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.

Via Satellite’s Thursday Morning Conversations feature casual conversations with top executives and all-stars in the satellite community.

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Daniel Gizinski is President of Comtech’s Satellite & Space Segment.

Comtech has undergone a significant transformation to better serve its customer base.

Comtech is developing ground technology intended to power future satellite networks.

Ramses is currently expected to launch in spring 2028 to rendezvous with Apophis before the asteroid’s close approach in early 2029.

Italy’s Tyvak International received a €4.7 million contract in March 2025 to begin preparatory work on one of the Ramses CubeSats.

The Ramses probe is planned to study asteroid Apophis’s composition and how the asteroid reacts to Earth’s gravitational pull during its close encounter.

Spain’s Emxys received a €1.5 million contract in May 2025 to begin preparatory work on one of the Ramses CubeSats.

The European Space Agency concluded the Ramses mission Critical Design Review in record time, confirming the design meets technical, scientific, and programmatic requirements.

The European Space Agency awarded OHB Italia a €81.2 million contract on 10 February 2026 for the construction, assembly, and testing phase of the Ramses mission.

The European Space Agency awarded Tyvak International a €8.2 million follow-on contract on 10 February 2026 to complete construction and testing of its Ramses CubeSat.

The main Ramses spacecraft is being developed by OHB Italia and the mission is led by the European Space Agency.

The European Space Agency awarded OHB Italia a €63 million contract on 17 October for the Ramses mission’s consolidation and early implementation phases.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will provide several components for the Ramses mission, including a solar array and a thermal infrared imager.

The European Space Agency secured the necessary funding for Ramses at its Ministerial Council meeting (CM25) in November 2025, allowing the mission to move into full development.

Apophis will pass within 32,000 kilometres of Earth’s surface in early 2029, a distance closer than geostationary satellites.

The Ramses mission may launch as a rideshare with JAXA’s Destiny+ mission aboard a Japanese H3 rocket.

The loan to Eutelsat is subject to several conditions, including a bond issuance at Eutelsat Communications.

Eutelsat will receive a €975 million loan in French export credit financing to fund the Low-Earth Orbit satellites it ordered from Airbus Defence and Space.

The €975 million financing will cover manufacturing of 340 satellites Eutelsat contracted Airbus to build for the OneWeb constellation plus an additional 100 already ordered.

France increased its stake in Eutelsat last year to 29.65%, becoming the company's largest single shareholder.

Airbus Defence and Space will manufacture the satellites for Eutelsat at its facility in Toulouse, France.

Eutelsat intends the new satellites to ensure operational continuity for OneWeb customers as older satellites reach the end of their operational lifetime.

In January, Eutelsat planned to evaluate new business cases for the new satellites, including hosted payloads.

The financing for Eutelsat will be provided by a pool of commercial banks obtained through French export credit agency Bpifrance Assurance Export and backed by the French state.

BlueBird 6 was the heaviest payload ever launched from an LVM3 vehicle from India.

BlueBird 6’s large aperture permits more precise beamforming for narrower, more concentrated coverage.

AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 6 carries a commercial communications array antenna nearly 2,400 square feet in size.

BlueBird 6 is designed to provide cellular broadband from space to ordinary phones.

AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 6 antenna is three times larger than the company’s prior BlueBird 1 through 5 satellites.

AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 6 antenna is the largest commercial communications array antenna deployed in Low-Earth Orbit.

BlueBird 6 is designed to support peak data speeds of 120 Mbps and full 4G and 5G broadband services.

AST SpaceMobile plans to launch 45 to 60 BlueBird satellites with launches every one or two months on average.

AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 6 satellite’s massive array fully deployed in Low-Earth Orbit.

The Indian Space Research Organization launched BlueBird 6 in late December.

BlueBird 6’s antenna size allows reliable transmission and reception of signals from standard handheld devices.

AI models used in spacecraft autonomy can change behavior after rapid updates, requiring wrappers or verification layers to ensure consistent outputs.

For roughly sixty years satellite payloads have been constrained to fit inside rocket fairings, creating a hardware-size limit that Rendezvous Robotics seeks to overcome with in-space assembly.

The CRASH Clock collapsed from 121 days in 2018 to 2.8 days in 2026.