Space Industry: Latest News and Analysis
Space is now an industry with launch cadences, order books and supply chains, and AirPro News covers it the way we cover aviation: from the announcement, with the numbers. That means SpaceX, ULA, Rocket Lab, Arianespace, Blue Origin and the launch start-ups; NASA, ESA, JAXA, ISRO and the other agencies; satellite operators and manufacturers; and the growing in-space services, station and lunar economies. This page gathers every AirPro News story on space, newest first.
What we watch
- Launch. Starship’s test campaign and its path to operational missions; Falcon 9 cadence; Vulcan, Ariane 6, New Glenn and Neutron entering service; and the small-launch companies fighting for the remaining market.
- Agencies and exploration. NASA’s Artemis lunar programme and commercial crew and cargo contracts, ESA’s launcher and science missions, and the national programmes in Japan, India, China and the Gulf.
- Satellites. Constellation build-outs and their launch contracts, Earth-observation and communications operators, and the manufacturers and component suppliers behind them.
- Defence space. Space Force and allied military procurement, missile-warning and communications satellites, and the industrial contracts that follow.
- The in-space economy. Commercial stations, life-extension and servicing vehicles, lunar landers, in-space manufacturing, and the funding rounds that decide which of them get built.
Latest space coverage
-
SpaceX Starship Flight 13 Deploys 20 Starlink V3 Satellites
SpaceX completed Starship’s 13th flight test on July 24, 2026, deploying 20 Starlink V3 satellites from Boca Chica, Texas.
-
Planet Labs Germany and Isar Aerospace Sign Launch Deal
Planet Labs Germany and Isar Aerospace target a Pelican satellite launch within 12 months aboard the Spectrum rocket from Norway.
-
Firefly Aerospace Advances Esrange Launch Complex for 2028 Orbital Debut
Firefly Aerospace and SSC Space complete infrastructure at Esrange Space Center, targeting first orbital launch in 2028.
-
Rocket Lab to Acquire Iridium Communications for $8 Billion
Rocket Lab agrees to acquire Iridium Communications for ~$8B, combining launch capabilities with Iridium’s LEO satellite network.
-
Firefly Aerospace Acquires Space-ng for Autonomous Navigation
Firefly Aerospace acquires Space-ng Inc. to integrate AI vision navigation into its Blue Ghost and Elytra spacecraft programs.
-
Lockheed Martin 2025 Mars Mission Challenge Winners Announced
Lockheed Martin names Team Falcon Mars the winner of its 2025 Mars Mission Challenge for a nuclear energy storage concept.
-
SpaceX Launches Starfall Reentry Capsule Demo Mission
SpaceX launched its inaugural Starfall uncrewed reentry capsule on June 23, 2026, targeting microgravity research returns from LEO.
-
MDA Space Acquires Blue Canyon Technologies for $620M
MDA Space signs a $620M deal to acquire RTX’s Blue Canyon Technologies, adding US manufacturing and defense capabilities.
-
NASA and Relativity Space Partner for 2028 Mars Mission
NASA and Relativity Space sign a Space Act Agreement to send the Aeolus atmospheric payload to Mars in 2028.
-
AIAA Forms Committee to Standardize Fusion Space Propulsion
AIAA launches a standards committee to evaluate fusion propulsion for deep-space missions, with applications open through July 25, 2026.
-
EQT Acquires Exolaunch in First Space Sector Investment
Swedish PE firm EQT AB agrees to acquire Berlin-based satellite deployment provider Exolaunch, closing Q4 2026.
-
Boeing Completes Q4S Quantum Payload Testing for 2027 Launch
Boeing finishes ground testing of its Q4S quantum networking satellite payload, targeting a one-year on-orbit demo in 2027.
Related topics
Commercial Space · Launch Activities · Space agencies · Launch · Startups · Investments
Get the week’s key announcements every Monday: join the AirPro News newsletter. Sending news on this topic? Here is how.
