Author: starpathwp-production
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Amid failure, Wenchang celebrates milestone as China launches AI satellites and prepares for lunar south pole mission
China’s Wenchang Space Launch Site reached its milestone 50th launch at the end of July, but this week also experienced a third launch failure; while China’s other launch sites have all been active as the nation increasingly deploys more AI-powered and in-space computing technology into orbit. Preparations for the launch of the seventh Chang’e mission,…
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Impulse Space Selected by Space Systems Command for Additional VICTUS SALO Missions
Impulse Space, a leader for in-space mobility, announced it has been awarded a $28M Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III contract extension in support of two missions: VICTUS SALO 2 and VICTUS SALO 3. The award from the United States Space Force’s (USSF) Space Systems Command (SSC) Space Safari Office builds on Impulse’s existing…
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Impulse Space Wins New Space Force Contract
Impulse Space has won further business with U.S. Space Force. It has won a $28 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III contract extension in support of two missions: VICTUS SALO 2 and VICTUS SALO 3. The award from the United States Space Force’s (USSF) Space Systems Command (SSC) Space Safari Office builds on…
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Mike Fincke, a 30-year astronaut with experience across four spacecraft, retires from NASA
NASA astronaut and Expedition 73 Flight Engineer Mike Fincke smiles for a portrait during research operations for the Droplets fluid physics investigation. Fincke was inside the International Space Station’s Destiny laboratory module exploring how particles behave inside fluids. The microgravity study may inform commercial in-space manufacturing techniques and improve optical materials and pollution removal operations.…
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EarthDefine Launches 3D Building Footprints API for Nationwide Geospatial Intelligence
EarthDefine, a provider of high-resolution geospatial products, announced the launch of its Buildings Footprints 3D API, giving developers and enterprises programmatic access to detailed building footprint and structure data across the United States. Building footprint data is foundational to a wide range of applications, from insurance underwriting and property assessment to logistics, urban planning, and…
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Rocket Lab Clears Antitrust Review and Files S-4 in Push to Acquire Iridium
Rocket Lab announced the developments on August 13, 2026, describing them as substantial steps toward closing the previously announced acquisition. The company is simultaneously advancing regulatory clearances and building the financing structure needed to satisfy both cash and equity portions of the deal. The waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act expired at 11:59…
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Teledyne to Acquire Varex Imaging in $1.1 Billion All-Cash Deal
Teledyne Technologies Incorporated and Varex Imaging Corporation have jointly announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Teledyne will acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Varex for $18.90 per share payable in cash. The aggregate value for the transaction is approximately $1.1 billion, taking into account Varex’s equity awards and…
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SpaceX Publishes All-Hands as Musk Details AI Push, Starship Scale, and Multiplanetary Vision
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk laid out a future for the company that extends far beyond rockets and satellite internet, telling employees that artificial intelligence could soon become SpaceX’s largest business and eventually account for 99% of its value. During the presentation, which SpaceX published on August 11th, Musk said the company is targeting 10 gigawatts…
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Thaicom 10 Slips to Late 2028 Launch, Deepening Thaicom’s Fleet Gap
The company is scrambling to relocate customers ahead of the Thaicom 4 retirement later this year. Thaicom 10 had been set for launch in 2027 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Its original launch date was late 2024, but the schedule has slipped as Airbus works through development issues on its new OneSat series of…
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NASA Finishes First Astronaut-Deployed Lunar Instrument Since Apollo
LEMS builds on a legacy of lunar seismic tracking that began with Apollo. Astronauts deployed a network of seismometers on the Moon’s nearside equatorial region between 1969 and 1972, and those instruments operated until 1977, recording about 13,000 moonquakes and other ground vibrations that helped scientists begin to understand the composition of the Moon’s interior.…