Space Economy Weekly
Week 31, 2026 — Your weekly space industry digest
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Current Issue
Space Economy Weekly — Week 31, 2026: NASA selects successor to CAPSTONE lunar mission
Generated July 28, 2026
Top Story
NASA selects successor to CAPSTONE lunar mission
SpaceNewsJuly 28, 2026
NASA has selected Advanced Space to fly a successor to a cislunar smallsat mission that will test rendezvous and proximity operations around the moon. The post NASA selects successor to CAPSTONE lunar mission appeared first on SpaceNews.
Headlines This Week
Smoke Blankets Oregon
NASAJuly 28, 2026
Lightning storms have ignited dozens of fires in central and eastern Oregon....
Upper C-band auction offers another lift for GEO industry
SpaceNewsJuly 27, 2026
Satellite operators have welcomed the prospect of reaping more than $6 billion for quickly clearing upper C-band spectrum the FCC aims to auction next year, with billions more set ...
Sphinx Defense wins $287 million contract for strategic satellite communications software
SpaceNewsJuly 27, 2026
Award covers mission planning software for ESS next-generation strategic communications satellites The post Sphinx Defense wins $287 million contract for strategic satellite commun...
NASA Astronaut Chris Williams to Discuss Space Station Mission
NASAJuly 27, 2026
NASA astronaut Chris Williams will recap his recent eight-month mission aboard the International Space Station during a news conference at 2:45 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Aug. 4, from the a...
NASA Science Soars During August Total Solar Eclipse
NASAJuly 27, 2026
Each time the Moon covers the Sun during a total solar eclipse — darkening daytime skies and briefly revealing the Sun’s ethereal outer atmosphere, the corona — it presents new opp...
Upcoming Launches
Long March 7A | Unknown Payload
China Aerospace Science and Technology CorporationLong March 7A
Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China · July 29, 2026
Long March 6A | Unknown Payload
China Aerospace Science and Technology CorporationLong March 6A
Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China · July 30, 2026
Falcon 9 Block 5 | NROL-95
SpaceXFalcon 9 Block 5
Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA · July 30, 2026
Company Spotlight
Unseenlabs
Owns and operates the BRO satellite constellation and sells RF-emitter detection and geolocation data and analytics on subscription to navies, coast guards, government agencies and commercial maritime
Key Products
- •BRO Gen 1 — ~15 kg nanosatellite constellation for RF-emitter geolocation.
- •BRO Gen 2 — ~150 kg microsatellite with L/S/C/X/Ku band coverage, extending into land and space domain awareness.
- •BRO-22 — Manifested as the first foreign private satellite to fly on Japan's H3 rocket.
Latest: Signs MoU with Space BD for Japanese distribution and integration
Market Insight
Catalyst: Artemis II COMPLETED
Artemis II COMPLETED — first crewed flight beyond LEO since Apollo 17 (1972) — Mission success (Apr 1–10, 2026): Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen traveled 695,081 miles and reached 252,756 miles from Earth. Validates SLS/Orion architecture and anchors the multi-year Artemis appropriations track toward Artemis III crewed landing.
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