgrimage, one or more trends emerge as the dominant theme of the show, and 2024 was no different.

Supply chain fragility has been a perpetual challenge for the satellite industry, often centering on subsystems and components for which there are very few suppliers.

Over the past two years, Starlink has hit the maritime industry like a tsunami, swallowing up cruise line, yachts, and merchant vessels at such high rates that competitors must adapt or die.

It’s been a pretty miserable decade if you’re a GEO operator. The spectrum skirmishes over Ku and Ka-bands kicked things off, followed by a relentless arms race to launch increasingly more powerful HTS satellites.

SDA needs a spiral development plan for user terminals

Press leaks on M&A discussions typically aren’t helpful (remember EchoStar’s attempt at buying Inmarsat?), but there was probably no good way to hide the fact that Airbus and Thales Alenia Space (TAS) are in early discussions about a potential merger of their space businesses. 

Last week, Airbus announced it was taking a €900 million charge in its Space Systems business.

A change in the winds of European defense spending

Telesat Lightspeed’s supply chain is becoming real

Why Starlink’s foray into Indonesia is so important

In years past, small countries often financed geostationary satellites under the auspices of national sovereignty.

What started as a binary battle between DTD spectrum approaches is increasingly looking like an “and” rather than an “or” outcome.