🛰️ MANUFACTURING AND OPERATIONS

Reaction Dynamics signs contract with spaceport provider Southern Launch
Reaction Dynamics has signed a contract with Southern Launch to conduct the inaugural launch and flight of their RE-102 hybrid rocket engine and Aurora vehicle from the Koonibba Test Range in Australia in 2025.
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NASA demonstrate deep space optical comms technology with a 460 million mile transmission
NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications technology demonstration set a new record for laser communications this summer by transmitting a laser signal from Earth to the Psyche spacecraft, approximately 290 million miles (460 million kilometers) away. That’s the same distance between our planet and Mars when the two planets are farthest apart.
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💰️ FINANCE, FUNDING AND M&A

French startup Constellation Technologies & Operations raises seed fund for VLEO constellation
France’s state-backed Expansion Ventures fund has invested about $10 million in Constellation Technologies & Operations, a two-year-old French startup with plans for 1500 small 5G broadband satellites in very low Earth orbit (VLEO).
The startup said Oct. 14 the seed funds enable the completion of engineering studies for its first two satellites, slated to launch in 2026, which would use cellular frequencies from terrestrial partners to deliver services to user terminals developed in-house.
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Earthdaily Analytics acquires Descartes Labs
EarthDaily Analytics Announces Acquisition of Descartes Labs
Acquisition strengthens EDA’s core geospatial AI capabilities and provides immediate access to multiple high-value, high-growth industry verticals.
Existing Descartes Labs offerings in insurance, energy, mining, and U.S. defense and intelligence to be augmented by integration with EDA and the launch of the EarthDaily Constellation in 2025.
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OroraTech raises series B funding round
OroraTech has raised 25 million euros ($27.3 million) to build the next phase of a satellite constellation for monitoring wildfires and to expand its business.
The Munich-based startup announced Oct. 15 that it raised the Series B funding round, led by Korys, the European Circular Bioeconomy Fund (ECBF), and existing investor Bayern Kapital.
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🛰️ CORE SERVICES

D-Orbit announces contract with European Space Agency
Italian space logistics company D-Orbit announced a 119.6 million euro ($131 million) contract with the European Space Agency for a spacecraft servicing vehicle. 
Under the contract announced Oct. 14 at the International Astronautical Congress here, D-Orbit will develop, launch and demonstrate a vehicle capable of rendezvous, docking and taking over the attitude- and orbit-control functions of a satellite in geostationary orbit. The ESA contract accelerates work already underway on D-Orbit’s General Expansion Architecture (GEA) spacecraft-servicing vehicle
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Thales Alenia Space awarded contract amendment for european module of NASA’s Gateway station
Thales Alenia Space has been awarded a €164 million ESA contract amendment to build a larger than originally planned ESPRIT module for NASA’s lunar Gateway space station.
In January 2021, ESA awarded an initial €296.5 million contract to Thales Alenia Space for the development and manufacture of ESPRIT. On 14 October, Thales Alenia Space announced that it had been awarded an amended contract to expand Lunar View to 4.6 meters wide, 6.4 meters long, with a mass of 10 tonnes.
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Odysseus Space to deploy first optical ground station in partnership with Leaf Space
Odysseus Space has announced the deployment of its first commercial Optical Ground Station (OGS) in a partnership with Leaf Space. This agreement symbolizes the expansion of Odysseus’ Cyclops™ LCaaS™ and Leaf Space GSaaS capabilities, enabling fast and secure data transfer between Earth Observation (EO) satellite constellations and ground infrastructure.
The first Odysseus commercial OGS will be in Montsec, Cataluña, Spain. Odysseus plans to deploy an OGS network by 2026 and deliver to customers a downlink capacity of 1TB per day with Cyclops™ LCaaS™ solution. With its first OGS, Odysseus will leverage Leaf Space’s existing infrastructure, enhancing global space-to-ground data transfer through Odysseus' proprietary Cyclops-GT, a Ground Terminal optimized to receive data from satellites equipped with Odysseus’ Cyclops-DTE space laser communication terminal.
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🛰️ PRODUCT, PARTNERSHIPS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Space station company Vast unveils new space station, Haven-2
Vast is targeting a contract to build the successor to the International Space Station (ISS), unveiling Haven-2 on Monday, its proposed space station design. Vast said it developed Haven-2 to offer a compelling solution to ensure continued U.S. and international partner presence in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) after the ISS is retired. The company declared its intent to compete for the NASA Commercial LEO Destination (CLD) program Phase 2 with the Haven-2 design on October 14.
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Skywatch and Maxar announces distribution partnership
Skywatch and Maxar today announced a multi-year agreement enabling the distribution of Maxar’s high-resolution satellite imagery to SkyWatch’s global customer base* via the SkyWatch platform.
Through this partnership, SkyWatch customers will have access to Maxar’s high-quality archive and tasking capabilities, including 50 cm, 30 cm, and 15 cm HD resolution imagery from the Maxar constellation,
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Pixxel and Geoimage announce stategic partnership
Pixxel and Geoimage Partner to Bring High-resolution Hyperspectral Imaging to Australia
This collaboration empowers Geoimage to deliver deeper insights through spectral analysis, utilising Pixxel's advanced imaging capabilities that cover up to 250 spectral bands, across multiple industries and use cases
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🚀 LAUNCH CONTRACTS AND MISSIONS

Starship’s 5th launch, returns first stage booster for the first time
SpaceX launched its Starship vehicle for the fifth time sending the giant rocket aloft from its Starbase site in South Texas.
The mission aimed to break new ground for Starship, and for spaceflight in general: SpaceX planned to return Starship's huge first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, directly to its launch mount, catching it with the "chopstick" arms of the launch tower in a bold and unprecedented maneuver. 
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SpacX launches NASA’s Europa Clipper mission
A long-awaited mission to study if an icy moon of Jupiter could harbor life is on its way after a launch on a Falcon Heavy rocket Oct. 14.
The Falcon Heavy lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at 12:06 p.m. Eastern. After the second of two burns by the upper stage that placed it on an Earth-escape trajectory, the Europa Clipper spacecraft separated from the stage a little more than an hour after liftoff. The spacecraft made contact with ground controllers minutes later, returning telemetry showing it was in good condition.
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🌎️ CUSTOMERS OF THE SPACE INDUSTRY

SES signs multi year contract renewal with Sky
SES has extended the company’s long-standing partnership with Sky through a multi-year contract renewal for satellite capacity and back-up services from SES’s prime video neighborhood of 28.2/28.5 degrees East — this renewal builds on the companies’ previous agreements.
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Echostar partners with Connected to provide enhanced off-grid connectivity
A strategic partnership has been unveiled by EchoStar Mobile and Connected to provide enhanced off-grid connectivity. This collaboration introduces Connected One, an IoT solution that leverages EchoStar’s satellite technology to bridge connectivity gaps in remote and underserved regions, ensuring users stay connected and safe, even when venturing off the grid.
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📜 REGULATORY & GOVERNMENT

Commercial spaceport to be built in China’s Xichang Spaceport
China’s inland Xichang launch center is set to build a commercial spaceport, aiming to enhance the country’s access to space.
Liangshan Prefecture, in which Xichang Satellite Launch Center is situated, and Sichuan Development (Holding) Co., Ltd. held a ceremony Oct. 9 for the signing of a strategic cooperation agreement and the unveiling of Sichuan Development International Commercial Spaceport Co., Ltd.
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France and Germany joins U.S led space defense coalition
France and Germany formally joined Operation Olympic Defender, a U.S.-led initiative aimed at bolstering international cooperation in space defense, U.S. Space Command announced Oct. 14. 
The move signals a deepening of military space ties between Europe and the United States, as concerns grow over the militarization of outer space.
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