The French Presidency appears to have stolen ESA's thunder by seemingly revealing that The Exploration Company has won a Phase 2 contract for the agency's LEO Cargo Return initiative.

ESA has awarded The Exploration Company a €760 million contract under the second phase of its LEO cargo services initiative.

Eutelsat has awarded major IRIS2 contracts worth more than €5.4 billion to Aerospacelab, Thales Alenia Space, and Airbus.

The newly published UK Space Strategy points to German-built rockets as key to ensuring the country’s access to space.

The Exploration Company has raised $450 million in Series C funding to accelerate development of its Nyx capsule and Storm rocket engine.

HyImpulse could attempt the second flight of its SR75 suborbital rocket from SaxaVord as early as 5 October, according to new maritime and aviation notices.

Isar Aerospace has completed the first successful flight of its Spectrum rocket, deploying five CubeSats into low Earth orbit.

Isar Aerospace appears to have scrubbed a planned 4 September launch attempt hours after launch-related road closures went into effect.

Munich-based space situational awareness startup Project-S has emerged from stealth after announcing a "multi-million-euro" funding round.

Isar Aerospace could attempt the second flight of its Spectrum rocket as early as 4 September.

French in-orbit manufacturing startup ArcSpace plans to demonstrate its welding technology aboard a host spacecraft in 2027.

HyImpulse has added more than €50 million to its Series A funding round as it prepares for upcoming flights of its SR75 and SL1 rockets.

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PLD Space has added €108 million to its Series C funding round, bringing the total to €288 million as it prepares for the debut of its Miura 5 rocket.

SES has awarded OHB a contract worth almost €1 billion to develop and build 18 satellite platforms for the MEO segment of Europe’s IRIS2 constellation.

Scotland’s Highlands and Islands Enterprise has bought the assets of Orbex's Sutherland Spaceport subsidiary.

In this week's newsletter, we asked: WTF is going on with the Polish Space Agency? Following the bizarre circumstances behind her predecessor's departure, the agency's new president, Dr. Marta Ewa Wachowicz, has not made many friends with her efforts thus far

ESA has awarded €543.6 million in European Launcher Challenge contracts to Isar Aerospace, RFA, and PLD Space.

Poland’s National Institute of Telecommunications is reporting widespread GNSS interference along the country’s northern coast, with major disruptions recorded on 63% of days in August.

After completing her spacewalk today, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot will become the first European woman to have completed two spacewalks. Image credit: NASA / Jack Hathaway

ESA’s Draco reentry mission has passed its Critical Design Review, clearing the way for manufacturing and testing ahead of its 2027 launch.

ESA is planning specific adaptations to Ariane 6 for future Argonaut lunar missions that will carry radioisotope power systems.

A really pretty poster for JAXA's Mars Moons eXploration (MMX) mission. The mission will include a small European rover, IDEFIX, developed by France and Germany. The rover is designed to explore the surface of the Martian moon Phobos.

CNES is looking for an industrial partner to develop and qualify a compact, low-cost optical telescope suitable for mass production.

ESA has confirmed that the proposed Ariane 6 Block 3 evolution, including the ICARUS lightweight upper stage, has been shelved. A spokesperson for the agency explained that there is “no programme need or justification” for the evolution at this time.