Latest briefing · September 5, 2026
SES O3b mPOWER Constellation Nears Completion as Europe's Launch Capital Race Heats Up
The final three O3b mPOWER satellites arrive at Cape Canaveral while European smallsat launchers raise hundreds of millions in fresh capital.
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September 5, 2026
What the Lunar Laser Team at IEEE Spectrum Just Got Right About Moon Navigation
A proposal to plant ultra-stable optical clocks in permanently shadowed lunar craters could redefine how spacecraft navigate the Moon.
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September 4, 2026
ESA's MAGPIE Lunar Rover Deal and Artemis III Engine Install Signal a Busy Season for Moon Surface Power Planning
Two concrete milestones — ESA's MAGPIE rover contract and Artemis III RS-25 engine installation — sharpen the timeline for lunar surface power decisions.
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September 3, 2026
DOE's $12 Million SBSP Bet: What the Fund Proves — and What It Doesn't
The US DOE has opened a $12M R&D fund for space-based solar power, a meaningful signal — but three hard questions still separate a lab demo from a grid asset.
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September 2, 2026
Elve's 100 W Millimeter-Wave Amplifier Hits TRL-8: What It Means for Power Beaming
Elve's space-qualified 100 W mm-wave amplifier reaching TRL-8 in August 2026 is the most concrete power-transmission hardware milestone in months.
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September 1, 2026
Elve's TRL-8 TWTA Breaks a U.S. Monopoly That Power-Beaming Can't Afford to Ignore
A second American supplier of space-qualified TWTAs just hit TRL-8 — and the implications stretch well beyond telecom satellites.
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August 29, 2026
City Labs' Second Nuclear Demo Signals a Credible Path for Milliwatt-Class Lunar Surface Power
City Labs plans a radioisotope heating unit demo after its first betavoltaic success — a small but measurable step on the lunar surface power roadmap.
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August 29, 2026
What Samantha Lawler Just Got Right About a Million Satellites and the Night Sky
Astronomer Samantha Lawler's 2026 model shows orbital AI data-centre satellites could outnumber visible stars—a finding every space power planner needs to read.
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August 28, 2026
Starlink's $11.4 Billion Engine: How Satellite Broadband Is Bankrolling Starship's Infrastructure Buildout
SpaceX's connectivity division posted $4.4B operating profit in 2025 — the cash funding 17 Starship pads and a $100B Louisiana spaceport.
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August 27, 2026
Tritium Betavoltaic Cells Head to Orbit: What It Means for Lunar Surface Power
Nuclear "batteries" using tritium beta decay are being tested in space for the first time, targeting the one power problem solar can't solve: the 14-day lunar night.
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