The war in Ukraine and rising global tensions have increased the role of space as a critical domain for national security.

Seed-stage deep tech companies continue to attract investment for novel physics plays such as optical computing.

The Series B funding crunch is creating a narrow exit path that often leads to distressed asset sales or strategic acquisitions by larger entities.

Tyler Letarte is Principal at AE Industrial Partners.

Karl Schmidt is Managing Director at KippsDeSanto & Co.

SmallSat customers are signing multi-launch agreements and paying premium rates while relying on brokers like Exolaunch for launch slots.

Brian Rogers is Rocket Lab’s Vice President of Global Launch Services.

Isar Aerospace, PLD Space, and Avio are European launch companies competing for market share outside U.S. dominance.

Stoke Space is investing $510 million betting that partial reusability is a dead end.

The market pricing floor for launch services is rising toward $6,500 per kilogram.

Rocket Lab’s Neutron launch vehicle was originally promised for 2024 and is now targeting mid-to-late 2026.

Devon Papandrew of Stoke Space attributes SpaceX’s flight-rate constraint to production of the upper stage.

Devon Papandrew is Vice President of Business Development at Stoke Space.

Kier Fortier is Chief Revenue Officer at Exolaunch.

SpaceX is the dominant launch provider in the SmallSat market at the 2026 SmallSat Symposium.

The FAA licensing backlog and a tightened regulatory environment are constraining launch capacity in 2026.

Consolidation of demand onto SpaceX Transporter missions has created waitlists for launches.

Curt Blake is the former CEO of Spaceflight and served as the session moderator at the Small Payloads, Large Upmass session.

Exolaunch has emerged as the primary brokerage funnel for industry launch volume following the dissolution of Spaceflight Inc.’s independent brokerage model.

Avio is targeting a launch cadence of six per year, up from four, which it characterizes as a 50% increase.

The Golden Dome program is reshaping company capitalizations across the aerospace industry, benefiting companies like Redwire and Voyager while creating existential pressures for distressed firms like Momentus.

John Vargas estimated a kinetic intercept from space in 2028 for Golden Dome.

General Guetlein moved the Golden Dome initiative behind a classified wall to limit foreign hacking exposure.

The Golden Dome program’s classified requirements have produced a supply-chain environment where vendors are guessing at requirements and hoping their technology fits unmeasurable specifications.

Executive Order 14186 mandates the Golden Dome missile defense architecture and the program is funded at $175 billion.

The Golden Dome concept shifted from a limited Iron Dome–style system to a global shield against hypersonic threats.

Amazon Project Kuiper is positioned by the Department of Defense as an alternative commercial transport layer for Golden Dome.

Redwire has a growing backlog of work as a prime contractor supporting Under Layer requirements for hypersonic tracking.

Mark Hanson estimated a kinetic intercept from space in 2029 for Golden Dome.

Redwire’s SabreSat is a very-low-Earth-orbit platform capable of air-breathing propulsion that targets Under Layer requirements for tracking hypersonic glide vehicles.

Momentus executed a 1-for-17.85 reverse stock split in December and currently operates on the Nasdaq under going-concern warnings.

Momentus positions its orbital tugs as essential for maneuverability and reducing cycle times for space systems.

The program has a $25 billion down payment but prime contractors could not agree on when a space-based kinetic intercept capability will function within a four-year window.

Naveen Kachroo estimated a kinetic intercept from space in 2030 or later for Golden Dome.

John Rood cautioned that military decision-makers are uncomfortable fully automating kinetic authority without rule sets.

Chris Daywalt of Loft Orbital projected a kinetic intercept from space in 2032.

SpaceX was absent from the panel despite being the only entity currently capable of launching the volume required for Golden Dome’s thousands of interceptors.

The Space Development Agency has not yet successfully demonstrated an optical link between two different vendors in space, according to a Government Accountability Office report released this month.

John Vargas argued that current human-in-the-loop structures are insufficient for hypersonic defense and that AI will need to handle the OODA loop with humans in a supervisory role.

The Department of Defense is developing a second industrial base to avoid reliance on SpaceX’s Starshield.

MissionOne is Galaxia’s turnkey service that delivers satellite missions from concept to launch and operations.

Under the agreement, Galaxia will provide MissionOne framework and mission execution expertise and Impulso.Space will manage launch access and integrated logistics capabilities.

Galaxia signed the multi-launch deal with Impulso.Space at Space Tech Expo Europe in Bremen in fall 2025.

Arad Gharagozli is the CEO of Galaxia Mission Systems.

Impulso.Space is an Italian company that offers integrated, end-to-end launch services from its U.S. operations in Melbourne, Florida near Cape Canaveral.

Galaxia launched its first MissionOne satellite MÖBIUS-1 in June 2025.

Under the agreement, Impulso.Space will support MissionOne launches by securing appropriate launch opportunities and separation systems and by managing satellite logistics including shipping, customs clearance, and the preparing and refueling of spacecraft ahead of integration.

Impulso.Space signed an agreement in 2024 with Maritime Launch Services to provide integrated launch services for Spaceport Nova Scotia.

Galaxia Mission Systems is based in Halifax.

Galaxia Mission Systems signed a multi-launch agreement with Impulso.Space in support of its MissionOne program.