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Thanks for your patience this week; turns out moving boxes are terrible co‑authors and the move to another city introduced more logistics than launch windows. A few reports, audits and warnings this week in science and space governance, and beautiful images from all over the space.
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Hope you enjoy this Space!
IMAGES
The largest and most detailed photo of Milky Way’s center : Euclid Space Telescope
Euclid has produced the largest high‑resolution visible‑light image of the Milky Way’s center, a 4.8‑square‑degree mosaic captured over 26 hours on March 23, 2025. The survey resolved more than 60 million stars, dense molecular clouds, nebulae and clusters in the galactic bulge, using nine pointings of Euclid’s VIS camera, each covering an area larger than the full Moon. Imaged in this dataset is the bulge’s dense population of old yellow stars, dust‑rich molecular clouds that obscure background regions, and pockets of active star formation traced by massive blue stars and faint hydrogen emission. (Credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, CFHT, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre and E. Bertin (CEA Paris-Saclay))
Euclid’s resolution, comparable to Hubble’s but with 270 times the field of view, allows researchers to track stellar motions and separate lensing stars from background sources, improving characterization of cold exoplanets and other stellar phenomena across the bulge. (Credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, CFHT, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre and E. Bertin (CEA Paris-Saclay))
The dataset provides a time baseline for gravitational microlensing (a form of gravitational lensing caused by stars and exoplanets in our own galaxy) studies, enabling mass measurements of known and future exoplanets through subtle changes in starlight. Euclid’s image includes 51 known planetary systems and will support NASA’s Roman Space Telescope, which will monitor the same region for planet hunting. (Credit: Euclid images: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, CFHT, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre and E. Bertin (CEA Paris-Saclay); Milky Way artist impressions: ESA/Gaia/DPAC, Stefan Payne-Wardenaar))
Lensing in a galaxy cluster : James Webb Space Telescope
James Webb telescope’s latest image highlights the merging galaxy cluster MACS J0553.4‑3342, a system at redshift 0.412 seen as it appeared 4.4 billion years ago. The cluster contains two roughly equal‑mass subclusters that have already passed through each other and sit more than a million light‑years apart, generating hot X‑ray‑emitting gas and strong gravitational lensing.
NIRCam data from the VENUS survey program reveal bright elliptical galaxies, foreground spirals and numerous lensed background galaxies, including arcs showing objects from less than a billion years after the Big Bang. The lensing map will support searches for distant galaxies, low‑mass black holes, supernovae and individual stars.
Protostars in FS Tau star system : James Webb Space Telescope
James Webb Space Telescope has captured a detailed infrared view of the FS Tau star‑forming region, revealing structures previously obscured by dust. The image shows numerous background galaxies and several protostars between 1 and 3 million years old, including the binary FS Tau A and the accreting protostar FS Tau B. Webb identifies orange and red outflows from FS Tau B and newly detected gaps between them, supporting evidence that protostars grow through episodic accretion. FS Tau B is the orange protostar slightly right of center. (Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI))
One astronomical unit is equal to about 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers, the average distance from the Earth to the Sun. The field of view shown in this image is approximately 19,000 astronomical units across. (Credit: Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI))
A comparison between the observations of FS Tau by NASA’s Hubble and James Webb space telescopes. Hubble’s visible-light view shows the star-forming region mostly obscured by thick dust. Webb sees through the dust, revealing how the protostars are shaping their surroundings. (Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI))
Perseverance Rover and its tracks : Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured Perseverance as a small green point (top, right of center) on the Martian surface on June 13, 2026, one day before the rover completed a marathon’s distance, that is 26.2 miles, or 42.195 kilometers, after five years and four months of driving or 1,890 sols. Tracks are visible around the rover, located west of Jezero Crater in an area the mission team calls Arbot. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)
The previous record holder, NASA’s Opportunity rover, took 11 years and two months to reach the same milestone. This image was taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) using its High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera. In this image Perseverance is highlighted in yellow. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)
Tiangong space station passing over Tycho Crater on the Moon : Astrophotographer Efrain Morales
Astrophotographer Efrain Morales captured high‑resolution footage of China’s Tiangong space station crossing the moon on May 29, recording the silhouette of its solar arrays and modules as it passed over Tycho Crater during a sub‑second lunar transit above Puerto Rico. Morales used a 12‑inch telescope, an astronomy camera and ISS Transit Finder software to time the event.
The transit captured Tycho’s 53‑mile‑wide impact basin and nearby basaltic plains Mare Nubium and Mare Nectaris. Tiangong, comprising the Tianhe core module and the Mengtian and Wentian laboratories, orbits at 340-450 kilometers and is currently crewed by Shenzhou 23 taikonauts Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka‑ying, who launched May 24 aboard a Long March 2F. (Credit: Efrain Morales)
Spiraling Aurora Australis : Astronaut Sophie Adenot
ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot shared a photo of an unusually bright austral aurora or southern lights seen from the International Space Station on day 127 of her mission. She said the display stretched across the horizon, on the southern hemisphere, illuminated the station in green and exceeded the camera settings she typically uses for auroral imaging. Adenot noted the crew rushed to the windows as the aurora intensified, describing it as the most striking of several observed since the start of the flight. (Credit: ESA/NASA, S. Adenot)
SCIENCE
Oysters might emerge as potential life‑support systems for future astronaut missions
Harrisburg University and Monolith LLC showcased a prototype oyster habitat during a demonstration on April 8, 2026. (Credit: Harrisburg University/Monolith LLC)
28 June, 2026
Pennsylvania's Harrisburg University researchers are developing a biogenerative life‑support project that uses marine organisms for food production, water recycling and air regeneration in future astronaut habitats. The effort, developed with Washington‑based Monolith Space, focuses on oysters, algae, mollusks and finfish, along with hydroponic plant growth. Oysters stand out among aquaculture options because they offer sustainable nutrition, naturally filter water, and have served as a human food source for more than 100,000 years, according to archaeological evidence.
The partners have built an automated, closed‑loop aquaculture prototype capable of growing baby oysters to adulthood; the system was publicly demonstrated April 8 and is now operating at Monolith’s D.C. office.
NASA subject‑matter experts advised on the design, which is being refined to meet ISS and commercial‑station payload interface requirements. The project aims to fly a smaller precursor experiment before pursuing a full aquatic facility, addressing a gap left since the ISS’s small aquatic habitat was retired in 2012. The work aligns with NASA’s Artemis‑era priorities, including food and nutrition technologies for sustained lunar and Mars missions, as the agency seeks new biological approaches for long‑duration life support.
Study warns that super-heavy-lift rockets may hit economic limits as they risk higher costs, limited market demand
Starship V3 conducts its landing burn over the Indian Ocean to conclude Flight 12 on May 22, 2026. (Credit: SpaceX)
29 June, 2026
In a new report, the Aerospace Corporation report suggests that super heavy‑lift rockets or SHLs may face diminishing economic returns as vehicle size increases, despite their potential to lower per‑kilogram launch costs, that is, SHLs may hit a point where getting larger drives per‑kilogram launch costs up instead of down. In a June 29 report, the nonprofit said larger SHL systems can drive higher marginal costs through added preparation, operational complexity and limited payload utilization, citing the Airbus A380 as an analogy for scale outpacing market demand.
SHL vehicles are defined as capable of placing at least 50 metric tons into low Earth orbit; only SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy and NASA’s Space Launch System meet that threshold today. Future entrants include SpaceX’s Starship, Blue Origin’s upgraded New Glenn 9×4, and China’s Long March 9 and 10. Falcon Heavy’s 12 flights since 2018 illustrate uncertain demand, and may serve as a warning for future SHL vehicles, the report noted, with markets for SHL‑class payloads, such as orbital data centers and space‑based solar power, still nascent. Aerospace said broadband megaconstellations will likely anchor early SHL demand and drive standardized payload designs.
Mars seismic data reveals ancient magma oceans may have shaped the planet’s crust
This well‑known view of Mars is a color mosaic assembled from more than 100 Viking 1 orbiter images by NASA and the USGS, with the dark feature across the center showing the vast Valles Marineris canyon system. (Credit: NASA)
30 June, 2026
Scientists using seismic data from NASA’s InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) lander have identified a deep crustal boundary on Mars that points to vast ancient magma systems once circulating beneath the planet’s surface.
“One of the big questions in planetary science is whether Earth is unique. If Mars could develop this kind of complex crust without plate tectonics, then maybe the conditions needed for habitability can emerge on more planets than we realised, including those previously dismissed based on size or their apparent lack of tectonic activity."
The analysis, published June 26 in Nature Astronomy, shows marsquake signals revealing a transition 15 miles / 24 kilometers down between mafic rock and denser ultramafic rock extending another 8.7 miles / 14 kilometers to the mantle. Mafic is rich in iron, magnesium, and silica, while denser ultramafic rock below 15 miles contains iron and magnesium but is silica-depleted. Oxford University researchers concluded the layers formed through differentiation (the denser material having settled down below the lighter rocks) in enormous, interconnected magma pools that may have stretched hundreds to thousands of kilometers and fed major volcanic systems such as Olympus Mons and the Tharsis region. For comparison, Earth’s surface is reshaped by plate tectonics, in which large sections of the crust move over the molten mantle, producing earthquakes and volcanoes while generating new crust and cycling carbon between the atmosphere and the interior. This continual recycling creates a complex, multilayered crust.
The findings suggest Mars experienced complex, long‑lived magmatism despite lacking plate tectonics, potentially recycling carbon and sustaining a thicker atmosphere earlier in its history. The study also indicates mantle upwelling may have shaped the planet’s north-south dichotomy and left metal-rich deposits closer to the surface, with implications for future resource use and crewed exploration.
GOVERNANCE
NASA audit says Boeing’s Starliner may not regain astronaut‑flight capability in time for ISS
Boeing’s Starliner capsule that carried NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on the Crew Flight Test is shown docked to the forward port of the ISS Harmony module on July 3, 2024, as seen from a window aboard SpaceX’s Dragon Endeavour on the adjacent port. (Credit: NASA)
30 June, 2026
NASA’s Office of Inspector General has said in a new report that Boeing’s CST‑100 Starliner faces unresolved technical and organizational issues that continue to delay its human-rating certification, raising doubts about whether the vehicle can support ISS missions before the station’s planned 2030 retirement. The audit cited helium leaks, propulsion failures, parachute anomalies and thruster‑related heating, cross three flight tests since 2019, that remain unresolved as of March 2026, along with NASA’s overconfidence in Boeing’s design, the latter’s acceptance of unrealistic schedules and NASA’s limited access to Starliner simulator data.
The problems with two-astronaut test mission known or Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission, led NASA to reclassify it as a Type A mishap 21 months after launch, a delay the OIG said slowed corrective work. The commercial crew program office has also lost 21% of its workforce, complicating oversight. Starliner‑1, now an uncrewed cargo flight, has no launch date, and the OIG said certification is unlikely before 2027. The OIG warned Boeing may not complete its three contracted crewed flights before the ISS retires in 2030. Boeing’s CEO said corrective actions are underway, but major issues remain unresolved.
SpaceX, which has flown astronauts since 2020, has absorbed schedule gaps and received $17 million to accelerate flights originally planned for Starliner.
Large satellite constellations could severely brighten night skies, make ground‑based astronomy ineffective
One hour of satellites over the northern Atacama Desert in Chile (October 2025). (Credit:
F. Kamphues, ESO/M. Kornmesser)
1 July, 2026
More warnings from astronomers as they predict that large planned satellite constellations could render ground‑based astronomy ineffective, according to a new European Southern Observatory study.
Modeling found that astronomy could manage 100,000 faint, barely visible satellites, but brighter ones, around magnitude 7, (a level of faintness just below what the human eye can typically see, meaning objects at that brightness are barely visible without optical aid) would significantly hinder observations and drive up costs. Skyglow and image streaking sharply increase exposure times and degrade data, with a 10% increase in light pollution considered an “astronomy killer.”
This diagram shows the number of satellites that would be visible above ESO’s Very Large Telescope if SpaceX launches their planned constellation of 1 million satellites. In the model, about two hours after sunset, only illuminated satellites were visible: grey dots were those in Earth’s shadow, while colored dots showed lit spacecraft. Nearly 2,000 appeared brighter than magnitude 7, the faintest objects visible from very dark locations, and more than 200 were brighter than magnitude 5, the faintest typically seen from suburban skies. (Credit: ESO/O. Hainaut)
Predicted amount of scattered light caused by Reflect Orbital’s planned 50 000 satellites. (Credit: ESO/O. Hainaut)
The study highlights proposals for one million SpaceX orbital data centers and Reflect Orbital’s 50,000 sun‑reflecting mirrors. ESO said Reflect Orbital’s mirrors, including the planned 59‑foot Eärendil‑1 demonstrator, would appear brighter than Venus globally and could brighten the night sky by up to 300%. SpaceX’s data‑center satellites are expected to be dimmer, though scientists caution total satellite numbers should remain below 100,000. ESO, the Royal Astronomical Society and other organizations have filed objections with the FCC, which conducts no environmental reviews for satellite approvals. The findings appear in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Satellite licensing overhaul in US targets faster approvals amid growing constellation sizes and orbital traffic
1 July, 2026
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will vote July 22 on its Space Modernization Order, a sweeping overhaul of satellite licensing that would replace Part 25 rules with a new Part 100 to accelerate reviews for increasingly large constellations. Part 25 is the FCC’s decades‑old framework governing satellite and Earth‑station licensing. The Space Modernization Order would shift to faster, standardized reviews, shorten public‑notice periods, from 30 days to 15, expand allowable minor license changes operators can make without prior approval, and require operators to share tracking data with approved space-situational-awareness providers. It also seeks comment on experimental space-based licensing. It also revises processing rounds, license terms and surety‑bond rules to move multi‑year reviews onto timelines measured in months or weeks.
Pending applications for mega‑constellations, including SpaceX’s proposed one‑million‑satellite orbital data centers, would not benefit from the new timelines. The vote coincides with congressional consideration of the Satellite and Telecommunications Streamlining Act, which would impose deadlines and other reforms on the FCC’s satellite licensing process. The FCC will also vote on rules enabling a 2025 auction of 160 MHz of upper C‑band spectrum used largely by SES, marking the agency’s first new commercial spectrum sale in five years.
MILITARY
Space Force expands counter‑space capabilities with L3Harris’ satellite‑jamming system deployment
L3Harris Technologies' Meadowlands counter communication system has been accepted by the U.S. Space Force for operational use. (Credit: L3Harris)
28 June, 2026
The U.S. Space Force has placed the new Meadowlands satellite‑jamming system into operational service, making the L3Harris‑built capability available for real‑world missions. Meadowlands uses radio‑frequency signals to temporarily disrupt adversary satellite communications without damaging spacecraft and can be seen as an open acknowledgment of space‑warfare tools. The service cited recent Middle East operations, including Operation Midnight Hammer, as examples of how satellite‑communication disruption can support combat missions, though it did not confirm Meadowlands’ use.
First disclosed in 2020, Meadowlands is the latest upgrade to the Counter Communications System, offering wider frequency coverage, greater automation and trailer‑mounted mobility for rapid deployment. Mission Delta 3 operates the system, and L3Harris has begun delivering units following contractor testing. The system was approved late last year for potential Foreign Military Sales to select allies, primarily Five Eyes partners. The Space Force’s fiscal 2027 budget requests $40 million for the Counter Satellite Communications System program.
GAO warns Space Force missile‑warning programs face rising costs, delays and workforce losses
3 July, 2026
The U.S. Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) annual review of major Pentagon acquisitions reports that several U.S. Space Force programs continue to face slow development timelines, cost growth and workforce shortages despite recent progress. GAO reviewed more than 100 major Pentagon acquisition programs, including 13 Space Force efforts covering missile‑warning satellites, military communications, national security launch and the SDA’s proliferated LEO constellation. It found the Pentagon still fields major systems too slowly, often beginning development with immature technologies and only partially adopting digital engineering tools such as digital twins and digital threads. Digital twins are virtual models of physical systems used for testing and analysis, while digital threads link data across a system’s lifecycle to maintain traceability and integration.
One of the programs assessed, the Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared geosynchronous missile-warning constellation (Next Gen OPIR GEO), replaces the Space Based Infrared System with two Lockheed Martin geosynchronous satellites designed to provide early ballistic‑missile warning for the United States, deployed forces and allies. In the program, GAO noted a $9.5 billion overrun, including a $340 million payload subcontractor increase tied to software and engineering challenges. The first GEO satellite is complete but awaits launch on ULA’s grounded Vulcan rocket.
GAO also assessed the $5.9 billion OPIR Polar program, now preserved by congressional appropriators after the administration proposed terminating it, and noted integration risks in the $2.9 billion Protected Tactical Satcom‑Global effort, for a planned constellation of 24 satellites, using commercial designs from SES and Viasat.
The watchdog disclosed that the troubled GPS OCX (the Next Generation Operational Control System) ground system was internally canceled in late 2025 in favor of modernizing the existing OCS (GPS Operational Control Segment).
It further warned that the National Security Space Launch program faces rising launch demand, narrowed provider availability and shrinking engineering and oversight staff, conditions that could slow future certification and mission assurance. The National Security Space Launch program expects roughly 135 missions through 2028 amid workforce reductions and limited certified launch providers.
COMMERCIAL
China establishes national alliance to advance very low Earth orbit systems
27 June, 2026
China has formalized its push into very low Earth orbit (VLEO) with the creation of a national VLEO Technology Innovation and Industry Development Alliance on June 27, bringing together 34 universities, institutes and companies. Western analysts report multiple satellites have demonstrated sustained operations below 300 kilometers. Orbital data show China Academy of Space Technology’s (CAST) DFH Shenzhen built, Shiyan‑25 has held a 270‑kilometer orbit for more than 20 months (now operating at 150 kilometers below the ISS), while C‑Space’s Qiankun‑1 has lowered its orbit to 252 kilometers using a wide‑range Hall electric propulsion system. AIRCAS’s (Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences) Haishao‑1 SAR satellite, launched in December 2024, is operating at 370 kilometers and 43‑degree inclination to improve radar performance in equatorial regions. Earlier Chinese VLEO demonstrators include Tianxing‑1 and CASIC’s Chutian program.
The propulsion demands of VLEO are driving new investment: Chengdu‑based Shanhai Xingyao is developing an air‑breathing helicon plasma engine, and Fudan University has announced similar technology. International activity is also growing, but China now combines in‑orbit endurance, emerging propulsion capabilities and a formalized industry alliance.
Acquisition and funding rounds across the industry in US and China
The $8 billion Rocket Lab acquisition of Iridium, NASA’s $590 million award for four lunar lander missions and Landspace's Hongqing raises $191 million for new constellation.
The first ten Iridium NEXT satellites are stacked and encapsulated in the Falcon 9 fairing for launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA, in early 2017. (Credit: Iridium)
29 June, 2026
Rocket Lab will acquire satellite communications provider Iridium in an $8 billion deal announced June 29. This is the company’s largest move yet to expand its vertically integrated space systems business. The agreement values Iridium at $54 per share and brings its global L‑band constellation, serving more than 2.5 million customers across commercial and government sectors, under Rocket Lab’s control. Iridium, founded by Motorola and rebuilt through the $3 billion Iridium NEXT program, operates 75 satellites launched between 2017 and 2019.
The acquisition follows a series of recent milestones for Rocket Lab, including a successful test for the U.S. Space Force’s missile warning constellation, a record 16‑hour Tactically Responsive Space launch, and NASA’s selection of three science missions for 2027. Rocket Lab plans to expand Iridium’s network, including next‑generation direct‑to‑device services, positioning the combined company to offer broader national security and commercial capabilities.
Three artist renderings depict commercial lunar landers from Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines, and Firefly on the Moon. NASA announced June 30 the landers will deliver more NASA science investigations and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface for NASA’s Moon Base Program. (Credit: Credit: Astrobotic/Intuitive Machines/Firefly)
30 June, 2026
NASA has awarded $590.4 million for four commercial lunar lander missions scheduled for late 2028, selecting Astrobotic Technology, Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines to deliver identical instrument packages supporting the agency’s Moon Base program. Astrobotic received two Peregrine lander flights valued at $297.9 million, Firefly’s Blue Ghost mission was funded at $144.2 million, and Intuitive Machines’ Nova‑C lander at $148.3 million, including a performance‑based incentive.
Each lander will carry Stereo Camera for Lunar Plume Surface Studies or SCALPSS plume‑imaging cameras, Linear Energy Transfer Spectrometer or LETS radiation sensors and a laser retroreflector array to build a distributed network of environmental and navigation data. NASA is also studying repurposing a Curiosity‑class engineering rover, Polar Rover for Observation, Mapping, and In-Situ Exploration or PROMISE, for lunar use, leveraging its Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG) power system to survive the lunar night. The update follows recent Moon Base designations and comes as NASA continues to plan for Blue Origin’s Blue Moon launches on New Glenn, which the agency still expects to return to service after a June pad explosion.
2 July, 2026
China’s Hongqing Technology, the satellite manufacturing arm of launch provider Landspace, has raised more than 1.3 billion yuan / $191 million in a July 2 round, one of the largest single investments for a Chinese commercial satellite maker. The funding brings total financing to over 2.5 billion yuan and includes participation from all five major state banks and multiple regional government funds, reflecting expanded authority for financial asset investment companies to back strategic technologies.
Hongqing, founded in 2017 and headquartered in Beijing E‑Town, positions itself as an integrated constellation solutions provider with synergistic rocket‑satellite capabilities. The firm has filed the 10,000‑satellite Honghu‑3 constellation with the ITU and is developing flat‑panel satellites, in‑house subsystems and manufacturing bases targeting 100-500 satellites per year by 2026. It has contributed spacecraft to recent direct‑to‑device tests and continues securing full‑satellite orders.
Another US startup, Orbital, plans to deploy 100,000‑satellite data centers in space
30 June, 2026
Orbital, a Los Angeles startup, has filed with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to deploy up to 100,000 orbital data‑center satellites, outlining plans to deliver 10 gigawatts of space‑based computing capacity to meet rising artificial intelligence demand. The June 24 filing details 100‑kilowatt‑class spacecraft operating at 500-850 kilometers, with 100-meter solar arrays and radiators and a dry mass of 1.5–2.5 metric tons. The system would route data primarily through optical intersatellite links with third‑party constellations such as Starlink.
Orbital, founded 5 months ago and recently emerged from stealth with $5 million in pre‑seed funding, plans a scaled‑down demonstration payload next year and aims to field its first purpose‑built compute satellite, Orbital‑1, in 2028. CEO Euwyn Poon said performance targets may increase as designs mature, noting competing filings from Starcloud, Cowboy Space, Blue Origin and SpaceX. The company is building its platform in‑house while exploring manufacturing partnerships for eventual large‑scale production.
Launch momentum builds with Firefly at Sweden’s Esrange and Latitude at Oman’s Etlaq Spaceport
A rendering showing what a launch will look like from Sweden’s Arctic spaceport, Esrange. (Credit: SSC)
30 June, 2026
SSC Space (formerly the Swedish Space Corporation), the Swedish government owned aerospace and technology provider and Firefly set a 2028 target for the first orbital launch from Esrange, the Swedish spaceport and research facility, announcing June 30 that construction and regulatory milestones are aligning for Firefly’s Alpha rocket to fly from Launch Complex 3C in northern Sweden.
Infrastructure nearing completion includes the launch control center, payload processing facility, integration building, tracking systems and security installations, with final pad work underway. The timeline follows an April U.S.-Sweden Memorandum of Cooperation to streamline licensing for American vehicles and builds on a Technology Safeguards Agreement. SSC also secured a SEK 209 million defense contract enabling Swedish military satellite launches. Firefly plans similar franchise‑model sites in Japan and continues Block II Alpha preparations after its March Flight 7 mission.
1 July, 2026
Latitude, the French launch startup, plans to conduct the first launch of its small orbital vehicle from Oman’s Etlaq Spaceport in late 2027 under a July 1 letter of intent signed during Sultan Haitham bin Tarik’s visit to France. The agreement begins a joint feasibility phase for an “experimental” inaugural mission of the 200‑kilogram‑class launcher (originally named Zephyr), which recently completed two hot‑fire tests of its Navier engine.
Latitude said Etlaq would complement planned operations from the Guiana Space Center. The site, currently limited to sounding rockets, has also attracted PLD Space and HyImpulse as Oman seeks to expand into orbital services and deepen strategic ties with Europe.
Vantor introduces WorldView 3D for fast, high-accuracy global 3D mapping
Vantor’s WorldView 3D imagery shows shifting water levels at Hoover Dam, with the right‑hand image captured June 28, 2026. (Credit: Vantor)
1 July, 2026
Vantor, formerly Maxar Intelligence, unveiled its WorldView 3D product line July 1, offering updated, high‑definition 3D maps built from its satellite imagery archive and six WorldView Legion satellites launched in 2024 and 2025. WorldView 3D Rapid lets customers task satellites and receive 50‑centimeter‑resolution 3D maps within 24 hours, with 4‑meter accuracy, while WorldView 3D High Definition delivers 15‑centimeter‑resolution 3D maps with 3‑meter accuracy. The capability builds on Vricon’s 3D geospatial techniques and new world‑model reconstruction algorithms that use existing 3D data to accelerate updates from a small number of new images, sometimes a single pass.
Vantor says WorldView 3D supports intelligence, mission planning, change detection, disaster response, infrastructure monitoring and autonomous navigation, and underpins its Raptor terrain‑based positioning system for drones in GPS‑denied environments. The company reports more than 100 million square kilometers already mapped in 3D, targeting AI and robotics workflows that require precise three‑dimensional context.
Despatch Out. 👽🛸
