MENLO TIMES

Astrobotic, a pioneering space exploration company aiming to make space accessible to the world, led by John Thornton and others, has announced that it has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Voyager Technologies (NYSE: VOYG). The transaction marks a major milestone in Astrobotic’s nearly two‑decade mission to make the Moon accessible and to build the infrastructure needed for a continuous U.S. presence on the lunar surface. Strengthening Voyager’s Lunar Ambitions. Un

Impulse Space, the in-space mobility leader, led by Tom Mueller and the team, has raised $500 million in Series D funding, co-led by 137 Ventures and BANNER VC, bringing the company’s total capital raised to over $1 billion. Additional participating investors include Founder’s Fund, Lux Capital, and Linse Capital. Scaling Infrastructure for In-Space Mobility. The funding will support team expansion and manufacturing growth as Impulse Space accelerates development of in-space

Firefly Space, a space and defense technology company that enables government and commercial customers to launch, land, and operate in space, anywhere, anytime, led by Jason Kim and the team, has announced it was awarded a $75 million subcontract from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to deliver four drones to the Moon’s south pole in support of the agency’s MoonFall mission, targeted to launch no earlier than 2028. MoonFall is part of the first phase of NASA’s Moon Base

Vast Space, building next-gen space stations, led by Jed McCaleb, Max Haot, and the team, has announced its commitment to establish its European headquarters in Paris and an agreement with the Government of France, for two missions involving two French astronauts: the sixth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station and the Haven-1 test flight, the first crewed mission to Vast’s Haven-1 commercial space station scheduled to launch in 2027 at the Choose Franc

PLD Space, unlocking rapid, reliable, and sustainable access to space, led by Ezequiel Sánchez, Raúl Torres, Raúl Verdú, and the team, has announced a €35 million investment in the development and deployment of its Launch Complex at the Guiana Space Centre (CSG) in Kourou (French Guiana) over the 2025-2026 period. Strengthening Europe’s Spaceport Ecosystem The investment makes PLD Space the first private company to deploy capital expenditure at this scale at the ELM-Diamant l

Observable Space, a real-time observation platform powering ground and space optics, led by Dan Roelker, Rick Hedrick, Connor Poole, and the team, has raised a $90 million Series A funding round, led by Lux Capital, co-led by Upfront Ventures, Detroit Venture Partners, Island Green Capital, and RTX Ventures, and with participation from BRV Capital, Fathom Fund, and Venrex. The company has also announced a $94 million sole-sourced Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ

Virgin Galactic, harnessing spaceflight to expand the boundaries of exploration, innovation, and discovery to advance human progress, has announced that VSS Unity, its prototype Spaceship, has returned to the skies above Spaceport America in New Mexico for the first of several anticipated glide flights. These flights are designed to prepare the company’s pilots and operations teams ahead of new Spaceship operations. Mike Moses said that Unity’s glide and energy-management cha

Astrolab, the ultimate in planetary mobility, led by Jaret Matthews and the team, has announced NASA payload customers for its first lunar mission aboard the company’s FLIP (FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform) rover. FLIP will fly aboard Griffin-1 lander under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, which supports missions to the Moon’s south pole as part of the Artemis campaign. The mission is scheduled for late 2026 and will mark FLIP’s lunar debut, carrying

Intuitive Machines, a space technology, infrastructure, and services leader, led by Stephen Altemus and the team, has announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd. (“Goonhilly”), a world-class deep space communications provider with major ground station assets in the United Kingdom and Goonhilly USA Inc. (dba COMSAT). The acquisition, including Goonhilly’s lunar and deep space communications, commercial satcom, and defense and se

Star Catcher, powering the next industrial revolution, led by Andrew Rush, Michael Snyder, and Bryan Lyandvert, has raised $65 million in an oversubscribed Series A round. The new investment, led by B Capital and co-led by Shield Capital and Cerberus Ventures, the venture arm of Cerberus Capital Management, brings Star Catcher's total capital raised to $88 million. Cerberus’ General John W. “Jay” Raymond (Ret.), the first Chief of Space Operations of the United States Space F

By Kevin Lausten, CEO, Morpheus Space - A leading innovator and manufacturer of advanced electric propulsion systems for in-space mobility. Electric propulsion is shifting satellites from fixed assets to mobile infrastructure. As orbital congestion rises, maneuverability is becoming a core driver of mission value. Access to Space Is Improving but Orbital Mobility Remains Constrained The “New Space” era has fundamentally changed launch economics. The cost per kilogram to orbit

Astranis, building the world's most advanced satellites for high orbits, led by John Gedmark and the team, has raised $450 million in new capital, bringing the company’s total raised to more than $1.2 billion as it scales to meet increased demand for its spacecraft designed for geostationary orbit (GEO) and other high orbits. The funding includes a new $300 million Series E round co-led by Snowpoint Ventures and Franklin Templeton, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz,

Lunar Outpost, the industry leader in commercial space robotics, lunar surface mobility, and in-space infrastructure, led by Justin Cyrus, Forrest Meyen, AJ Gemer, Julian Cyrus, and the team, has announced a $30M Series B led by Industrious Ventures, with participation from Type One Ventures, Eniac Ventures, Promus Ventures, Reliable Equity, and others. The funding will accelerate production and deployment of the company’s advanced robotics and mobility platforms as it scales

GalaxEye, pioneering a new standard in earth observation, led by Suyash Singh, Denil Chawda, Pranit Mehta, Kishan Thakkar, and Rakshit Bhatt, has announced the successful launch of Mission Drishti, the world’s first OptoSAR satellite, marking a significant milestone in the advancement of Earth observation technologies and reinforcing India’s growing capabilities in the global space sector. Weighing 190 kilograms, Mission Drishti is India’s largest privately developed Earth ob

Pixxel, reimagining earth observation for a new era, led by Awais Ahmed and Kshitij Khandelwal, has announced a strategic partnership with Sarvam, led by Pratyush Kumar, to develop and build India’s first orbital data centre satellite. Under the partnership, Pixxel will design, build, launch, and operate the Pathfinder satellite, while Sarvam AI will provide the AI backbone, enabling both training and inference directly in orbit with full-stack language models running onboard

York Space Systems, a leading U.S.-based space and defense prime providing a comprehensive suite of mission-critical solutions for national security, government, and commercial customers, announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire ALL.SPACE, a leading provider of advanced satellite communications terminals and multi-network connectivity solutions, led by Paul McCarter and the team. Upon closing of the transaction, ALL.SPACE will operate as a wholly owned

True Anomaly, delivering decisive capabilities for space superiority, led by Even Rogers, Kyle Zakrzewski, and the team, has raised $650 million Series D financing co-led by Eclipse and Riot Ventures, with support from new investors Paradigm, Atreides, G Squared, The Private Shares Fund, VanEck, and others, alongside existing investors Accel, Menlo Ventures, ACME Capital, Space VC, Meritech Capital, Narya, and 645 Ventures. It includes $50 million in debt provided by Stifel B

Vast, the only operational commercial space station company to have flown and operated its own spacecraft in orbit, led by Jed McCaleb, Max Haot, and the team, has announced the Large Docking Adapter, including its current development, its availability for purchase, and Vast’s plans to open-source its interface. Future space stations will feature larger modules, greater mass, and next-generation crewed vehicles, requiring new docking standards and universal hardware. The Lar

Spacebackend, redefining how mission-critical systems are integrated, led by Dmitry Goldenberg, Yoav Landsman, and the team, has announced the closing of a €1.8 million pre-seed funding round, bringing its total capital raised to over €2.2 million. The round included participation from Bynd Venture Capital, Athos Capital, and Draper B1, complemented by strategic non-dilutive funding from the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA) through the national LuxIMPULSE programme, as well as a

Turion Space , Proliferating Critical Space Infrastructure, led by Ryan Westerdahl , Tyler Pierce , and Patryk Wiatr , has raised a $75+ million Series B financing round led by ​Washington Harbour Partners​, with pro-rata participation from existing investors including Aurelia Foundry , Forward Deployed VC , and  FoundersX . Turion also added new capital partners, including Center15 Capital , Magnetar , HOF Capital , and Industrious Ventures , with the raise. Turion’s Serie