Portal Space Systems Raises $50M Series A for Solar Thermal Propulsion Scale-Up Portal Space Systems closed a $50M Series A on April 9, 2026, led by Geodesic Capital and Mach33, with Booz Allen Ventures, ARK Invest, AlleyCorp, and FUSE participating, valuing the company at $250M. Total funding including $45M in prior military strategic investment now stands at ~$117.5M. Capital will fund headcount scaling to ~100, a 52,000 sq ft Bothell manufacturing facility, and Starburst-1 launch preparation for SpaceX Transporter-18 in Q4 2026. Portal's HEX Thruster (Flare) passed thermal vacuum testing at operational temperatures in September 2025 — the first commercial solar thermal propulsion test. Starburst-1 will demonstrate rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) and rapid retasking.
Apr 9, 2026 Space Force Awards Space Domain Awareness IDIQ to 14 Commercial Companies The Space Systems Command (SSC) in El Segundo awarded an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract on April 7, 2026, for space-based space domain awareness capability. The 14-company pool includes Anduril, Astranis, BAE Systems Space, General Atomics, Intuitive Machines, L3Harris, Lockheed Martin, Millennium Space Systems, Northrop Grumman, Quantum Space, Redwire, Sierra Space, True Anomaly, and Turion Space. The IDIQ ceiling and individual task order values were not disclosed. The procurement was competitive with 32 offers received. This represents a significant commercial-first approach to orbital domain awareness infrastructure.
Apr 7, 2026 Artemis II Launches — First Crewed Deep Space Flight Since Apollo 17 NASA launched the Artemis II mission on April 1, 2026 at 6:35 p.m. EDT from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center, sending commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a ~10-day free-return trajectory around the Moon. The SLS core stage and Orion spacecraft performed nominally, with solar array deployment confirmed shortly after separation. On April 2, the crew completed a 5-minute, 55-second translunar injection burn that set Orion on course to reach a maximum distance of approximately 252,021 miles from Earth — surpassing the Apollo 13 record. The mission is a crewed test flight, not a lunar landing, and is intended to validate Orion life support, navigation, and deep-space systems ahead of Artemis IV.
Apr 1, 2026 SpaceX Files Confidentially with SEC for IPO — $2T+ Valuation, June Listing On April 1, 2026, SpaceX submitted a confidential draft registration statement to the SEC, confirmed by Bloomberg and CNBC, targeting a June Nasdaq listing. Initial valuation guidance was $1.75 trillion with a targeted $75 billion raise; by April 6 investor testing-the-waters meetings pushed the target above $2 trillion — what would be the largest IPO in history, tripling Saudi Aramco's $25.6 billion 2019 record. The company merged with Elon Musk's xAI in February 2026, combining space, satellite, and AI assets. Starlink generates an estimated $8.2 billion in annual revenue. Public S-1 expected in late April–May, ahead of OpenAI and Anthropic listings.
Apr 1, 2026 SpaceX Files Confidential IPO Registration with SEC SpaceX confidentially submitted draft IPO registration documents to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on April 1, 2026, targeting a June 2026 listing. The filing was confirmed by Bloomberg, CNBC, Reuters, and the Wall Street Journal. The company is seeking a valuation of up to $1.75 trillion and aims to raise as much as $75 billion — which would surpass Saudi Aramco's $29 billion 2019 debut as the largest IPO in history. Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley are lined up as senior underwriters. The valuation is anchored primarily by Starlink, which ended 2025 with 9.2 million subscribers and over $10 billion in revenue, now crossing 10 million subscribers as of February 2026. A prior all-stock merger with xAI pushed the combined entity valuation to approximately $1.25 trillion before the IPO premium.
Apr 1, 2026 SpaceX Transporter-16: 119 Payloads to SSO on First 2026 Rideshare SpaceX launched 119 payloads to sun-synchronous orbit on March 30, 2026 at 4:02 a.m. PDT from Vandenberg Space Force Base aboard Falcon 9 booster B1093, making its 12th flight. Deployments began 55 minutes after liftoff across a four-burn upper-stage sequence. The mission brought SpaceX's cumulative rideshare program total past 1,600 satellites launched. Exolaunch was the largest integrator with 57 payloads for more than 25 customers across 12 countries; SEOPS Space manifested 19 payloads. Notable customers included ICEYE (6 SAR satellites, 2 for Poland's POLSARIS constellation), HawkEye 360 (3 satellites), Spire Global (10 satellites), Muon Space (3 Vindlér RF monitoring satellites for Sierra Nevada Corp), Bellatrix Aerospace, EnduroSat, Satlantis, and ArkEdge Space.
Mar 30, 2026 AST SpaceMobile BlueBird 7 Encapsulated — On Track for Intermittent Nationwide D2D by End of Q1 AST SpaceMobile confirmed on March 26, 2026 that BlueBird 7 had been encapsulated for its upcoming launch, with the company maintaining its target of intermittent nationwide direct-to-device (D2D) service in the United States by end of Q1 2026. Shares surged 10.4% ($96.00) on March 26 following a trifecta of catalysts: BlueBird 7 encapsulation, a $30M US government tactical demonstration contract, and sector-wide excitement around SpaceX's IPO filing. BlueBirds 8–25 are in various stages of assembly at Midland, Texas. The company remains on track to deploy 45–60 satellites by year-end 2026. AT&T and Verizon beta service for select commercial and FirstNet users targeted for H1 2026.
Mar 26, 2026 Xona Space Raises $170M Series C to Accelerate Pulsar LEO PNT Constellation Xona Space Systems closed an oversubscribed $170M Series C led by Mohari Ventures Natural Capital (with Craft Ventures, ICONIQ, Woven Capital, NGP Capital, Samsung Next, Hexagon). Funds will scale the Pulsar constellation and new Burlingame factory for resilient centimeter-accurate navigation as a GPS alternative.
Mar 26, 2026