Payload

SALT LAKE CITY, UT — There was a lot to celebrate at this year’s Small Satellite Conference in Utah—new payload technologies, next-gen satellite platforms, a slew of collaborative contracts, and a more favorable funding market than any year in recent memory. So why did it feel like everyone was on edge?

Think you had a busy week? ICEYE has you beat. The Finnish SAR satellite manufacturer opened three new international offices this week—in the Netherlands, Korea, and India—to capitalize on the growing demand for sovereign satellite capabilities from national governments and MoDs. The new offices signal a huge predicted surge of demand for ICEYE’s SAR satellites.

While US companies have SDA services a-plenty, a new contract from the US’ northern neighbor is focusing on buying Canadian. Montreal-based NorthStar Earth & Space will put SDA sensors on Toronto’s Kepler Communications spacecraft, the companies announced Wednesday.

Space weather forecasters have good news and bad news, and it’s the exact same: it’s going to be sunny. Solar storms will cause a $20.65B economic hit in 2026—and that number will rocket to $44.27B in annualized losses by 2035, according to a new report from space-environment intelligence firm Mission Space. The growth is driven not by a more active sun, but by an increase in exposed space assets  because there are more satellites and space infrastructure in orbit at risk for solar radiation.

LeoLabs is applying its radar tech to national security missions under a new contract with the Space Force, announced Wednesday. The military awarded the commercial SDA company a $20.68M Prototype Other Transaction Agreement—a contracting vehicle that bypasses the typical procurement process to allow the Pentagon to quickly test out new tech. You make me wanna: Scout was unveiled in April 2025 as the newest part of LeoLab’s product line.

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SpaceX has just made its own Louisiana Purchase. President and COO Gwynne Shotwell joined Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry on Tuesday to announce Starbase, Louisiana—a high-cadence launch site for future Starship operations. The new site marks another step toward commercial Starship operations. Earlier Tuesday, the last Falcon 9 Starlink mission flew from Cape Canaveral.

SALT LAKE CITY, UT — One nuclear satellite does not a nuclear space age make. Two though? Now we’re talking. Following the success of City Labs’ first nuclear-powered payload demo—BOHR, which launched on SpaceX’s Transporter-17 rideshare in July—City Labs is planning a second, higher-power nuclear demo flight as early as next year, according to CEO Peter Cabauy.

The last time the US released a space transportation policy in November 2013, SpaceX Falcon 9 had flown just six times. Now, Falcon 9 has ~700 flights behind it—and the White House is aiming for more than 1,000 launches and reentries annually by 2030. The new National Space Transportation Policy (NSTP), signed Aug. 20, which replaces the 2013 edition, asks what it would take to get to 1,000 annual launches. The answer?

SALT LAKE CITY, UT — Thinking outside the box is paying off—at least for The Aerospace Corporation, which is starting to gain commercial traction for Disksat, its new box-less satellite configuration. The Aerospace Corporation officials shared updates on its four-Disksat demonstration mission on the sidelines of the Small Satellite Conference in Utah, including the announcement that Australian propulsion startup Neumann Space plans to license the Disksat architecture for future missions.