This Week in Space Tech: Oct. 6 to 12, 2025
A busy week of launches, big checks for reusable rockets, and policy moves shaping the next year of space operations.
Welcome to This Week in Space Tech. From fresh Starlink flights and Blue Origin’s return to science hops, to a half-billion dollar raise for Stoke and a major defense-tilted acquisition, here are the headlines that mattered.
Launches and on-orbit moves
SpaceX flew two Starlink missions within 24 hours, one from Florida on Oct 6 and another from Vandenberg on Oct 7, adding dozens of broadband satellites to orbit.
Blue Origin’s New Shepard returned to suborbital service on Oct 8 with mission NS-36, carrying research and tech demos and landing both booster and capsule in West Texas.
China’s commercial player Orienspace launched Gravity-1 from a sea platform on Oct 10, marking the rocket’s second flight and reinforcing China’s growing private-sector lift capability.
Amazon’s Project Kuiper KF-03 was scrubbed for weather on Oct 9 and reset to the weekend, underscoring tight Florida ranges and recovery constraints.
Deals, funding, and startup momentum
Stoke Space raised 510 million dollars to accelerate its fully reusable Nova launch system, in a round led by Thomas Tull’s US Innovative Technology Fund plus a debt facility. The company says the cash carries Nova through early flights.
Firefly Aerospace moved deeper into defense software with an agreement to acquire SciTec for about 855 million dollars in cash and stock, positioning for missile warning and “Golden Dome” work. Coverage and filings landed Oct 5 to Oct 7, squarely shaping this week.
Planet Labs won a U.S. Navy contract renewal to feed satellite imagery into the SeaVision maritime awareness platform, a tidy sign that EO spending remains resilient.
Policy, regulation, and infrastructure
Vandenberg Space Force Base finalized an environmental review that clears higher Falcon launch cadence and pad changes at SLC-4 and SLC-6, with a Record of Decision signed Oct 10. Expect even more West Coast traffic. The FCC teed up its October “Space Month” agenda, circulating items on streamlining space and earth-station licensing, with draft documents dated Oct 7 and agenda notes out Oct 10.
Market pulse
Venture data pointed to a record quarter for space tech with 3.5 billion dollars deployed in Q3, continuing the rebound and favoring infrastructure and national security programs.