Sponsored by MatrixSpace
http://matrixspace.com
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–
06 Aug 25. L3Harris Upgrades USSF Telescopes for Space Domain Awareness Mission. L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) has successfully upgraded the Ground-Based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance telescopes at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, enabling the U.S. Space Force to declare operational acceptance. L3Harris’ role in upgrading the 35-year-old telescopes under the Ground-Based Optical Sensor System (GBOSS) program is a significant contribution to enhancing the capabilities of the Space Surveillance Network. The upgrades are expected to improve space situational awareness for the Department of Defense with the ability to detect, track and counter potential threats.
“This successful operational acceptance highlights L3Harris’ commitment to advancing the nation’s Space Domain Awareness,” said Ed Zoiss, President, Space and Airborne Systems, L3Harris. “Upgrading these legacy telescopes enables expanded coverage of space, supporting the mission to deter conflict, defeat aggression and protect U.S. interests.”
L3Harris is providing Space Domain Awareness capabilities and advanced technology to the DOD and other government agencies, creating an asymmetric advantage against space threats. As part of the GBOSS program, the company will further its commitment to national space security by upgrading telescopes in Maui, Hawaii, later this year.
“The GBOSS upgrade represents a leap forward in capability for the joint warfighter,” said Col. Barry Croker, Commander, Mission Delta 2 – Space Domain Awareness, U.S. Space Force. “This upgrade will further enhance the space domain awareness data Mission Delta 2 Guardians provide to inform decision making, orient fires, and enable maneuvers across all military service domains.”
L3Harris is also at the forefront of developing and advancing innovative technology that enables the Space Force’s mission through the Maintenance of Space Situational Awareness Integrated Capabilities and Advanced Tracking and Launch Analysis System contracts. These efforts help ensure warfighters have the critical information and tools needed to maintain space superiority and protect U.S. national security. (Source: ASD Network)
06 Aug 25. Kratos and hiSky Partner to Enable Kratos’ OpenSpace and hiSky’s Smartellite Solutions to Work Together for IoT and Related Satellite Network Services in Virtual and Cloud Environments. Orchestrated Software Solution Will Eliminate the Need for On-site Hub Hardware and Enhance Flexibility for Customers. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: KTOS), a technology company in Defense, National Security and Global Markets, and hiSky, a leading provider of industrial satellite communications solutions, announced today a partnership that will enable the delivery of hiSky satellite network services, including Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) as a fully orchestrated capability using Kratos’ OpenSpace® dynamic, software-defined ground system. The partnership will allow satellite and other communications network operators to offer IoT connectivity services to their commercial and government customers, taking advantage of the scale, economics and operational benefits of a modern, cloud-enabled network architecture. According to ABI Research, the global IoT market for supply-side software and service revenue will grow in value from US$277bn in 2024 to US$606bn by 2030, and that IoT will play an increasing role in all industries. Satellite connectivity can contribute mightily to this growth with its ability to reach remote, mobile, disaster-affected and other unconnected environments. The partnership between Kratos and hiSky will advance this capability by enabling IoT services employing virtual and cloud-native network architectures, thereby reducing costs and greatly increasing scalability and service flexibility. hiSky’s solution provides customers around the globe an exceptionally agile answer for satellite IoT applications with easy-to-deploy Smartellite™ terminals today connecting to a conventional hardware-based hub. “Kratos is working closely with hiSky to fully virtualize the hiSky hub within the OpenSpace platform, enabling it to run in the mainstream public cloud,” said Greg Quiggle, SVP of Product Management at Kratos. “Doing so will enable hiSky and Kratos customers to offer a new breed of on-demand and dynamically scalable IoT services at a much lower cost than conventional hardware-based systems.”
According to Shahar Kravitz, co-founder and CEO at hiSky, “With the results of this partnership, satellite operators will be able to spin-up new carriers upon demand at any enabled teleport with a touch of a button, without the need for new hardware at the teleport and the associated plumbing. It’s a new era of flexibility, scalability, speed of service enablement and redundancy.” (Source: ASD Network)
06 Aug 25. Mission Success for Rocket Lab’s Latest Constellation Deployment Launch for iQPS. Rocket Lab Corporation (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”), a global leader in launch services and space systems, today successfully launched its 69th Electron mission and deployed the latest satellite to orbit for Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space, Inc. (iQPS) – Rocket Lab’s fifth dedicated mission in a multi-launch contract to build their constellation in low Earth orbit.
‘The Harvest Goddess Thrives’ mission lifted off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 04:10 UTC on August 5th. Electron deployed a single synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging satellite named QPS-SAR-12 (nicknamed KUSHINADA-I for the Japanese goddess of harvest and agriculture) to a 575km circular Earth orbit. It was Rocket Lab’s fourth launch this year for iQPS and fifth mission overall, making Electron the most prolific launcher of their constellation to date. Four more dedicated iQPS missions are scheduled to launch on Electron through the remainder of this year and in 2026.
Rocket Lab Founder and CEO, Sir Peter Beck, says: “Every Electron launch is a demonstration of payload deployment precision for our customers – an especially critical element when scaling satellite constellations. Today’s fifth and flawless deployment for iQPS once again underscores Electron’s reliability and continues to prove that consistent tailored access to space is a reality on Electron for our customers.” iQPS CEO, Dr. Shunsuke Onishi, says: “Building a satellite constellation requires both timely development and manufacturing, as well as highly precise launch execution. We are deeply grateful to both our team and the Rocket Lab team for their continued dedication in making this possible. As the number of satellites increases, so too does the frequency and value of the data we are able to provide. We will continue to accelerate our efforts to ensure that our satellite data can be leveraged in even more fields and applications.” The Harvest Goddess Thrives’ marks Rocket Lab’s 11th Electron mission of 2025 and its 69th launch overall. Details of the next Electron launch will be shared in the coming days. (Source: ASD Network)
05 Aug 25. Global Invacom Holdings Limited (GIHL) has jointly founded eNexus Space Data, to deliver a Ground Station as a Service (GSaaS) offering. Led by a group of satellite industry experts, including the team at Global Invacom, eNexus Space Data has been created in response to the anticipated growing demand for ground station services. Operating as a GSaaS provider, eNexus will deliver data collected by satellites across multiple orbits for a wide range of applications, including earth observation (EO). This approach negates the need for operators to own and operate their own satellite ground stations, providing operational and financial advantages to these potential customers.
Gordon Blaikie, Chief Executive Officer of Global Invacom Group, commented: “The satcoms industry is undergoing a significant transition, with more objects in orbit than ever before and a greater level of complexity. With eNexus, we are navigating that complexity and making ground station services much more accessible. For us, this move represents a transition to the provision of services alongside our heritage of supplying satcoms equipment.” GIHL is well placed to help propel eNexus Space Data, both through the provision of satellite communications equipment and with its expert knowledge and experience across the satcoms industry.
eNexus Space Data is a privately owned corporation registered in the state of Delaware, USA. GIHL has acquired a 45.5% stake in exchange for the provision of certain initial satellite communications equipment.
About Global Invacom Group Limited
Global Invacom Group comprises a number of companies specialising in innovative technology, products and solutions for the satellite ground equipment sector. Uniquely, the Group provides fully integrated manufacturing for most of its product lines providing additional quality and supply chain assurance to a global blue-chip customer base in the satellite communications, satellite TV and satellite navigation markets. The Group has an established global presence with sales offices, research and development centres and manufacturing facilities across the world, including Singapore, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Israel, the UK, and the USA. Global Invacom Group Limited is listed on the Mainboard of the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited.
29 Jul 25. SSC continues to transform acquisition of SATCOM capabilities—5 companies contracted. The United States Space Force’s (USSF) Space Systems Command (SSC) continues to transform the way satellite communications (SATCOM) capabilities are acquired. The Command has awarded a Protected Tactical Satellite Communications (SATCOM) – Global (PTS-G) Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract and initial five Firm Fixed Price orders under Delivery Order 1 (DO1) totaling $37.5 m to the following companies:
- Viasat, Inc.
- Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation
- Astranis Space Technologies Corp
- Intelsat General Communications LLC
- The Boeing Company
PTS-G delivers resilience to military users worldwide with proliferated small satellites providing anti-jam capability in Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO). The DoD requires wideband global assured access for the tactical warfighter, ensuring their freedom to connect anytime, anywhere operations require. PTS-G is the cost-effective component of Space Force architecture that takes advantage of the advanced PTW waveform while maximizing use of existing user and gateway terminals. During the first delivery order, each awardee will mature a design and provide demonstrations based upon their established commercial product lines, to meet PTS-G requirements. The results of this initial order will inform subsequent competition for follow-on production orders. The initial PTS-G IDIQ award will be followed by an award in 2026 for the production of PTS-G Space Vehicles to meet IOC capability, with a projected launch in 2028, putting the first PTS-G satellite into orbit. A second wave of production awards for additional PTS-G satellite capability is planned for 2028, with launch planned for 2031. Our PTS-G contract transforms how SSC acquires SATCOM capability for the warfighter,” said Cordell DeLaPena, Jr., program executive officer for SSC Military Communications and Positioning, Navigation and Timing. “The incorporation of commercial baseline designs to meet military capability significantly enhances the Space Force’s speed and efficiency to add capability to meet emerging threats.”
Erin Carper, division chief for SSC Tactical SATCOM, said, “By maximizing the use of commercially available products and awarding to a pool of offerors on this IDIQ contract, the Space Force ensures value for the DoD and taxpayer while driving competition and promoting the long-term viability of the SATCOM industrial base.”
Space Systems Command is the U.S. Space Force field command responsible for acquiring, developing, and delivering resilient capabilities to outpace emerging threats and protect our Nation’s strategic advantage in, from, and to space. SSC manages a $15.6 bn annual space acquisition budget for the Department of Defense, working with joint forces, industry partners, government agencies, academia, and allied nations. (Source: Satnews)
27 Jul 25. MicroCarb launched. The launch of the MicroCarb satellite from Korou, French Guiana, by Arianespace. The scientific mission, MicroCarb, led by the French space Agency CNES, was successfully launched from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. MicroCarb is a joint mission between the UK Space Agency and French Space Agency, Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES), serving as the prime contractor. The mission is co-financed by these two agencies, as well as by the European Commission and the French government within the framework of the Investments for the Future Program (PIA), managed by the National Research Agency (ANR). The satellite is designed to precisely map atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂), capturing detailed data on emissions from human activities as well as absorption by natural sinks such as oceans and forests. The satellite is built on the CNES Myriade platform. Thales Alenia Space, a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), completed the assembly, integration, and testing of the satellite platform at RAL Space in Harwell, UK, and was responsible for launch preparations. Airbus Defence and Space provided the instrument payload, the infrared spectrometer. MicroCarb will operate in LEO at an altitude of 650 km and serves as a precursor to the European Union’s Copernicus Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide Monitoring (CO2M) mission—a constellation of three satellites, with payloads supplied by Thales Alenia Space, that will deliver precise measurements for human-induced atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane. MicroCarb complements the CO2M mission by providing early observations and valuable data, enhancing our capability for CO₂ and methane monitoring to inform climate policy makers. Additionally, a special city-scanning mode will enable the mapping of CO₂ distribution within urban areas, which are responsible for the majority of global emissions.
Richard Thorburn, CEO of Thales Alenia Space in the UK, said, “I am immensely proud of the contribution our teams in the UK and France have made to MicroCarb – Europe’s pioneering satellite for mapping carbon dioxide on a global scale. Huge thanks to CNES and to the UK Space Agency for the trust they have placed in us, enabling Thales Alenia Space to play a key role in advancing Europe’s leadership in climate monitoring and environmental science, and helping to protect our planet.” (Source: Satnews)
29 Jul 25. Gilmour Space Technologies’ giant leap for Australia’s space capability with successful first test launch of Eris rocket. Gilmour Space Technologies has completed the maiden test launch of Australia’s first locally designed and built orbital rocket — a major milestone toward offering low-cost, responsive launch services for small satellites globally. The 23-meter, 30-tonne Eris rocket, powered by new hybrid propulsion technology, successfully lifted off from the Bowen Orbital Spaceport in North Queensland, achieving approximately 14 seconds of flight. The TestFlight 1 campaign was the first integrated attempt of an orbital-class rocket designed and built entirely in Australia. It also marked the first use of the newly licensed Bowen Orbital Spaceport — Australia’s first commercial orbital launch site, built by Gilmour Space to support future missions. Eris was developed almost entirely in-house — including propulsion, structures, avionics, software, and the spaceport itself — on a fraction of the budget available to most global launch companies.
“Space is hard,” said Adam Gilmour, CEO of Gilmour Space Technologies. “SpaceX, Rocket Lab and others needed multiple test flights to reach orbit. We’ve learned a tremendous amount that will go directly into improving our next vehicle, which is already in production.”
“Getting off the pad and into flight is a huge step forward for any new rocket program. This was the first real test of our rocket systems, our propulsion technology, and our spaceport — and it proved that much of what we’ve built works.”
Importantly, there were no injuries to any person and no adverse environmental impacts.
“Only six nations currently launch to orbit regularly — and just a handful are developing sovereign capability to join them,” he said. “We’ve now taken a big step toward joining that group.”
“Clearing the tower was a major milestone for our team. It showed that Australia can design, build, and launch rockets right here at home,” Gilmour said.
As part of this historic campaign, Gilmour Space worked closely with many stakeholders and regulators — including the Australian Space Agency, Civil Aviation Safety Authority, Air Services Australia, Maritime authorities, and others — to help shape and navigate the rules needed to safely launch rockets from Australia for the first time. Initial data confirms that key systems performed well until the anomaly, including ignition, liftoff, first-stage thrust, range tracking and telemetry. The team is now reviewing flight data to understand the cause of the anomaly that led to early termination, with lessons already being applied to the next vehicle, which is in production.
Looking Ahead:
The TestFlight 1 mission represents the culmination of years of effort by a team of more than 200 people, over 500 Australian suppliers, and strong support from government and industry and close coordination with the Australian Space Agency, CASA, Airservices Australia, maritime authorities, and others. It is the next step in Gilmour’s mission to provide low-cost, responsive launch services for small satellites — a capability in growing demand globally. The team will now review flight data and apply lessons learned to the next Eris rocket, with plans to launch again within [XX] months.
“Every test, especially the first, is a learning opportunity,” said Gilmour. “Congratulations to our talented team for getting us this far. Onward to TestFlight 2.” (Source: Satnews)
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
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
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–