ICEYE received an Australian Space Award at the seventh Australian Space Awards for its operational contribution to Australia’s flood response.

iQPS was Rocket Lab's largest customer last year, accounting for 6 of Rocket Lab's 21 launches.

Rocket Lab set the launch date for its 92nd mission and 13th Electron launch of 2026.

QPS-SAR-13 "MIKURA-I" is scheduled to launch no earlier than June 30 at 01:15 UTC.

Rocket Lab's mission "The Grain Goddess Provides" is a constellation deployment mission for iQPS.

Rocket Lab will deliver another QPS-SAR satellite to low Earth orbit for iQPS's Earth-imaging constellation.

Rocket Lab has 8 launches planned for iQPS through the end of 2028.

Mengzhou’s first orbital flight could come later in 2026 on the Long March 10A rocket.

The Mengzhou crew spacecraft underwent an airdrop test from a Y-20 transport aircraft.

NASA’s Mars Exploration Program and the Exploration Science Strategy Integration Office under the Science Mission Directorate in Washington currently fund the ERNEST program.

ERNEST’s software underwent thousands of simulated operational hours in JPL’s Digital Automated Remote Tracking Simulation laboratory before field testing.

The ERNEST engineering team tested the rover across dawn, dusk, and full nighttime illumination conditions during the desert deployment.

ERNEST’s localized computer architecture relies on navigation algorithms trained via reinforcement learning.

NASA confirmed that a prototype four-wheel planetary rover completed high-speed autonomous field trials in the Colorado Desert near Plaster City, California, in a report issued on June 18, 2026.

Caltech manages NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory developed the ERNEST prototype in Southern California.

ERNEST’s navigation speed is an order of magnitude faster than the navigation speeds achieved by current Mars rovers.

The ERNEST prototype is 4 feet, or 1.2 meters, long.

ERNEST integrates an active suspension system with two powered joints per wheel and an articulable gimbal.

The ERNEST vehicle validated software and mobility architectures for future long-range lunar and Martian exploration missions.

Program technologists plan to scale the ERNEST architecture up to a vehicle twice the size of the current prototype.

JPL initially backed ERNEST development with internal research and development allocations.

ERNEST can independently alter weight distribution, switch between wheel-walking, squirming, and obstacle-climbing gaits, and clear vertical barriers nearly equivalent to its wheel height.

The scaled ERNEST design is intended for long-duration exploration campaigns targeting permanently shadowed crater floors, lava tubes, and water-ice deposits at the lunar south pole.

Development of the ERNEST platform began in 2022.

ERNEST has a mechanical clutch that can toggle the rover into a passive suspension mode to conserve battery power on flat, unobstructed terrain.

The ERNEST prototype uses custom-engineered wire mesh wheels to maintain traction over loose materials.

Blue Canyon Technologies has more than 3,500 products on orbit.

MDA Space expects the Blue Canyon Technologies acquisition to close by the end of 2026, pending customary closing conditions and required regulatory approvals.

Exolaunch has participated in every Falcon 9 Transporter and Bandwagon rideshare mission since those programs began.

Launches supported by Wallops Flight Facility grew from 3 in 2020 to 17 in 2025.

MDA Space has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Blue Canyon Technologies from RTX’s Raytheon business for $620 million in an all-cash transaction.

Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 landed successfully in March 2025.

NASA canceled the VIPER mission in July 2024 before Voyager Technologies acquired Astrobotic Technology.

The Space Development Agency’s proliferated low Earth orbit constellation has Tranche 2 production underway and Tranche 3 solicitation activity already on SAM.gov.

The Defense Microelectronics Activity Trusted Foundry Program lists fewer than five domestic qualified fabs.

Exolaunch has deployed more than 790 satellites across 47 missions for more than 200 commercial and government customers.

NASA is winding down the Space Technology and Aeronautics Research directorates.

Blue Canyon Technologies employs more than 400 people across two manufacturing facilities in Denver, Colorado.

Exolaunch has secured its first dedicated Falcon 9 launches, Exo-1 and Exo-2, scheduled for 2027 and 2028.

Microchip Technology, BAE Systems Electronic Systems, Honeywell Aerospace, and SkyWater Technology are among the domestic qualified fabs listed in the Defense Microelectronics Activity Trusted Foundry Program.

The Exolaunch acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026.

The European Space Agency has selected the NUVIEW Moonraker mission for a Phase A study under ESA’s Small Missions for Exploration, Destination the Moon program.

Voyager Technologies acquired Astrobotic Technology in early 2025.

Launches supported by Kennedy Space Center grew from 31 in 2020 to 109 in 2025.

Exolaunch has maintained a strategic relationship with SpaceX since 2020.

Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander completed the IM-1 Odysseus flight in February 2024.

NASA’s Office of Inspector General found that Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia are both projected to approach or reach operational capacity by 2028 to 2029.

NASA’s proposed fiscal year 2027 budget recommends cutting the Science Mission Directorate by approximately 50 percent relative to fiscal year 2025 enacted levels.

The GPS III Follow-On program with Lockheed Martin is a sustained multi-year draw through the late 2020s.