Innovation
EchoStar’s $23 billion spectrum sale clears path for direct-to-device constellation
EchoStar’s proposed direct-to-device (D2D) satellite network got a major boost Aug. 26 with plans to sell $23 billion of spectrum to AT&T, closing the book on its bid to operate as a traditional mobile carrier in the United States.
Starship’s Tenth Test Flight Deploys Payloads for the First Time
After two days of weather delays, and a year filled with explosive test campaigns, the company’s Starship rocket and Super Heavy booster performed its most eventful flight yet—in a good way.
Starship lifted off from the pad at Starbase HQ in Texas at 7:30pm before flying to a suborbital trajectory. From there, it proceeded to hit every milestone for the flight.
Technology
Jeff Bezos' space tech company makes surprising Bitcoin bet
Jeff Bezos' space company Blue Origin begins accepting crypto payments.
Space Force Ups Aggressive Expansion of New Acquisition Units
The Space Force recently stood up a new kind of acquisition unit to oversee how the service rolls out new equipment for a slew of missions related to how the military gathers information in and communicates from orbit—and it has plans to double its number of such units in the next six weeks.
VC
VCs shoot for the stars as space-tech funding paces for growth
Global VC funding for space-tech startups in 2025 is set to surpass last year’s total, but investor bets are becoming more concentrated as the vertical matures.
Europe
European space tech has data to sell — but where are the buyers?
Without private buyers, Europe’s space data risks going to waste