Tag: commercial-space
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Intuitive Machines’ Maxar Acquisition Gains Momentum With $600 Million Satellite Order and Orbital Data Center Ambitions
Intuitive Machines’ decision to acquire the former Maxar satellite manufacturing business is beginning to look less like a bet on traditional spacecraft production and more like a strategy to build a vertically integrated space infrastructure company. The clearest evidence came in August 2026, when Intuitive Machines disclosed that it had secured a commercial contract worth…
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SpaceX Reaches 100th Mission of 2026 as Starlink Launch Highlights a New Era of High-Frequency Spaceflight
SpaceX has completed its 100th mission of 2026, reaching the milestone on Aug. 19 with another Starlink deployment from California. The mission, Starlink Group 17-50, sent 24 Starlink broadband satellites toward low Earth orbit aboard a flight-proven Falcon 9, underscoring how rapidly SpaceX has transformed orbital launch from an occasional event into a high-frequency operational…
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NASA Ends Swift Telescope Rescue After Private Servicer Loses Attitude Control
NASA has called off the effort to save the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory after the private spacecraft sent to raise the aging telescope’s orbit failed to overcome persistent attitude-control problems. The Swift Boost mission was intended to demonstrate a new model for satellite servicing: instead of replacing an aging spacecraft, a relatively small commercial vehicle…
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From Building Rockets to Mass-Producing Them, China’s Commercial Space Industry Is Catching Up on Digitalization
In the first half of 2026, China completed 44 space launches, up nearly 26% year on year. Rockets are moving from “a few launches a year” toward high-frequency launch operations, making large-scale production an increasingly urgent priority. And as the industry moves from building individual rockets to mass-producing them, China’s commercial space sector is now…
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Rwanda and Planet Labs Launch National Satellite Data Program for Government, Universities and Startups
The Government of Rwanda has partnered with Planet Labs to establish a national satellite data program that will provide near-daily Earth observation imagery to government agencies, public universities, selected startups and strategic development partners. Managed by the Rwanda Space Agency, the program is designed to make satellite imagery a more routine component of national decision-making,…
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Nayuta Space Establishes Lingang Base, with Xuanniao-R Set for Maiden Offshore Flight
On August 11, Nayuta Space officially announced that its reusable liquid rocket R&D center and final assembly and testing base will be established in the Lingang New Area of Shanghai. The move marks a key stage in the engineering verification and maiden-flight preparations for the company’s main vehicle, Xuanniao-R. China’s commercial reusable rocket companies have…
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Galactic Energy Begins Construction of Chizhou Production Base for 24 Reusable Liquid Rockets per Year
August 10, 2026 — Galactic Energy has officially begun construction of a major industrialization project in Chizhou, Anhui Province, designed to support the production of 24 reusable liquid launch vehicles annually. The second-phase project, located in the Wanjiang Jiangnan Emerging Industries Concentration Zone, represents another major step in Galactic Energy’s expansion in Chizhou and marks…
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From Remote Sensing Satellites to Intelligent Satellites: A New Direction for China’s Commercial Space Industry
As the commercial space industry enters its second half, the satellite applications market is increasingly driven by cost efficiency and is, in turn, pushing upstream remote sensing satellite manufacturers toward a new paradigm of integrated sensing and computing. China has now entered the era of intelligent satellites. Why has onboard intelligence become a necessity for…
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Key Things to Understand About China’s Commercial Space Sector
China’s commercial space industry is entering a phase of rapid development. However, to truly understand where the sector is heading, several underlying factors need to be recognized in advance. 1. Commercial Space Has Become an Industry China “Must” Develop From a broader perspective, one undeniable reality is that global commercial space innovation is, to a…
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LandSpace’s Zhuque-3 Targets Reusable Rocket Milestone in Second Flight Attempt Next Week
The highly anticipated second flight mission of LandSpace’s Zhuque-3 reusable launch vehicle has entered its final countdown. According to launch preparations released by the company, the rocket is scheduled to lift off on August 11, 2026, from LandSpace’s dedicated Launch Pad No. 2 at the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Test Zone in Jiuquan, Gansu Province.…