xAI joins SpaceX to Accelerate Humanity’s Future
On February 2, 2026, SpaceX officially announced the acquisition of xAI, merging Elon Musk’s aerospace empire with his artificial intelligence venture in a deal that values the combined entity at approximately $1.25 trillion. The move creates a vertically integrated "innovation ...
Musk wants another 1 million satellites
Chris Forrester — SpaceX has filed an application with the FCC for 1 million additional orbiting satellites. The aim is to use the new fleet as orbiting computing and data centres in order to power AI, according to the filing ...
“Capitalism Should Be Faster Than Communism”: Chairman Babin Targets Space Bureaucracy
Speaking at the Space Mobility Conference in Orlando, Florida, on January 29, 2026, Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX), Chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, delivered a blunt assessment of the regulatory hurdles facing the U.S. space industry ...
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NASA Launches “Space to Soil” Challenge to Pioneer Onboard AI for Earth Observation
On January 30, 2026, the NASA Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) officially opened the Space to Soil Challenge, an initiative inviting the global SmallSat community to propose mission concepts that leverage adaptive sensing and onboard artificial intelligence (AI). The challenge ...
UK Invests in Satellite Timing Infrastructure to Strengthen National Resilience
On February 3, 2026, the UK Space Agency announced a strategic investment in the TOUCAN (TWSTFT Capability Demonstration) project to enhance the UK’s resilience against potential disruptions to Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). Led by GMV in the UK, the ...
Italian Space Agency and Telespazio to enhance satellite communications beyond Earth orbit
On February 3, 2026, the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and Telespazio (a Leonardo Group company) signed a strategic agreement to launch the RESPONSE program. This initiative focuses on modernizing the historic FOC-1A antenna at the “Piero Fanti” Fucino Space Centre ...
Verum Messenger Launches Offline Architecture for True Digital Sovereignty
This system transforms the traditional messaging model by shifting from a Centralized Cloud to a Decentralized Mesh Network ...
Be the Pulse of the New Space Age: SatNews Wants a High-Velocity Digital Content Editor
REMOTE | HIGH AUTONOMY | UNCAPPED POTENTIAL The space industry isn’t just expanding, it’s exploding. From Starship test flights and mega-constellation deployments to regulatory battles and billion-dollar M&A deals, the news cycle is faster than it has ever been. SatNews ...
The Fractal Lab – Part II
In Part 2 of this series, we examine the second bottleneck facing the Orbital Data Center (ODC) : Data Gravity. We will explore why moving exabytes to and from orbit is harder than processing them, and how this specific constraint ...
Vodafone IoT and Skylo Partner to Deliver Global Hybrid Satellite-Cellular Connectivity
On January 28, 2026, Vodafone IoT and Skylo Technologies announced a strategic partnership to integrate satellite-based Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) NB-IoT connectivity into Vodafone’s global IoT ecosystem. The collaboration aims to provide "anywhere connectivity" by allowing IoT devices to switch seamlessly ...
CesiumAstro in development of Phased Array Manufacturing Facility with $470M Funding
On February 2, 2026, Austin-based CesiumAstro announced a landmark $470 million funding milestone, positioning the company as a formidable domestic alternative to vertically integrated giants like SpaceX. The capital infusion is designed to industrialize the production of high-performance active phased ...
ST Engineering Unveils Advanced Satellite Roadmap at Space Summit 2026
During the Space Summit 2026, ST Engineering announced an ambitious expansion of its space program, introducing three major satellite initiatives—NEBULA, NeuSAR-2, and POLARIS—designed to bolster Singapore’s sovereign capabilities in high-speed communications and Earth observation. NEBULA: Pioneering Gigabit Laser Communications Scheduled ...
Space Development Agency Issues RFI for Space-to-Air Optical Communication Terminals
The Space Development Agency (SDA), the "constructive disruptor" of Department of Defense space acquisition, has published a high-priority Request for Information (RFI) seeking industry solutions for airborne optical communication terminals. The initiative aims to integrate military aircraft directly into the ...
China’s Private Space Industry Is Doing A Lot More Than Building Rockets
By early 2026, the industry has shifted from isolated technical demonstrations to large-scale, demand-driven commercial operations across high-bandwidth satellite constellations, space-based AI, and suborbital logistics ...
The Business Case for Sovereign Space
On February 2, 2026, analyst Omkar Nikam released a high-impact analysis through the Access Hub | Space & Defense Newsletter, arguing that the fundamental logic of satellite procurement has shifted from a technical competition to a political one. In his ...
India’s private space industry sector finds indirect growth triggers in Union Budget 2026-27
On February 1, 2026, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented India’s Union Budget for 2026-27, allocating ₹13,705.63 crore (approximately $1.64 billion) to the Department of Space (DoS). While the 2% increase over the previous year's budget estimate is modest, industry leaders ...
Blue Origin to Validate First Booster Reuse on New Glenn-3 Mission for AST SpaceMobile
On January 22, 2026, Blue Origin announced that its upcoming New Glenn-3 (NG-3) mission will mark a historic double-milestone: the first in-orbit reuse of a New Glenn booster and the deployment of AST SpaceMobile’s first next-generation Block 2 BlueBird satellite ...
The Radio Regulations Treaty: Setting the Rules for International Satellite Connectivity
While the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) is often associated with "licensing," its primary responsibility is the global coordination of radio-frequency spectrum and orbital resources rather than the direct issuance of operating licenses. Direct licensing remains the sovereign jurisdiction of individual ...
Kyivstar Prices $131 Million Secondary Offering of Shares Held by VEON
On January 29, 2026, Kyivstar Group Ltd. (Nasdaq: KYIV), Ukraine’s largest digital operator, announced the pricing of a secondary public offering of 12,500,000 common shares at a price of $10.50 per share. The shares are being sold entirely by existing ...
Orbital vs. Terrestrial Solar: The Math of Energy Density and Capacity Factors
The pursuit of efficient solar energy harvesting presents a stark contrast between terrestrial and orbital environments. While terrestrial solar farms are the backbone of current renewable infrastructure, Low Earth Orbit (LEO) arrays offer a high-intensity, uninterrupted alternative that fundamentally shifts ...
SpaceX Files FCC Application for Million-Satellite Orbital Data Center
HAWTHORNE, California – In a move that significantly expands its orbital footprint, SpaceX submitted an application to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Friday, January 30, to deploy a massive constellation of up to one million satellites dedicated to space-based ...
Midnight and Spacecoin Partner to Secure Global Communications via Decentralized Satellite Network
Targeting the growing gap between encrypted application layers and vulnerable terrestrial infrastructure, Spacecoin and the Midnight Foundation announced a partnership on January 29, 2026, to develop a private peer-to-peer (P2P) messaging platform. Screenshot The collaboration aims to bypass traditional internet ...
The Fractal Lab
Before we dream of floating data centers, we must understand why the SmallSat is the only laboratory that matters. Welcome to The Fractal Lab: a three-part series on why orbital computing succeeds or fails first at 10 kilograms, not 10,000 ...
