🛰️ MANUFACTURING AND OPERATIONS

🇨🇳 Long March 6A launch creates unexpected orbital debris
A Chinese launch to deploy a first batch of communications satellites has created more than 50 pieces of debris which could threaten spacecraft in low Earth orbit.The Long March 6A launched Aug. 6,deployed 18 flat panel Qianfan (“Thousand Sails”), or G60, satellites into roughly 800-kilometer-altitude polar orbit for Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST). The mission appears to have created a string of debris along its orbital path, according to observations from Slingshot Aerospace, a space-tracking and data analytics firm.

🇳🇿🇳🇴KSAT to setup global groundstation service for Rocket Lab’s customers
Rocket Lab is working with Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) for a new global ground station service for Rocket Lab’s launch customers. 
The expanded satellite communications service now available to KSAT’s and Rocket Lab’s customers includes unique antenna tracking features for complex mission designs across a global ground station network of more than 200 antennas. This includes real-time telemetry, tracking, and control (TT&C); extended monitoring, control, and data acquisition capabilities in S-band, X-band, and Ka-band; and automated ground station scheduling for satellite passes. 
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🇩🇪 Rocket Factory Augsburg completes second static fire test
German launch startup Rocket Factory Augsburg has completed a second static fire test of the first stage of its RFA ONE rocket.
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💰️ FINANCE, FUNDING AND M&A

🇪🇸 Indra announces plan to acquire Elecnor Deimos
Indra, one of Spain’s largest defense contractors, announced plans Aug. 7 to beef up its newly created space business by acquiring European small satellite mission specialist Deimos.
Currently owned by Spanish energy giant Elecnor, Deimos provides satellite integration, subsystem and ground segment technologies with a team of more than 500 people across Spain, Portugal, Italy, Romania and the United Kingdom. 
Space NewCo is also getting Indra’s 50% in Startical, Spain’s proposed air traffic surveillance and communications constellation, as part of these plans.
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🇺🇸 Space weather startup raises pre-seed funding round
Space weather startup Perceptive Space raised $2.8 million in a pre-seed investment round announced Aug. 6.
Investors participating in Perceptive Space’s funding round include Panache Ventures, Metaplanet, 7Percent Ventures, Mythos Ventures and AIN Ventures.
With the money, Perceptive Space plans to introduce its space weather platform to space and defense organizations in the United States and allied countries
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🇯🇵 Interstellar Technologies raises $21m Series E round
Japanese startup Interstellar Technologies raised 3.1 billion yen ($21 million) to fund rocket and communications satellite development.
Investors contributing to the Series E investment round, announced Aug. 5 at the SmallSat Conference here, include SBI Group, Japanese mobile phone network operator NTT Docomo and Resona Bank.
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🇮🇳 Indian reusable launch vehicle startup raises seed funding
EtherealX, an Indian space technology start-up has announced its successful raise of $5 million to develop fully reusable medium-lift launch vehicles. YourNest led the round with further participation from BIG Global Investments JSC, Blue Hill Capital, Campus Fund, and Golden Sparrow Ventures.
The Indian company aims to build reusable rockets that can return both rocket stages to earth after flight to address issues of substantial transportation costs and considerable waiting periods during launches.
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🛰️ CORE SERVICES

🇺🇸 Astrobotic awarded contract to develop lunar solar array technology
Astrobotic has been selected by NASA for a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award worth approximately $150k to develop an Extra Large Vertical Solar Array Technology (VSAT-XL) for the Moon. VSAT-XL’s impressive size, 34m tall and 12.5m wide, would be the largest planned lunar power infrastructure technology to date to meet the growing energy demands on the lunar surface. 
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🇺🇸 ispace Technologies selects Stoke Space to support flight hardware manufacturing
ispace Technologies U.S., inc. has selected Fusion by Stoke Space to accelerate its Mission 3 development, adopting Fusion as its Manufacturing Execution System. This strategic move aims to foster agile development within its Development and Flight Hardware Manufacturing campaigns, leading to better hardware traceability and assembly/test operations for Mission 3.
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🛰️ PRODUCT, PARTNERSHIPS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

🇳🇿 Rocket Lab introduces new product line
Rocket Lab has introduced the company’s next generation satellite separation system, the Advanced Satellite Dispenser (ASD).
The ASD provides customers with the option to remove encapsulation of the payload during flight or use optional walls and door, giving it the ability to fly with or without canisterization. This feature allows satellite designers increased flexibility to adapt their payloads to mission needs
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🇮🇹 Leaf Space establishes company owned teleport
Leaf Space has established the firm’s own teleport in Punta Arenas, Chile — this new site significantly increases the Leaf Line network capacity and reduces latency overall and especially for the Americas.
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🇬🇧 Bright Ascension launches Helix Flightkit Foundation Edition 
Bright Ascension Ltd. has released the company’s HELIX Flightkit Foundation Edition, the first product of its end-to-end suite of space software solutions, designed to seamlessly connect spacecraft development and operations with the delivery of space-based insights and analytics.
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🇩🇪 🇺🇸 IQ Spacecom and RBC Signals partner up
IQ spacecom and RBC Signals have launched their jointly developed Go.BIC service — this service is designed to provide inter-satellite connections for LEO operators and is powered by Viasat’s global L-band satellite network.
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🇺🇸 Sierra Space announces two new products to create effective solar array management systems
Sierra Space has announced two new complementary products to support the growing satellite market.
A new Solar Array Drive Assembly (SADA), with multiple options, and a new commercial variant of its heritage Universal Microstepping Control Driver (UMCD) combine recent technological-component advancements with Sierra Space’s 35+ years of spaceflight expertise to create cost-effective solar array-management systems at reduced lead times.
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🚀 LAUNCH CONTRACTS AND MISSIONS

🇩🇪 🇸🇰 Space Manic signs launch contract with HyImpulse Technologies
HyImpulse Technologies GmbH and Spacemanic CZ s.r.o. have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and will now collaborate on launch services.
Under this MoU, HyImpulse and Spacemanic will prepare and enter into launch contracts for as many as 10 orbital missions from 2026 to 2036. This collaboration includes the use of HyImpulse’s Small Launcher 1 (SL1) for orbital services and the SR75 vehicle for suborbital technology demonstration missions.
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🌎️ CUSTOMERS OF THE SPACE INDUSTRY

🇺🇸 Princess Cruises signs up with Starlink for onboard Wi-Fi
Princess Cruises is launching a new, higher tier of onboard Wi-Fi for cruise customers using SpaceX‘s Starlink service. The new service tier MedallionNet Max will offer prioritized access and the highest performance bandwidth, which Princess Cruises said is “typically Starlink.”  
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📜 REGULATORY & GOVERNMENT

🇺🇸 Office of Space Commerce releases RFP for TraCSS
Office of Space Commerce (OSC) released a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Presentation Layer (user interface and user experience) of the Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS).
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