Hydra-2 also incorporates an ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast) receiver for aircraft tracking, Space-IoT (satellite Internet of Things) technology, and Sigint (signals intelligence) technology.

Hydra-2 is a CubeSat satellite developed by Aistech Space as part of its Earth observation constellation.

SpaceX named the mission Twilight because it placed the satellites in a heliosynchronous orbit between dawn and dusk.

Aistech Space projects to exceed 150 million euros in revenue by 2030.

Hydra-2 aims to provide multispectral observation data, including high-resolution thermal images.

The data collected by Hydra-2 can be used for various applications, including wildfire detection and modeling, crop and water resource monitoring, and tracking illegal maritime activities.

The mission successfully deployed the payloads as planned over a period of 90 minutes that began approximately one hour after launch.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on January 11 at 14:44 Spanish peninsular time, carrying around 40 payloads, including Aistech Space's Hydra-2 satellite.

Pandora, which weighs 325 kilograms, will study at least 20 known exoplanets during its one-year orbital mission using a 45-centimeter wide telescope.

Hydra-2's technological capabilities include a multispectral telescope (MST) that captures images in the visible (VIS), near-infrared (NIR), and thermal infrared (TIR/LWIR) ranges.

In addition to Hydra-2, the SpaceX rocket has launched satellites like NASA's Pandora planet seeker.

The payload also included 10 Aether spacecraft from Kepler Communications, among other platforms.

DCUBED aims to manufacture structural components in space to bypass size constraints imposed by rocket fairings.

Exolaunch plans more than 20 deployments in its 2026 manifest.

The deployment phase commenced approximately one hour after liftoff.

Thomas Sinn is the CEO of DCUBED.

The mission represents Exolaunch's 42nd deployment mission to date.

Berlin-based Exolaunch coordinated the deployment sequence for 22 spacecraft during the mission.

Kepler Communications confirmed that its initial 10 optical satellites are healthy and transitioning into operational service.

The manifest included critical infrastructure for four major organizations related to industrial telecommunications and exoplanet research.

The DCUBED demonstration represents a technical shift toward orbital construction capabilities.

SpaceX launched the 'Twilight' rideshare mission on January 11, 2026.

Exolaunch is scaling its Berlin operations to meet the increasing global demand for rideshare launch slots.

Satellites in the targeted dawn-dusk SSO benefit from near-continuous sunlight for solar power generation.

The 'Twilight' rideshare mission delivered a diverse manifest of commercial and government payloads to a dawn-dusk Sun-Synchronous Orbit.

The 'Twilight' mission marks a major initial milestone for the 2026 small satellite launch calendar.

The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4E at 5:44 a.m. PT.

The specific number of satellites involved in the Iceye agreement was not disclosed.

Both satellite agreements were announced on January 12.

The specific number of satellites involved in the Planet Labs agreement was not disclosed.

The Swedish Armed Forces has signed sovereign satellite deals with Planet Labs and Iceye, providing access to dedicated satellites.

The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) signed a multi-million, multi-year agreement with Iceye to procure synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites.

The Swedish Armed Forces will own and operate the Iceye SAR system for sovereign control over tasking, data, and operational use.

The agreement with Planet Labs is a multi-year, low 9-figure deal that allows Sweden to own a suite of Planet's satellites and access high-resolution data and intelligence solutions.

This is Planet Labs' third large satellite services contract in the past year, following agreements with Japan and Germany.

Eutelsat will evaluate opportunities for new business cases with the new satellites, particularly hosted payloads.

The new deal increases the total number of OneWeb satellites ordered by Eutelsat to 440.

The satellites will be manufactured at Airbus Defence and Space’s Toulouse facility on a new production line.

Eutelsat is contracting Airbus Defence and Space to build 340 OneWeb satellites.

Eutelsat's CEO, Jean-François Fallacher, emphasized the importance of continuity of service for customers through the new satellites.

Delivery of the new OneWeb satellites is expected to start from the end of 2026.

The new OneWeb satellites will feature advanced digital channelizers for enhanced onboard processing capabilities.

The newly ordered OneWeb satellites are designed for greater efficiency and flexibility with optimized architecture.

NASA was planning a spacewalk with astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman but postponed it due to a medical issue involving an astronaut on board.

This will be the first emergency return from the ISS due to health reasons.

NASA has stated that it will return four astronauts from the ISS to Earth within a few days.

NASA and SpaceX announced the scheduled departure and return of the Crew Dragon spacecraft (Crew-11) with astronaut Koichi Wakata from the International Space Station (ISS) to Earth.

The Crew-11 spacecraft is scheduled to depart from the ISS after 7:00 AM JST on January 15 and will splash down off the coast of California around 5:40 PM JST on the same day.

Lazuli will have a primary mirror approximately 3.1 meters in diameter, surpassing the Hubble Space Telescope's 2.4 meters.

Pete Klupar, the Lazuli project director at Schmidt Sciences, stated that they will build a philanthropic three-meter off-axis telescope with capabilities approaching that of the Hubble.