🛰️ MANUFACTURING AND OPERATIONS

🇪🇺 
Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket has completed a fueling test and countdown rehearsal that is the final major milestone before its inaugural launch in July.
The European Space Agency said June 21 that the agency and its partners completed a wet dress rehearsal the previous day at the launch site in French Guiana. In the test, the rocket was loaded with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen propellants and went through a countdown that stopped just before engine ignition.
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🇨🇦 
Maritime Launch Services has announced they have received approval from the Province of Nova Scotia for the development of a satellite processing facility.
This project also deemed eligible for reimbursement under the Capital Investment Tax Credit (CITC) Program, a significant milestone for the company's growth and the region's economic development.
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💰️ FINANCE, FUNDING AND M&A

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Skynopy has raised $3.1 million to break into the ground satellite services market by leveraging underutilized infrastructure from constellation operators, the eight-month-old French startup announced June 24.
French public sector investment bank BPI France participated in Skynopy’s funding round, alongside early-stage investors Heartcore Capital, Kima Ventures and Better Angle. Entrepreneurs Thibaud Elziere and Yohann Leroy also invested in the company.
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🇯🇵 
Japanese radar imaging company Synspective has raised 7 billion yen ($44 million) in a Series C round intended to fuel the expansion of its satellite constellation.
The Tokyo-based company announced June 20 it raised the Series C round led by Japan Growth Capital Investment Corporation, managed by Nomura SPARX Investment, Inc., as well as investment limited partnerships operated by JAFCO Group Co., Ltd. and by Mizuho Capital Co., Ltd. Several other institutional and individual investors participated in the round.
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🛰️ CORE SERVICES

🇺🇸 
X-Bow Systems announced it will develop solid rocket motors for the Standard missile, the U.S. Navy’s primary surface-to-air weapon for anti-air warfare and ballistic missile defense.
The company received two contracts, one for $3.3 million to develop solid rocket motors for the Standard missile’s Mk 72 booster, and $4 million for solid rocket motors for the Mk 104 second stage.
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🇺🇸 
The Pentagon announced on June 21 that Lockheed Martin Space has been awarded a $977.5 million contract extension for the continued development, testing, and on-orbit support of two geosynchronous missile-warning satellites for the Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next-Gen OPIR) program
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🛰️ PRODUCT, PARTNERSHIPS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

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SpaceX is rolling out a small, portable Starlink Mini version of its terminal designed for on-the-go use. It is a portable kit with an integrated Wi-Fi router. 
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🚀 LAUNCH CONTRACTS AND MISSIONS

🇫🇷 🇳🇿 
Rocket Lab successfully launched the first set of satellites for a French startup June 20 on the 50^th flight of its Electron rocket.
The Electron lifted off from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand carrying five Internet of Things (IoT) satellites for French company Kinéis. Those satellites were deployed from the Electron’s kick stage about an hour later into orbits at an altitude 635 kilometers and inclination of 98 degrees.
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🇱🇺 🇺🇸 
SpaceX successfully launched Astra 1P for Luxembourg fleet operator SES June 20 toward geostationary orbit, where it is eventually due to replace four older broadcast satellites over Europe. 
Astra 1P was placed in geostationary transfer orbit around 35 minutes later, not long after the rocket’s first stage successfully landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean for reuse.
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🌎️ SPACE INDUSTRY ←→ DOWNSTREAM

nothing to see here today!

📜 REGULATORY & GOVERNMENT

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SAST has conducted China’s highest altitude launch and landing test so far as the country chases reusable rocket capabilities.
A 3.8-meter-diameter test article powered by three methane-liquid oxygen engines lifted off from the Gobi Desert June 23, the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) announced. 
The test stage achieved an altitude of around 12 kilometers before setting down successfully at a nearby landing area. Landing legs were deployed 50 meters above the ground. The test article did not use moveable fins, and fired its central engine for the duration of the flight.
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🇺🇸 
The U.S state of Maine Aims To Become Polar Orbit Space Launch Hub
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🇨🇳 
China’s Chang’e-6 spacecraft is on its way to Earth to deliver samples collected from the far side of the moon.
The Chang’e-6 service module likely fired its engines for a trans-Earth injection around June 21. The spacecraft is now on the final leg of its complex, 53-day voyage involving a lunar landing, sampling, ascent and docking. A reentry capsule containing the unique samples will be released from the service module shortly before arrival at Earth early June 25. 
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