SpaceQ

SpaceX successfully launched Starship Flight 13 from its Starbase facility in Texas, achieving an intact ocean splashdown of the upper stage and deploying 20 next-generation Starlink Version 3 satellites. Although an engine ignition failure during the Super Heavy booster landing led to a high-velocity splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, the test flight met its core objectives, validating Version 3 systems and acquiring more thermal protection data for future launch tower catch attempts.

The Canadian Armed Forces are preparing for generational investments in capability, but a new policy paper warns these efforts could fail if the military does not adapt to climate realities, particularly in the Arctic. Published by the Conference of Defence Associations Institute (CDI Institute) and authored by Cudi Zerey, the report outlines how environmental changes directly threaten military readiness and infrastructure.

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has awarded a contract worth up to $745,000 to The Growcer Inc. to design a deployable greenhouse that will tackle food insecurity in Canada’s North, leveraging years of research and technology intended to sustain astronauts on deep space missions. They will partner with the Arctic Fresh Group of Companies, an Inuit-owned enterprise in Nunavut, to co-develop a concept for a deployable Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) unit.

Halifax-based technology startup Galaxia has announced the release of Onyx Edge. This new onboard computing system is designed to shift low Earth orbit operations away from simple data collection and toward real-time intelligence gathering. The hardware relies on a proprietary dual-framework design the company calls its Core and Blades architecture. The system physically separates the essential flight computer from the high-throughput processing units. The Core acts as the control plane.

Canadian Strategic Missions Corporation has been awarded a $4.5 million investment from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) to develop microreactor technology for Arctic deployment. The capital will fund the detailed design and a fuelled demonstration of the company’s micro-nuclear system.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted unanimously on July 22 to replace its legacy space licensing regulations with a modernized framework known as Part 100. While the decision creates faster regulatory pathways for domestic companies, Canadian satellite operators targeting the U.S. market must navigate new reciprocity checks and data-sharing mandates, with one caveat. During its open meeting, the FCC adopted a report and order to eliminate the long-standing Part 25 rules.

NASA has tapped SpaceX to upgrade the communication capabilities of the Artemis III mission scheduled for next year. NASA will install two Starlink mini laser terminals on the exterior of the Orion spacecraft. This hardware will allow astronauts to send 4K video and high-resolution imagery back to the Mission Control Center in Houston. For the public, this means unprecedented access to the mission.

The Australian Space Agency has released an updated framework titled the Statement on Space. Minister Tim Ayres and Assistant Minister Andrew Charlton introduced the document at the ongoing Australian Space Forum, detailing a government vision aimed at securing national capability and boosting industrial participation in the global market.

MDA Space Ltd. said its United Kingdom division has secured a Pre-Authorization to Proceed contract from OHB System AG (OHB), a space systems provider headquartered in Bremen, Germany, to supply lunar landing sensors for the European Space Agency’s Argonaut spacecraft. The agreement was announced at the Farnborough International Airshow. It allows MDA Space UK to begin engineering activities and procure long-lead items.

Even before the Launch the North challenge award, Reaction Dynamics (RDX) had positioned itself as a standard-bearer for the growing Canadian space launch scene. A mainstay in SpaceQ coverage going back to 2018, the company has always promised a sovereign Canadian space launch capability based on a hybrid engine that uses a new solid fuel and a liquid oxidizer.