Author: starpathwp-production
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Long March 7A Explodes 85 Seconds Into Flight, Destroying Military Communications Satellite
The rocket lifted off at around 8:00 a.m. Eastern (1200 UTC) from Wenchang on Hainan island, a launch window indicated in advance by airspace closure notices. It remains unknown whether the explosion resulted from an in-flight anomaly or a triggering of the flight termination system. State broadcaster China National Radio published a brief report of…
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MDA Space Will ‘Repurpose’ Canadarm3 For Lunar Surface
MDA Space will “repurpose” its microgravity robot-arm tech for lunar surface operations—likely supporting the NASA-led Moon Base—after the US space agency put the OG plans for Gateway on hold. The Canadian company’s investments into Canadarm3—originally intended to operate in lunar microgravity—will focus on “future logistics activities on the lunar surface,” Canada announced late Thursday. The…
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SDA Awards MapLarge Contract for Commercial Sensor Data Fusion Platform
The U.S. Space Development Agency (SDA) has awarded MapLarge a fixed-price Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) to develop the Tasking and Data Fusion Platform (TDFP) program for exploiting commercial sensors. The award builds on MapLarge’s earlier work with SpaceWERX and has put the MapLarge platform on contract to serve SDA’s operational missile-tracking mission. Under the TDFP,…
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Network Rail Tests Satellite Analytics To Predict Flooding And Vegetation Risks
Network Rail, the owner and operator of Britain’s railway infrastructure, has partnered with Earth observation analytics company CATALYST, part of PCI Geomatics, on a 12-week pilot exploring how satellite data could help identify weather-related risks to railway infrastructure across the Wessex Route before disruption occurs. The pilot brought together Network Rail’s Wessex Route Operations and…
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Eutelsat to Lead Next Phase of Europe’s IRIS² Sovereign Connectivity Infrastructure
Euronext Paris welcomes the successful completion of the IRIS2 programme’s First Rendez-Vous, paving the way for the full industrial execution of Europe’s sovereign multi-orbit connectivity infrastructure, offering additional capacity and enhanced technical performance relative to the initial project. Combining an inclined orbital architecture with beamforming antennas and 5G NTN, it will dynamically direct capacity to…
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SpaceX launches Tuesday noontime Starlink mission following Monday scrub
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket pushes past the speed of sound during the Starlink 10-19 mission on Aug. 11, 2026. Image: John Pisani / Spaceflight NowUpdate Aug. 11, 12:25 p.m. EDT (1625 UTC): SpaceX landed its booster on the droneship. Update Aug. 10, 3:46 p.m. EDT (1946 UTC): Added updated forecast from the 45th Weather…
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SES Completes RDV1 Milestone for Europe’s IRIS² Satellite Programme
SES has announced the completion of Rendez-vous 1 (RDV1) under the Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite (IRIS²) programme, marking a key milestone in the programme’s implementation phase and reinforcing Europe’s path towards satellite connectivity. The completion of RDV1 has confirmed the programme’s readiness to move forward with implementation and has provided greater…
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Launch Preview: Chinese failure opens busy international launch salvo
The week of Aug. 10 opened with an extraordinary Monday, four launches across three countries in fewer than twelve hours. China launched first, but failed, with a Chang Zheng 7A carrying an undisclosed payload from Wenchang. The vehicle exploded during first stage flight. A SpaceX launch with Starlink Group 10-19 from Cape Canaveral was set…
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Europe’s IRIS2 Constellation Enters the Build Phase
The time for talk is over. After seven months of negotiations, officials from the European Commission, ESA, EUSPA, and SpaceRISE—the latter being a consortium of SES, Eutelsat, and HispaSat—have agreed to move into the implementation phase of IRIS2. The agreement also dramatically increases the scope of the constellation. While IRIS2 was expected to include 290…
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Northrop Grumman Develops Lunar Infrastructure Demo Missions for NASA Moon Base Initiative
Northrop Grumman Corporation is developing a series of Lunar Infrastructure Demo (LID) missions to help NASA develop the power and data backbone for a Moon Base, including technology capable of surviving the lunar night and supporting a sustained human presence at the Moon’s South Pole. To help NASA accelerate development, Northrop Grumman is reusing hardware…