Amazon Leo was formerly known as Project Kuiper.

Stoke Space closed a $350 million extension funding round in addition to a $510 million Series D it raised in October.

Stoke Space intends to develop Nova’s reusability through multiple demonstration flights following a crawl-walk-run approach.

Rep. Mike Haridopolos, as chair of the House space subcommittee, supports greater partnerships between NASA and the commercial space industry to leverage their complementary strengths.

SpaceX has delayed its Mars plans to prioritize missions and development focused on the Moon.

US Innovation Technology Fund is a previous backer of Stoke Space and focuses investment on technologies tied to national defense.

Northwood closed a $100 million Series B round led by Washington Harbour Partners and Andreessen Horowitz with participation from Alpine Space Ventures.

Issues on Vulcan’s recent flight require review before Vulcan will carry its next national security payload.

Nova was designed by Stoke Space to be reusable.

Stoke Space’s inaugural Nova mission is targeting a trajectory beyond orbit to demonstrate high-energy performance.

The Ariane 64 and United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rockets both completed their recent missions successfully.

Stoke Space’s total funding reached $1.34 billion after the $350 million extension round.

Stoke Space is aiming to fly its Nova rocket on an inaugural mission in 2026.

Stoke Space had enough capital at the end of last year to fund the first few flights of its Nova rocket.

CesiumAstro closed a $270 million Series C round to support expansion of its national security contracts and build out its natsec business.

Stoke Space’s planned reusability flight profile includes reentry, relighting engines, targeting a position in the ocean, and hovering before recovery operations.

Stoke Space is based in Washington.

Rep. Mike Haridopolos (R-FL) has made ensuring robust cooperation between the public and private space sectors a top priority for the House space subcommittee in 2026.

Learning Exchange Inc (LEXX) offers online CMMC certification courses that are aligned with DOD cybersecurity standards.

NASI’s first cohort of students in the Space Systems Technician (SST) program is on schedule and on track.

Aaron Topple is the Chief Operating Officer of North American Space Institute (NASI).

Michael Graham is the CEO of North American Space Institute (NASI).

The Space Systems Technician (SST) program is the first space technician program certified by the Canadian Council for Aviation and Aerospace (CCAA).

NASI estimates a shortage of 58,000 qualified technicians across North America.

NASI is deploying a VR-enabled version of its Space Systems Technician (SST) certification into the U.S. market.

Alliance Cyber focuses on cybersecurity and is partnered with NASI for deployment of NASI’s VR-enabled Space Systems Technician (SST) certification into the U.S. market.

The DOD 8140 framework specifies training and accreditation requirements for the U.S. Department of Defense’s cyberspace workforce.

NASI runs several courses focused on training space-related skillsets, including the Space Systems Technician (SST) program.

North American Space Institute (NASI) is a space-focused educational startup founded last year by former Canadian Space Agency technologist Michael Graham.

NASI is aligning its curriculum with U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) 8140 workforce frameworks to create interoperable standards for space technicians across North America.

NASI seeks to become the national platform building Canada’s certified space workforce.

International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) restrictions largely bar Canadian workers from a wide variety of American space sector work, although Canadian companies can obtain some ITAR exceptions.

NASI has formed partnerships with Learning Exchange Inc (LEXX) and Alliance Cyber to expand into the United States and standardize offerings across the United States and Canada.

BlackSky, Planet Labs, and Comtech have secured recent contracts that shift industry focus from simple image delivery toward real-time answer generation.

Integrating AI analytics enables defense agencies to automatically monitor thousands of sites of interest and alert human operators only when significant changes occur.

The Swedish Armed Forces (FMV) has a strategic agreement that provides a dedicated satellite suite for Arctic and Baltic surveillance.

Hybrid Space Architectures blend government-owned assets and commercially-leased capacity to enhance resilience against anti-satellite threats and cyber warfare.

Defense budgets are prioritizing multi-modal constellations that combine optical imagery, synthetic aperture radar, and RF sensing to see through cloud cover and identify electronic signatures.

A market analysis released on Feb. 11 documents a surge in investment for the convergence of high-revisit satellite imagery, radio frequency sensing, and on-orbit artificial intelligence.

Fused geospatial intelligence integrates optical imagery with RF sensing to detect spoofing or hidden assets.

Brian O’Toole, CEO of BlackSky, emphasizes that tactical advantage in 2026 will depend more on the speed of processing loops than on camera quality.

Industry analysts expect the U.S. Space Force and European defense ministries to increase investment in Hybrid Space Architectures during the remainder of 2026.

Orbital Edge AI is replacing the traditional model of downloading large satellite imagery files for ground-based analysis by enabling onboard processing.

A tactical program shift is providing on-call satellite capacity for high-priority defense theaters with sub-hourly revisit rates.

Detect-to-track capabilities enable satellites to identify threats onboard and send only relevant alerts to the tactical edge.

Nations are investing in Sovereign Clouds to ensure that sensitive mission data processed by commercial providers remains under national control.

Global defense agencies have designated Total Situational Awareness as a primary budget priority for 2026.

Ground station components are being expanded to support C4ISR operations beyond Earth orbit and into cislunar space.

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