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18 Jun 25. Eutelsat and France’s Armed Forces Ministry Reach Landmark Framework Agreement for Low Orbit Satellite Services in the Context of Frances’ NEXUS Program.• Signaling a strategic evolution in France’s space strategy, combining military and civilian resources
- Underscoring the crucial role of low Earth orbit (LEO) constellations in defense applications
- Providing strategic in-space resources in advance of the availability of the IRIS² constellation
Eutelsat (ISIN: FR0010221234 – Euronext Paris / London Stock Exchange: ETL) and France’s armed forces ministry (Direction générale de l’armement) have today announced a landmark framework agreement on the occasion of the Paris Airshow. The agreement is the embodiment of the NEXUS (Neo-Espace pour de multiples Usages Sécurisés) program launched by the French Ministry of Defence, which aims to reinforce the current French military space communications model by combining military and civilian resources. France reaffirms its commitment to the European IRIS² program, which has been supported from the outset since the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2022. However, the urgency of the international situation means that it cannot wait until then. As the first concrete step in the NEXUS project, the French defense procurement agency (DGA) has reached a 10-year framework agreement, valued at up to €1 bn in expenditure, with Eutelsat, covering the supply of priority-access space resources (notably capacity on Eutelsat’s OneWeb LEO constellation), the hosting of ancillary missions for the French armed forces, and operational and security maintenance. The agreement also covers the upgrading and securing of the constellation for military grade use.
Jean-Francois Fallacher, Chief Executive Officer of Eutelsat commented: “We are honored at the prospect of supporting the French armed forces through this historic agreement, which underscores the crucial role of low earth orbit satellite capacity in responding to the requirements of contemporary operational theaters. Eutelsat today offers the only commercially operated LEO constellation capable of meeting stringent military standards ahead of the deployment of IRIS². It provides global coverage, low latency, rapid deployment, and adaptability to mobile use cases, attributes validated by successful large-scale experiments conducted with the French Armed Forces.” (Source: BUSINESS WIRE)
16 Jun 25. BlackSky Technology Inc. (NYSE: BKSY) unveiled plans to expand its current high frequency monitoring constellation with multispectral, large-area collection satellites. These new satellites will be designed to support country scale digital mapping, navigation, maritime and 3D digital twin applications at unmatched speed and scale. Initially designated as AROS, the new satellites will augment the high frequency site monitoring capabilities of Gen-3 to provide customers with dynamic broad area search, change monitoring, and predictable refresh of large area and 3D mapping datasets. BlackSky is engaged with development partners with plans to launch as early as 2027. AROS is optimized to collect new multispectral, proprietary, country and region scale datasets and is engineered to power the next wave of AI-driven geospatial and digital twin applications. This constellation will address upcoming gaps in the market as legacy large area collection satellites age out of service over the next few years and are replaced with lower collection capacity satellites. AROS will fill the gap with increased capabilities at disruptive speed and more favorable economics.
“As legacy satellites approach end-of-life, we see a critical opportunity to address market needs—not just in performance and agility—but also in affordability and AI-readiness. As confirmed through active customer and partner engagement, BlackSky is meeting the modern demands of governments and commercial users who need persistent visibility over very large areas, fast,” said Brian O’Toole, BlackSky CEO.
BlackSky’s future, integrated constellation will be a first of its kind platform that combines very high-resolution broad area search with site monitoring to provide dynamic tipping and cueing for advanced maritime and Golden Dome type applications. This advanced platform will be powered by the BlackSky Spectra® AI-enabled real-time tasking and analytics platform, which will offer customers a fully integrated set of solutions. AROS has been under development for the past two years and was one of the key factors in BlackSky’s recent acquisition of LeoStella. Mature, vertically integrated manufacturing and production capabilities are providing BlackSky a strategic advantage in the rapid development and deployment of advanced space-based intelligence solutions. Leveraging the heritage of proven and reliable Gen-2 and Gen-3 architectures and manufacturing capabilities, the AROS system will incorporate BlackSky’s space, software and platform stack with industry-leading, AI-enabled analytics.
AROS’ key features that build upon the Gen-3 design include:
- Very high-resolution, multispectral large areas collectors for mapping, change detection and digital twin applications
- Low-latency delivery via optical inter-satellite links (OISL) for high-bandwidth tasking and downlink
- A new proprietary data pipeline designed to feed real-time and retrospective analytics, model training and AI decision support tools
- Best-in-class cost efficiency that will enable routine wide-area imaging without compromising image quality or revisit rate
This announcement comes on the heels of two successful back-to-back Gen-3 launches when BlackSky demonstrated industry-leading speed and performance by achieving first light in under 24 hours and commissioning in under 60 days. These successes demonstrate the maturity of BlackSky’s space platform capabilities that will be leveraged for AROS. Building on BlackSky’s Gen-2 and Gen-3 architectures, the new system will operate as an integrated extension of the company’s existing fleet, unlocking an entirely new class of scalable, AI capabilities.
13 Jun 25. Dawn Aerospace Partners with Oklahoma Spaceport to Launch US Based Spaceplane, Unlocking Daily Access to Space,
- Dawn Aerospace’s Breakthrough – The fastest, highest-flying rocket-powered aircraft to launch from a runway, the Aurora is set to be the first aircraft to reach the Karman line – 100 km altitude – twice in one day
- Space-Accessible State – Dawn Aerospace to establish operations at the Oklahoma Air and Space Port in Burns Flat, transforming the State into a launch point for microgravity research in the United States
- Proven Performance – Aurora has flown 58 times and went supersonic in Nov 2024 (Mach 1.12 at 82,500 ft) and set a ‘time to climb’ world record (118.6 seconds to 20 km altitude)
Dawn Aerospace and the Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority (OSIDA) have signed a binding partnership to bring a Mk-II Aurora spaceplane to Oklahoma. As part of the agreement, Dawn will deliver and operate Aurora at the Oklahoma Air and Space Port. The Aurora is scheduled for delivery in 2027, with flights to space commencing that same year.
“Our mission is to push the boundaries of aviation all the way to space, and Oklahoma is a perfect place in the United States to make that happen,” said Stefan Powell, CEO, and founder of Dawn Aerospace. “By developing a rapidly reusable aircraft, we’re bringing the efficiency of aviation to spaceflight—dramatically increasing flight frequency, cutting costs, and accelerating breakthroughs in science and space research that deliver critical insights and services for a better future.”
A rocket-powered, remote-piloted aircraft, the Aurora is designed to carry payloads of up to 11 lbs (5 kg) to altitudes of 330,000 feet (100 km). With a rapid turnaround time of just four hours, it would be the first aircraft to reach above the Karman line twice in one day. This cutting-edge capability at the Oklahoma Spaceport builds on OSIDA’s decades-long commitment to aerospace innovation and economic growth since its founding in 1999. With this new era of spaceflight, the spaceport is set to become one of America’s busiest suborbital launch sites, solidifying its role as a hub for microgravity research, atmospheric studies, and satellite technology testing.
“The next industrial revolution is happening in space, and the scientific research and commercialization opportunities that exist in microgravity are transformational. Operating Dawn’s Aurora spaceplane at the Oklahoma Air and Space Port will both reduce costs and increase access to microgravity throughout the space industry. This important partnership positions the state of Oklahoma at the center of American space innovation”, said Jim Bridenstine, managing partner of the Artemis Group and former NASA administrator (2018-2021).
“Oklahoma is positioned to be at the forefront of the next space frontier and a hub for national defense,” said Oklahoma Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell. “With targeted investment, the state is moving to secure frequent and reliable space access and is set to become America’s busiest suborbital launch site. Launching from Burns Flat will unlock a new class of microgravity research, national security applications, and commercial innovation.”
Microgravity research is critical because it allows scientists to study physical and biological processes in ways that are impossible on Earth. In a weightless environment, fundamental forces like convection and gravity-driven fluid motion disappear, providing new insights into material science and biomedical research. Frequent and low-cost access to microgravity will significantly accelerate discoveries, with potential breakthroughs in areas such as cancer and liver disease drug development, and advanced materials research. Under the terms of the agreement, Dawn will supply the aircraft, ground control station and an operations team. Flights on Aurora are expected to cost, on average, low hundreds of thousands of dollars per flight. Campaigns of multiple flights will redefine the landscape of space launch and enable researchers to conduct experiments in rapid succession, accelerating scientific progress while keeping costs low. Oklahoma colleges and universities will have free access to the aircraft for research purposes for the first year of operations. Reaching an altitude of 82,500 ft and achieving Mach 1.12, Aurora set a new benchmark for the fastest ‘time to altitude’ for an aircraft, surpassing a record held by the modified F-15 Streak Eagle set in 1975. The Aurora’s development will continue through 2027, with manufacturing and flight testing conducted at Dawn’s R&D facilities in Christchurch, New Zealand. (Source: ASD Network)
09 Jun 25. Italy’s SITAEL unveils smallsat platform. SITAEL unveiled Empyreum, the next-generation small satellite platform that is equipped with the company’s proprietary SPARK electric propulsion system. During the past 20 years, Italy’s SITAEL made several developments in the field of Electric Propulsion avionics, with a focus on High Voltage Power Supplies (HVPS) and Power and Processing Units (PPU) for Low and High Power Hall Effect Thrusters (HET). Today’s main products are a 300W PPU and a 5kW PPU, both successfully coupled with SITAEL Thrusters (HT 100 / HT 400 and HT 5k, respectively). Empyreum is a technical jewel, designed to meet the growing demand for agile and cost-effective satellites that can be produced at constellation scale. It’s perfect for dual-use application,” said Chiara Pertosa, CEO of SITAEL. (Source: Satnews)
09 Jun 25. Hanwha Systems Exits Eutelsat OneWeb Stake, Focusing on Military. Satellite Business. Hanwha Systems has sold its entire 5.4% stake in Eutelsat OneWeb, Europe’s leading satellite communications company. With the company’s value shrinking to about one-third of its purchase price, Hanwha Systems incurred a loss of approximately 200 bn won. According to Reuters and other sources on June 5 (local time), Hanwha Systems sold its entire 5.4% stake in Eutelsat OneWeb for $88.5 m (approximately 120 bn won). This is significantly less than the $300 m (about 345 bn won based on the exchange rate at the time) invested in 2021. At that time, Hanwha Systems announced its entry into the satellite communications service market by securing an 8.8% stake in OneWeb, a British satellite internet company, for $300 m. In 2023, when OneWeb was incorporated into France’s Eutelsat, the name changed to Eutelsat OneWeb, and Hanwha Systems’ stake decreased to 5.4%. With the change in ownership stake, Hanwha Group also had to relinquish its non-executive director position Hanwha Systems decided on this sale, concluding that further stake acquisition was meaningless without board management rights. The strategic shift to focus more on defense satellite operations and military communications rather than civilian satellite services, following a re-evaluation of new businesses and investments last year, also influenced the decision. Hanwha Systems maintains that it will continue to pursue low Earth orbit satellite communication services, focusing on the defense sector, separate from this stake sale. A company official stated, “As we hold the position of exclusive domestic supplier of Eutelsat OneWeb’s low Earth orbit satellite network for the Korean military until 2030, we can stably carry out the ‘Commercial Low Earth Orbit Satellite-based Communication System’ project.” Hanwha Systems has been actively participating in military low Earth orbit satellite network construction projects, including developing satellite payloads for Korea’s first low Earth orbit communication test satellite project led by the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) in 2018. (Source: Satnews)
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Founded in 2017, MatrixSpace is creating the next generation of artificial intelligence enabled sensing solutions to digitize the outdoors beyond the limits of human perception.
The company combines novel artificial intelligence and radar technologies to identify movement and provide context in real-time. MatrixSpace sensors are the smallest, lightest and most portable high-performance systems on the market powered by AI. They deliver actionable insights that empower a broad range of public and private enterprises to protect assets and maintain safety with superior situational awareness.
For the modern, mobile battlespace, MatrixSpace provides both high performance 4D radar and jam-resistant mesh networked communications engineered to perform in the harshest conditions—day or night, in any weather, and in remote, rugged locations. Designed for flexibility, our radar systems can be integrated with tactical vehicles or mounted on structures like buildings, TOCs, or stanchions. Offering 360° coverage, they provide unmatched field-of-view advantages, while low energy consumption allows for solar/battery-powered operation in off-grid environments at twice the duration and a fraction the cost of alternatives. The MatrixSpace AI platform removes clutter and classifies objects, so operators can act confidently without specialized radar expertise.
The MatrixSpace expeditionary radar kit fits in a standard daypack and contains everything needed to deliver actionable detections to an ATAK mobile device in less than 5 mins.
MatrixSpace solutions are designed and developed in the United States, without ITAR export restrictions, manufactured under the highest ISO and IATF standards and rigorously tested for quality, reliability and compliance.
Visit maxtrixspace.com
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