The briefing for people who will build the next serious capability.

Issue 008 · 5 October 2026 · 12 min

Moving the mass

EXIM backs Astranis with a $468M credit facility to build GEO satellites in Northern California against a backlog of more than $1B. Varda raises $251M as two more capsules fly. Northrop's first 21 Transport Layer satellites reach Vandenberg for SDA. Open Cosmos raises €300M for four European factories rated at one satellite a day. Impulse adds $308M as its 2028 Helios rideshares sell out. Foothold 2 counts how much has to land on the Moon, and what has to be refueled before anything does.

What this issue is actually aboutEvery piece this week moves mass one step further, and each one gets the funded, flown, second-source test. Astranis has government credit and five satellites in orbit, but no named parallel builder on its orders. Varda brings capsules back down and has a competitor in reentry cargo but no deliberate second source, with one qualifier on its flight record. Northrop's 21 Transport Layer satellites are the issue's clearest second source, one of three builders, and score flown only once they are up and operating. Open Cosmos has the money and flown satellites; its one-a-day figure is capacity that orders still have to fill. Impulse is funded and booked, and Helios, which will carry Astranis satellites, does not fly until 2027. Foothold 2 of 6 takes the same test to the lunar surface: two funded lander providers, propellant that has to be moved in orbit first, and nothing landed yet.