#WASHINGTON — After recently winning a major contract to build military #satellites, Sierra Space is aiming to capture a larger share of the national security market in new sectors like in-orbit services and transportation.

Sierra Space is perhaps best known for developing Dream Chaser, a reusable spaceplane designed to ferry cargo and supplies to the International Space Station, and for partnering with Blue Origin on the construction of a commercially developed space station.

But the company also is gaining traction in the national security space business, with $1.3 billion worth of defense-related orders, Erik Daehler, Sierra Space’s vice president of orbital systems and services, told #SpaceNews.

#WASHINGTON — SpaceX’s Starship vehicle lifted off on its third test flight March 14, making significant progress compared to its first two.

The #Starship/Super Heavy vehicle lifted off from the company’s Starbase site at 9:25 a.m. Eastern. The liftoff was delayed by nearly an hour and a half because of ships in restricted waters offshore. SpaceX reported no technical issues during the countdown.

The Super #Heavy booster fired all 33 of its Raptor engines for nearly three minutes before executing “hot staging”, with the Starship upper stage’s engines igniting while still attached to Super Heavy. The booster then performed burns to attempt what SpaceX webcast hosts called a “soft splashdown” in the Gulf of Mexico, where it would not be recovered. However, the landing burn did not appear to go correctly, and telemetry suggested the booster hit the water at speeds in excess of 1,000 kilometers per hour

#WASHINGTON — A startup named Defense Unicorns has won a $15 million contract to update IT systems and #software applications used to support rocket launches at U.S. Space Force ranges.

The company, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, won a so-called Strategic Funding Increase, or #STRATFI, agreement from SpaceWERX, the technology arm of the Space Force.

STRATFI contracts are awarded to companies that have won Small Business Innovation Research projects to help transition products from development to production and to help small businesses attract private investors.

#TAMPA, Fla. — Omnispace is exploring how its proposed constellation of more than 600 low Earth orbit (LEO) #satellites could help connect phones and other devices subscribed to #MTN, Africa’s largest terrestrial mobile network operator.

The companies said March 12 they will use Omispace’s two prototypes in #LEO and the medium Earth orbit satellite acquired 12 years ago from bankrupt satellite services firm ICO to test the network, which would use S-band spectrum to keep mobile customers connected outside cell tower coverage.

MTN provides voice, data, and other connectivity services to more than 290 million customers in 19 countries across Africa and the Middle East.

Financial details about their partnership were not disclosed.

#Commercial. #Satellite firms forge unlikely alliances to create seamless multi-orbit networks.

Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service continues to grab market share and #geopolitical clout, highlighted by its crucial role in providing communications resilience in the #Ukraine conflict.

But the future of #satellite communications, industry executives and experts point out, is moving towards hybrid networks that combine services from low-Earth orbit like SpaceX’s #Starlink with those from higher altitude #satellites in medium and #geostationary orbits.

This shift is driven by both commercial demands and security needs, with the U.S. government and commercial users, like airlines and cruise ship companies, increasingly seeking multi-orbit solutions.

THE #WOODLANDS, Texas — The first flight of privately developed Japanese rocket ended in a catastrophic failure seconds after liftoff March 12.

The Kairos rocket, built by Japanese company Space One, exploded about five seconds after liftoff at 10:01 p.m. Eastern from #Spaceport Kii, a launch site in the southern part of Honshu. In a webcast of the launch, the rocket had not yet cleared a hillside surrounding it when it exploded.

Fragments of the #rocket fell back to the ground near the launch pad. There were no reports of injuries, and the launch pad itself appeared to escape damage.

#HELSINKI — Japan has established a multibillion-dollar Space Strategic Fund to help develop the country’s innovation, autonomy and international competitiveness in space.

Japan’s cabinet approved a bill to establish a $6.7 billion (1 trillion yen), 10-year fund for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in November, aimed at supporting development, technology demonstration, and commercialization of advanced technologies in the space field. New details were presented in a Space Policy Committee meeting in February, including defining three areas for support: satellites, space exploration and space transportation

#TAMPA, Fla. — The Airbus-built Eutelsat 36D geostationary communications #satellite landed in Sanford, Florida, March 11 ahead of a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch slated from the nearby Kennedy Space Center at the end of the month.

Eutelsat 36D had set off Saturday on an Airbus BelugaST (Super Transporter) from France where the satellite maker is based. It is the third time the manufacturer’s alternative to Ukrainian Antonov aircraft has flown a large satellite across the Atlantic since Airbus started offering an outsized freight transportation service two years ago.

The roughly 5,000-kilogram satellite is due to travel by truck to its launch site.

#TAMPA, Fla. — SpaceX has secured conditional approval to use extremely high-frequency E-band radio waves to improve the capacity of its low Earth orbit Starlink #broadband #constellation.

The Federal Communications Commission said March 8 it is allowing #SpaceX to use E-band frequencies between second-generation Starlink satellites and gateways on the ground, alongside already approved spectrum in the Ka and Ku bands.

Specifically, SpaceX is now also permitted to communicate between 71 and 76 gigahertz from space to Earth, and 81-86 GHz Earth-to-space, using the up to 7,500 Gen2 satellites SpaceX is allowed to deploy.

SpaceX has plans for 30,000 Gen2 satellites, on top of the 4,400 Gen1 #satellites already authorized by the #FCC.

#TAMPA, Fla. — Belgian camera maker Simera Sense has raised nearly $15 million to expand system assembly facilities out of South Africa and closer to its component producers in #Europe to develop higher-resolution #Cubesat products.

Simera Sense CEO and cofounder Johann du Toit said the company is also looking to establish a new facility this year, likely in Europe, to increase production capacity at least five times to meet growing demand from Earth observation satellite manufacturers.

“Our current production capacity is about 25 payloads plus additional 30-40 engineering and test models per year,” he told SpaceNews via email.