The funding will scale up SWISSto12’s manufacturing capacity and accelerate new product innovations.

Several ESA member states invested approximately €73 million ($84.8 million) in financial support to SWISSto12 through the HummingSat ARTES partnership project.

SWISSto12 is developing the HummingSat platform in partnership with ESA with a first launch scheduled for 2027.

SWISSto12’s suite of agile, cost-effective satellite communications solutions is intended to enable sovereign communications capabilities for governments and commercial customers.

SWISSto12 is shifting satellite communications industry approaches from large, purpose-built satellites toward smaller, software-defined, reconfigurable-payload, multi-orbit systems.

The HummingSat platform is significantly smaller and more cost-efficient than legacy geostationary satellites.

Amalia Ercoli Finzi is a leading expert in aerospace engineering.

Tito Stagno was the broadcaster who narrated the first human Moon landing to Italian audiences in 1969.

Luca Parmitano is an astronaut with the European Space Agency.

Telespazio is a lead company on the European Space Agency’s Moonlight program.

The Artemis program is intended as an ongoing effort with objectives in research, knowledge, and strategic interests related to lunar exploration.

Gabriele Pieralli is the CEO of Telespazio.

The Fallen Astronaut is an artwork left on the lunar surface during the Apollo 15 mission and is the only human figure remaining on the Moon.

Artemis 2 is scheduled to launch in the coming weeks with four astronauts who will spend ten days in orbit around the Moon.

The Moonlight program aims to build lunar infrastructure and provide lunar communication and navigation services.

Telespazio has an industrial collaboration agreement with the American company Intuitive Machines.

Artemis 3 is scheduled for 2028 and is planned to return humans to the Moon.

NASA named the Artemis program in homage to the goddess Artemis, sister of Apollo.

Artemis is planned to include female astronauts making lunar surface landings for the first time.

Financial terms of the agreement between Planet Labs and GURS were not disclosed.

The agreement gives Slovenian state and municipal authorities access to PlanetScope imagery and high-resolution tasking services for GURS.

Planet Labs has an office in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Planet will provide a single and consistent satellite data resource to the entire Slovenian civil public administration.

The agreement will integrate daily global scanning and high-resolution tasking into GURS workflows to support faster decisions during natural disasters and strengthen long-term planning of built and natural environments.

The satellite data provided under the agreement will be used for monitoring forest cover and agricultural health in Slovenia.

Planet Labs acquired Slovenian company Sinergise in 2023 for its Earth Data Platform.

The mission of the Surveying and Mapping Authority of the Republic of Slovenia (GURS) is to provide geodetic and spatial data to support the prosperity and safety of the Republic of Slovenia.

The satellite data provided under the agreement will be used for urban and infrastructure planning in Slovenia.

Planet Labs secured an enterprise-scale agreement with the Surveying and Mapping Authority of the Republic of Slovenia (GURS) for satellite data to support agriculture, urban planning, and disaster management.

The satellite data provided under the agreement will be used for natural disaster response capabilities in Slovenia.

PlanetScope imagery and high-resolution tasking under the agreement will serve as the foundational spatial basis for national analyses in Slovenia.

Gilat will deploy the SkyEdge platform to deliver services over Very High Throughput Satellites supporting multiple applications.

The order reinforces Gilat’s leadership position to support growing global demand for ground systems capable of supporting next-generation VHTS satellites and a wide range of commercial applications.

Gilat Satellite Networks Commercial Division received a contract valued at approximately $11 million for its SkyEdge platform.

The SkyEdge deployment will enable the operator to deliver advanced mobility services while maximizing the value of its VHTS satellite assets.

Deliveries of the SkyEdge platform are expected over the next 12 months.

The SkyEdge platform was selected for its proven performance in high-capacity networks, flexibility to support diverse service profiles, and ability to scale with evolving market demands.

Ron Levin is president of Gilat Commercial Division.

The customer for the SkyEdge platform contract is a leading satellite operator in the Asia Pacific region.

An H3 rocket carrying the Michibiki 5 navigation satellite experienced an upper stage malfunction and reentered within hours, apparently with the satellite still attached.

A shock from the H3 fairing separation damaged the Michibiki 5 satellite and its payload adaptor, which fell into the upper stage and damaged propellant lines, creating a leak.

The Hayabusa and Hayabusa2 missions returned samples from asteroids before NASA's OSIRIS-REx sample-return mission.

The Islands and the Stars: A History of Japan’s Space Programs is a 2026 paperback by Subodhana Wijeyeratne published by Stanford University Press, 352 pages, ISBN 978-1-5036-4478-6, priced at US$35.

The Epsilon-S rocket has been grounded since a 2022 failure.

The H3 failure was the second failure in seven flights.

Japanese startups are developing new spacecraft and launch vehicles with support from the Japanese government.

The loss of pressure in the H3 upper stage began when the payload fairing separated.

Images show the Michibiki 5 satellite falling off the upper stage when it separated from the first stage.

JAXA purchased two launches from Rocket Lab to launch technology-demonstration small satellites.

ISAS rejected proposals to import American liquid-propellant rocket technology and preferred to develop propulsion systems domestically.