ESA’s Moonlight programme aims to deploy a constellation of satellites around the Moon to provide communications and navigation services.

ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher sees a continued role for ESA in the Artemis programme.

ESA is considering making Lunar Link part of its Moonlight programme, which aims to deploy a constellation of satellites around the Moon for communications and navigation services.

ESA plans to continue developing most of its planned Gateway hardware while studies assess how to repurpose each element.

ESA Member State ministers are expected to meet in Italy in December for an interim Council meeting to define the European exploration roadmap for the coming years.

ESA will slow the pace of activities on Lunar View while retaining the key technologies needed for deep space exploration.

ESA will slow the pace of Lunar View activities while keeping the key technologies needed for deep space exploration.

ESA’s 23 Member States are aligning to step up in exploration.

Lunar Link could potentially become part of ESA’s Moonlight programme.

ESA is assessing whether Lunar Link could be used as a dedicated communications asset.

NASA paused the Gateway programme as part of a revised Artemis architecture that prioritizes establishing a base on the Moon’s surface before developing Gateway.

Marlink will manage Oldendorff Carriers’ fleet data through a unified shared pool of monthly data capacity.

Low-Earth orbit satellites operating at about 550 kilometers altitude can reduce network latency to under 50 milliseconds.

Marlink has expanded its partnership with Oldendorff Carriers.

Oldendorff Carriers uses a hybrid network that combines Starlink low-Earth orbit connectivity, geostationary VSAT systems, and Mobile Satellite Services L-band safety backups.

Marlink will integrate high-speed Starlink low-Earth orbit connectivity across more than 80 of Oldendorff Carriers’ owned dry bulk vessels.

Marlink’s onboard smart routing hardware automatically routes critical ship-to-shore vessel telematics through the most stable link and shifts crew internet traffic to the Starlink broadband stream.

Maritime and aviation SatCom sectors are migrating away from rigid, single-satellite bandwidth contracts.

SatCom providers can be left with expensive leased satellite capacity that is under-utilized during the off-season.

Maritime and aviation SatCom sectors are adopting managed multi-orbit platforms that combine LEO networks such as Starlink with legacy GEO VSAT systems.

The United States Space Force contracted SpaceX to build the Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator constellation and the data network backbone that carries its output.

The Space Data Network Backbone is a proliferated low Earth orbit satellite constellation designed to provide low-latency, high-capacity data transport for the Joint Force.

The Space Data Network Backbone receives and routes targeting data generated by the Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator constellation.

The Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator constellation requires infrared and radio frequency sensing payloads, onboard processing, data transport to the Space Data Network Backbone, and ground-based fusion and tasking infrastructure.

SpaceX is contracted to field an initial Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator satellite constellation by 2028.

The Fiscal Year 2026 Defense Appropriations Act allocated $13 billion for missile defense and space programs, including Golden Dome’s near-term procurement activity.

The Space Force selected nine companies, including SpaceX, in April 2026 to develop Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator concepts.

On May 28, 2026, the acting USSF Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Space Based Sensing and Targeting awarded SpaceX a $4.16 billion Other Transaction Authority agreement for the Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator program.

SpaceX won the primary fielding contract from the April 2026 Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator prototype competition.

SpaceX must deliver a fully operational Space Data Network Backbone prototype by the end of 2027.

The Space Force expects to issue multiple awards in the coming year to drive competition across the Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator architecture.

The Space Force has not yet awarded the sensor payloads, radiation-hardened compute hardware, or inter-satellite link terminals needed to make the Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator constellation operationally useful.

On May 26, 2026, Space Systems Command awarded SpaceX a $2.29 billion firm-fixed-price Other Transaction Authority delivery order for the Space Data Network Backbone.

NASA has scheduled a spacewalk to replace a failed component on Canadarm2.

Chris Williams will perform his second EVA during the planned Canadarm2 repair spacewalk.

The planned spacewalk will be the 280th EVA dedicated to assembly, maintenance, and upgrades of the International Space Station.

Canadarm2 has supported maintenance, cargo handling, spacecraft operations, cargo capsule capture, and astronaut assistance on the International Space Station.

NASA and the Canadian Space Agency determined that replacing the faulty Canadarm2 component by EVA was the most effective solution.

Jessica Meir will perform her fifth EVA during the planned Canadarm2 repair spacewalk.

NASA and the Canadian Space Agency are working together on the Canadarm2 anomaly response.

The replacement part for the Canadarm2 repair is already aboard the International Space Station.

SES has expanded its free-to-view ASTRA TV platform in Spain.

SES routes the ASTRA TV regional channels through geostationary orbit to provide nationwide coverage in Spain.

The new ASTRA TV set-top boxes support dual-band Wi-Fi and Ethernet connections to home networks.

The SES ASTRA TV platform upgrade adds 14 localized autonomous regional channels in Spain.

The SES ASTRA TV platform upgrade includes next-generation hybrid set-top boxes that combine satellite signals with online on-demand services.

The new ASTRA TV set-top boxes automatically unlock enhanced programming guides and on-demand interactive playback libraries when connected to the internet.

The ASTRA TV network operates from SES’s orbital slot at 19.2 degrees East.

SES’s 19.2 degrees East orbital slot serves more than one million television households across the Iberian Peninsula.

J-SPARC has supported about 50 projects focused on creating new markets and services based on space technologies.