OST Staff

• FCC Clears Amazon's $11.5 Billion Globalstar Acquisition, Opening Path to Satellite Phone Service

  October 27, 2026

  The Federal Communications Commission's Space Bureau has approved Amazon Leo's application to acquire roughly 25 megahertz of Globalstar's internationally harmonized mobile-satellite service spectrum. The decision concludes the agency's review of Amazon Leo's $11.5 billion purchase of Globalstar and clears a major regulatory path for the companies to combine their assets. Amazon Leo is Amazon's low Earth orbit satellite network, formerly known internally as Project Kuiper before the company ado

• NASA and USDA Sign Agreement to Expand Satellite Data for American Farmers

  October 27, 2026

  NASA and the Department of Agriculture signed a memorandum of understanding on Saturday to cooperate on Earth-observation and geospatial analytics aimed at improving the data available to American farmers and ranchers. The agreement marks the second MoU the space agency has signed this month to boost collaboration among government agencies. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins signed the MoU at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, the latest stop on

• DIA Warns China and Russia Building "Formidable" Counterspace Arsenals

  October 27, 2026

  China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea are developing, testing, and deploying space capabilities in ways that threaten the security of all space systems, according to a Defense Intelligence Agency assessment. The report states that China and Russia in particular are building a spectrum of offensive capabilities ranging from kinetic destruction to jamming and cyber operations that could degrade or destroy the space services of other countries. The assessment frames the four actors as exhibiting be

• Voyager to Manage Interstellar Lab's Plant-Growth Payload on the ISS

  October 27, 2026

  Voyager Technologies has signed a mission management contract with Interstellar Lab to host the company's BioPod EDEN plant-growth experiment aboard the International Space Station. The agreement places Voyager in charge of the full operational chain, from payload preparation through on-orbit operations, as it builds experience ahead of its planned Starlab commercial station. The deal positions Voyager as an ISS-era services integrator, taking on the practical work of flying another company's e

• Astroscale Pitches 'Bodyguard' Satellites Built From Debris-Removal Technology

  October 27, 2026

  Astroscale says the same spacecraft technologies it developed to remove space junk and service broken satellites could be repurposed into fleets of protector spacecraft that shield high-value satellites from adversary attacks. The company believes it could have a protector spacecraft ready for launch in under three years. The idea is a proposal, not a funded program. The pitch comes as Western space assets face mounting threats from Russia. Astroscale conducted an up-close in-orbit inspection o

• Cowboy Space Targets 2028 Debut for Big Iron Rocket and 20 GW Orbital Computing Network

  October 27, 2026

  Cowboy Space Corp., the space infrastructure startup founded by Robinhood co-founder Baiju Bhatt, has unveiled its Big Iron rocket, Clydesdale engine and plans for a massive orbital AI computing network called Stampede, targeting a first launch in 2028. The announcements lay out a vertically integrated strategy to build nearly every component of an orbital computing business in-house, from rocket engines and reusable launch vehicles to satellites and dedicated launch infrastructure. The company

• Cowboy Space Unveils Big Iron Rocket With Upper Stage That Becomes an Orbital Data Center

  October 27, 2026

  Cowboy Space revealed Big Iron on Monday evening, a launch vehicle whose upper stage is designed to remain in orbit as a megawatt-class data center. The company is also opening the vehicle to outside customers through a program called Big Iron Express, offering payloads access to up to a megawatt of power. The company's goal is to put large amounts of power in orbit to run AI data centers. COO and Chief Legal Officer Joseph Yaffe said building its own vehicle is the most efficient way to achiev

• U.S. Intelligence Warns China Could Deploy Orbital Directed-Energy Weapons by Late This Decade

  October 27, 2026

  China could field space-based directed-energy weapons by the end of the decade, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency said in a new assessment released October 26. The agency also warned that Russia is developing an expanding arsenal of weapons capable of attacking satellites in orbit. The assessment identifies two distinct threats to systems operating in space. One centers on China's potential to deploy directed-energy weapons in orbit within the current decade. The other concerns Russia's ongo

• NASA Ends 22-Year Swift Mission After Private Rescue Spacecraft Fails to Boost Orbit

  October 26, 2026

  NASA has officially ended the mission of its Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory after a private spacecraft failed in its attempt to raise the aging telescope's orbit. The agency announced the conclusion on Friday, October 23, stating that Swift is expected to reenter Earth's atmosphere "in the next few weeks." NASA had hoped to extend Swift's life. In September 2025, the agency awarded a $30 million contract to the Arizona company Katalyst Space Technologies to rescue the observatory, which was fal

• Pentagon Backs Stoke Space With $150 Million Loan for Second Cape Canaveral Launchpad

  October 26, 2026

  The Department of War's Office of Strategic Capital announced a $150 million conditional loan commitment with Stoke Space Technologies on October 26, 2026, to fund a second launchpad at the company's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station complex. The financing, paired with private capital, is aimed at expanding U.S. launch capacity to meet rising commercial and national security demand. The commitment supports the buildout of launch infrastructure at a time when the United States Space Force requi

• Apex in Talks for $500 Million Raise at $4 Billion Valuation to Scale Satellite Bus Production

  October 26, 2026

  Satellite bus manufacturer Apex entered discussions on Thursday, October 22, 2026, to raise approximately $500 million in a new funding round valuing the company at roughly $4 billion. The capital would accelerate high-volume production of standardized orbital buses for commercial and national security constellations, marking a sharp valuation step up for the Los Angeles company. The talks follow four months after Apex secured $200 million at a $2.3 billion valuation in June. That trajectory re

• Blue Origin Rebuilds New Glenn Launch Tower, Targets November Pad Return

  October 26, 2026

  Blue Origin has installed the final segment of a new 430-ft. tower at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Space Launch Complex 36, clearing a major step toward resuming New Glenn pad operations in November. The completed structure returns the company's heavy-lift rocket program to the pad for its ongoing flight campaign. The work centered on the Vehicle Access Tower at SLC-36, which supports launches of the New Glenn rocket. Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp confirmed the tower's completion in an Octo