Armando Riccardi is a research director at the National Institute for Astrophysics and the technical lead for the adaptive optics module of ERIS.

The ERIS instrument on the Very Large Telescope includes an advanced adaptive optics system developed by Italy’s National Institute for Astrophysics.

The James Webb Space Telescope mission was jointly developed by NASA, ESA, and CSA.

Global public investment in space reached €119 billion in 2025.

The downstream space market was estimated at about €490 billion in 2025, and GNSS services accounted for 77% of that market.

The upstream space market was valued at €75 billion in 2025, and 80% of institutional demand was dominated by defence.

European prime contractors captured 10% of the global upstream market and 65% of their accessible market.

Global private investment in space rose 60% in 2025.

European space budgets increased 12% to €13.5 billion in 2025.

European space ventures raised €1.4 billion in private investment in 2025.

ESA released its 2026 Space Economy Report on Europe’s space sector.

Eutelsat has an IRIS2 commitment.

Eutelsat has 440 satellites on order from Airbus.

Eutelsat plans a 528-satellite LEO constellation.

Loft Orbital has spent more than $100 million on satellite buses since its founding in 2017.

Loft Orbital purchased new satellite bus inventory to fly larger and more power-hungry customer payloads.

Loft Orbital bought ten Longbow buses from Airbus Defence and Space.

Apex flew Nova to orbit for the first time on SpaceX's Transporter-17 rideshare mission.

Loft Orbital expects to reach 30 operational satellites by the end of next year.

Loft Orbital's Orbitworks joint venture with UAE-based Marlan Space has a 10-satellite Altair constellation that will begin launching in October.

Loft Orbital bought one Nova bus from Apex under a contract that includes an option to procure up to nine additional Nova buses.

Apex's Nova bus can support up to 300 kg of payload and deliver 1 kW of orbit-average power.

Apex is scheduled to deliver Nova to Loft Orbital by October.

Earth Daily has a 10-satellite Earth observation constellation planned for launch, and its eighth satellite launched on SpaceX's Transporter-17 mission.

Loft Orbital's satellite buses have historically been able to carry less than 100 kg of payload.

Ma Xingrui was expelled from the Communist Party.

Ma Xingrui is a former director of the China National Space Administration.

Sateliot signed a dual-mode 3GPP Release 17 integration contract with LMT Group in February 2026.

The ESA development program is funded under the Space for 5G/6G & Sustainable Connectivity line within ESA’s Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems Strategic Product Line.

Keysight Technologies is the prime contractor for the ESA development program and is collaborating with Sateliot on technical development and core satellite mission integration.

The European Space Agency selected Keysight Technologies to lead a three-year development program on secure, blockchain-enabled anomaly detection for 5G Non-Terrestrial Networks.

Keysight entered a technical collaboration with Airbus UpNext in January 2026 on the SpaceRAN LEO demonstrator platform.

Sateliot and Keysight jointly won the ESA and GSMA Foundry Challenge in early April 2026 for initial concepts for blockchain-backed anomaly detection.

The ESA program will culminate in an in-orbit demonstration using an operational Sateliot spacecraft to validate the blockchain trust architecture.

ispace remains committed to advancing lunar transportation services and expanding the lunar economy under the future NASA CLPS 2.0 framework.

The end of the CP-12 task order will terminate the subcontract involving ispace-U.S..

NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program uses private industry to deliver scientific instruments, technology demonstrators, and other payloads to the lunar surface.

NASA and Draper agreed to end the Commercial Lunar Payload Services CP-12 task order.

The four-person Artemis III crew will reach low Earth orbit aboard the Orion capsule on the Space Launch System.

NASA’s Artemis III demonstration mission is scheduled for 2027.

The Human Landing System vehicles for Artemis III will launch on commercial rockets.

SpaceX and Blue Origin are NASA’s two Human Landing System providers for the Artemis III mission.

The four-person Artemis III crew will travel to low Earth orbit aboard Orion on the Space Launch System.

Data from Artemis III will validate life support, electrical, and communication interfaces before deep-space missions.

NASA published new operational parameters for Artemis III on July 15, 2026.

NASA will use data from the Artemis III low-Earth orbit trials to validate life support, electrical, and communication interfaces before deep-space missions.

The first crewed landing on the Moon’s South Pole is currently manifested for the Artemis IV mission in early 2028.

Artemis III is intended to support the first crewed landing on the Moon’s South Pole, which is manifested for Artemis IV in early 2028.

Artemis III will serve as a low-Earth orbit docking and systems integration flight to validate dual commercial lander platforms.

NASA’s Artemis III mission will no longer attempt a lunar landing and will instead serve as a low-Earth orbit docking and systems integration flight to validate dual commercial lander platforms.