This Week in Space Tech #22
A high tempo week where launch cadence stayed hot, defense constellations kept scaling, and startups pulled in fresh capital to turn satellite data into real products.
Welcome to This Week in Space Tech.
Launches and launch operations
Jan 12: SpaceX launched 29 Starlink satellites on a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral (Starlink 6-97), keeping its early-2026 pace moving.
Jan 14: SpaceX launched another 29 Starlink satellites (Starlink 6-98) and set a new turnaround record for its Cape Canaveral pad, flying again just 45 hours after the Jan 12 mission.
Jan 16: SpaceX flew NROL-105 for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office from Vandenberg, part of the NRO’s push toward a large “proliferated” architecture in low Earth orbit.
Jan 18: SpaceX capped the week with another 29 Starlink satellites (Starlink 6-100), extending the steady drumbeat of constellation replenishment.
Setbacks and reliability watch
Jan 12: India’s PSLV-C62 mission failed due to a third-stage anomaly, losing 16 satellites and marking a second consecutive PSLV failure tied to third-stage issues.
Government, defense, and procurement moves
Jan 13: The U.S. Space Force switched an upcoming GPS launch from ULA’s Vulcan to a SpaceX Falcon 9 to get capability to orbit sooner, continuing the trend of reshuffling manifests around vehicle availability.
Jan 15: Slingshot Aerospace announced a $27 million U.S. Space Force contract tied to modernizing orbital warfare training and simulation with an AI-driven environment.
Startups and funding
Jan 14: SkyFi announced $12.7 million to expand its satellite imagery marketplace and analytics, betting that customers increasingly want “answers,” not just pixels.
Jan 15: India-based Aule Space raised $2 million to develop “attachable” propulsion add-ons intended to extend satellite life without traditional in-orbit refueling.
Broadband and the European supply chain
Jan 16: Eutelsat (OneWeb) signed a multi-launch agreement with MaiaSpace for future LEO satellite launches starting in 2027, a notable step in Europe’s effort to broaden launch options beyond SpaceX.