Takara Standard will perform a technical demonstration using enamel panels to test enamel material space resistance, assess future mission adoption, and demonstrate color printing on enamel via special printing techniques.

au Energy & Life launched a new electricity plan called "Nagareboshi Denki" on February 4 that leverages the "au denki" framework and offers subscribers educational and experiential benefits related to space development.

PR TIMES will support the project’s public awareness activities by recruiting supporting companies under the initiative called the "Ground Star Project."

ALE signed corporate partner agreements for the Starlight Challenge with PR TIMES, au Energy & Life, Takara Standard, and Trusco Nakayama.

ALE changed the material of the metal spheres to a composition less prone to adhesion for the next-generation release system.

The Starlight Challenge includes atmospheric observations intended to collect data on atmospheric composition and wind speed in the 60–80 kilometer altitude range of the mesosphere.

The Starlight Challenge will release ALE’s self-developed metal spheres from an artificial satellite in a near-400-kilometer Earth orbit to generate artificial meteors and produce a night-sky artificial meteor show.

ALE’s past two launch failures were caused by malfunctions in the satellite mission section’s release mechanism that prevented proper loading and release of the metal spheres.

Analysis involving JAXA and external specialists identified vacuum-induced adhesion between metals in space as a likely cause of the metal spheres’ failure to release.

The W-5 mission was funded through the Prometheus program, a partnership between the Air Force Research Laboratory and commercial space entities.

W-5 launched in November 2025 and spent nine weeks in orbit.

Varda’s flight-proven approach reduces risk for future programs and accelerates transition of experimental components to field-ready assets.

W-5 was the first time Varda Space Industries used its own vertically integrated satellite bus to support a full mission lifecycle from orbital operations to atmospheric reentry.

Varda capsules reenter at speeds exceeding Mach 25.

The W-5 mission used an in-house developed satellite bus designed for long-duration orbital pharmaceutical processing and high-velocity reentry.

The W-5 mission achieved precise landing and rapid recovery of the customer payload for immediate post-flight analysis.

W-5 was Varda Space Industries’ fourth launch in 2025.

W-5 was Varda Space Industries’ first reentry of 2026.

The Varda Space Industries W-5 capsule landed at the Koonibba Test Range in South Australia operated by Southern Launch.

C-PICA was originally developed at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California.

Prometheus funds low-cost, high-cadence flight testing to accelerate novel science and technology experiments in the extreme reentry environment.

The W-5 flight used an in-house manufactured heatshield made at Varda’s El Segundo headquarters from C-PICA (Conformal Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator).

Varda Space Industries provides fixed-cost, routine reentry as a platform for iterative testing of hypersonic flight characteristics for the Department of War.

Previous Varda flights funded through Prometheus include the W-2 and W-3 missions.

The W-5 capsule carried a specialized payload for the U.S. Navy focused on data collection during reentry.

NASA supported the commercialization of C-PICA via a Tipping Point award.

The W-5 mission demonstrated end-to-end autonomy by maintaining orbital stability, executing orbital maneuvers, and performing a precise deorbit burn with the Varda-built bus.

The M-346 fleet has logged over 150,000 flight hours and nearly 160 aircraft have been sold.

Multiple air forces worldwide, including in Asia, use the M-346 to train pilots for high-performance fighters and to prepare them for transition to next-generation combat air systems.

Leonardo signed a Letter of Intent with PT ESystem Solutions Indonesia and the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Indonesia to collaborate on the supply and support of M-346 F Block 20 aircraft for the Indonesian Air Force.

The Leonardo M-346 training system includes advanced mission systems, equipment and sensors, and a refuelling probe.

The M-346 procurement program will contribute to the Indonesian Ministry of Defence’s fleet modernization and replace obsolete types such as the Hawk.

Leonardo’s M-346 platform offers an integrated advanced flight training system that includes a Ground Based Training System, Live, Virtual and Constructive training scenarios combined with real flights, and a light-combat capability for air-to-air and air-to-surface missions.

The M-346 F Block 20 light combat configuration will be equipped with a cockpit with Large Area Display, an active electronically scanned array radar, Link 16 data-link, defensive systems with electronic countermeasures, and new weapons systems.

The Indonesian Ministry of Defence selected the M-346 to meet its operational and training requirements.

The Letter of Intent includes localization of a wide range of support, maintenance, overhaul, and training services and development of human capital.

The Italian Air Force selected the M-346 as the future aircraft for the Frecce Tricolori aerobatic demonstration team.

Twenty countries train their pilots on the M-346 or have chosen the M-346 Fighter variant as a light multirole fighter, including pilots trained at the International Flight Training School in Italy.

The parties will proceed to a negotiation phase aimed at concluding a supply contract to be signed next.

The SERV spacecraft bus has a 1.5-ton dry mass configured to fit within standard Falcon 9 fairing dimensions.

ApophisExL will study Asteroid Apophis’ gravitational interactions with Earth to help refine asteroid impact risk models.

ApophisExL is characterized as one of the most ambitious commercial deep-space ventures to date.

ExLabs will embed AI-driven guidance, navigation, and control software directly into the ApophisExL spacecraft to bypass communication latencies and reduce operational costs associated with planetary exploration.

ApophisExL will evaluate the feasibility of future in-situ resource utilization by prospecting Apophis for precious metals.

The ApophisExL mission will carry student-developed "CubeLanders" designed to study asteroid surface composition and structure.

ApophisExL will test specialized instrumentation for asteroid prospecting to survey the body for precious metals such as platinum and iridium.

ExLabs will execute ApophisExL using its SERV (Science, Exploration and Resource Vehicle) high-power, modular spacecraft bus.

SERV is optimized for rendezvous and proximity operations and serves as a mothership providing power, communications, and precise guidance for hosted instruments.

On February 3, 2026 ExLabs entered a strategic partnership with CUS-GNC to integrate the SpacePilot onboard autonomy software into its Mission to Asteroid Apophis.

SpacePilot is an onboard autonomy platform developed by CUS-GNC designed to enable spacecraft to close the loop without human intervention.