OUTERSPACE TODAYNEWS
← All editionsWednesday, July 15, 2026 / Issue 033
[ OST Daily ]

AST SpaceMobile Proposes $1B Convertible, Space Development Agency (SDA) Books $1.75B With L3Harris and Sierra Space, Frontier Signs Starlink for 1,000+ Aircraft

Outerspace Today6 min read / 2026-07-15
OST Daily July 15, 2026 — AST SpaceMobile announces a proposed $1 billion convertible notes offering with about $2.72 billion of cash on hand and a campaign targeting roughly 45 BlueBird satellites in early 2027, the Space Development Agency books $1.75 billion with L3Harris and Sierra Space for Golden Dome tracking satellites, and Frontier Airlines and other Indigo Partners carriers sign up for SpaceX’s Starlink across more than 1,000 aircraft
The daily pictureOST editorial illustration · 2026-07-15
[ 01 ]

The briefing

AST SpaceMobile announced a proposed $1 billion private offering of convertible senior notes due 2034 to qualified institutional buyers and disclosed about $2.723 billion in cash and restricted cash as of June 30. Alongside the deal, it said its launch campaign now targets roughly 45 BlueBird satellites in early 2027 and confirmed advanced talks with Rakuten on Japan's J-LEO program for a subsidy worth up to ¥148 billion, or about $1 billion, flowing through RAST Co., Ltd. The disclosure shifts the story from single-satellite demos to a funded constellation build with a Japanese sovereign hook.

The Space Development Agency awarded L3Harris $955 million and Sierra Space $798 million in fixed-price OTAs for 36 Accelerated Missile Defense Tranche 3 satellites, with launch targeted for 2028 to align with the Trump administration's Golden Dome deadline. L3Harris will build 18 HBTSS-like missile defense variants across two planes; Sierra Space will build 18 wider field-of-view missile warning and tracking variants. The award sits ahead of the earlier Tranche 3 Tracking Layer contracts, which are not slated to fly until 2029, and pulls Sierra Space more visibly into on-orbit missile defense production.

On the commercial side, Frontier Airlines and other Indigo Partners carriers signed on to SpaceX's Starlink for in-flight connectivity across more than 1,000 aircraft, with Frontier's first Starlink-equipped plane targeted for early 2027 and the carrier flagged as the first user of a new Starlink passenger access portal. Honeywell separately took the lead on an ESA-funded compact quantum space magnetometer with Quantum Brilliance and Jagiellonian University, targeting delivery in 2027, and Senra closed a $65 million Series B co-led by Lowercarbon and Interlagos to modernize wiring-assembly production for launch vehicles, satellites and defense platforms.

[ 02 / 6 items ]

The headlines

01

SDA awards L3Harris and Sierra Space $1.75B for 36 Golden Dome tracking satellites

LHX

The Space Development Agency awarded L3Harris up to $955 million and Sierra Space up to $798 million in fixed-price OTAs to build 36 Accelerated Missile Defense Tranche 3 satellites, targeted for launch in 2028 to align with the Trump administration's Golden Dome deadline. L3Harris will deliver 18 HBTSS-like missile defense variants across two orbital planes; Sierra Space will provide 18 missile warning and tracking variants. The award sits ahead of last December's Tranche 3 Tracking Layer contracts, which are slated to fly in 2029.

02

Frontier and Indigo Partners commit 1,000+ aircraft to Starlink IFC

SpaceX

Frontier Airlines and other Indigo Partners carriers, including Wizz Air, Volaris, JetSMART and Cebu Pacific, will roll out SpaceX's Starlink in-flight connectivity across more than 1,000 aircraft, with Frontier's first Starlink-equipped plane targeted for early 2027. Frontier said it will be the first airline to use a new Starlink passenger access system, and CEO Jimmy Dempsey framed the deal as part of a broader upgrade that also includes a new first-class cabin and loyalty changes. Frontier currently operates around 176 Airbus A320-family aircraft.

03

Senra closes $65M Series B to modernize wiring assemblies for rockets and satellites

SpaceX

Senra, founded in 2023 by former SpaceX engineer Jordan Black, closed a $65 million Series B co-led by Lowercarbon and Interlagos, with General Catalyst, Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz and Founders Fund participating. The startup builds software-enabled, semi-automated wiring assemblies for rockets, satellites, missiles and maritime and defense vehicles, and Black cited Boeing's 2023 Starliner wiring rework as an example of why traceability matters. Customers were not disclosed but span launch, satellite and defense platforms.

04

Honeywell leads ESA quantum space magnetometer contract

Honeywell Aerospace will lead a consortium with Quantum Brilliance and Jagiellonian University in Kraków to develop, test and deliver a compact quantum space magnetometer to ESA by 2027 under an ESA-funded contract. The instrument combines Quantum Brilliance's NV-diamond technology with Honeywell's Brno R&D engineering to provide full-vector magnetic field measurements within tight satellite size, weight and power constraints. ESA aligned the project with its Earth observation and space-science goals for geomagnetic mapping and space domain awareness.

05

Lunar Outpost Europe joins ESA's 2030 Moonraker LiDAR mapper

Lunar Outpost Europe, the Luxembourg subsidiary of the US lunar terrain vehicle developer, was selected to contribute thermal management solutions to ESA's Moonraker mission, a NUVIEW-led lunar orbiter that will use LiDAR to build 3D maps of the lunar surface for South Pole landing site selection, targeted for launch in 2030. Ahead of Moonraker, Lunar Outpost plans a European Commission-funded LEO demonstration to gain flight heritage for the thermal components, and expects to feed data back into its LUX-Thermal platform for surviving the lunar night.

06

Space Force National Security Space Launch (NSSL) pool reaches seven providers as FCC Space Modernization vote nears

Payload's field guide on National Security Space Launch confirms the Space Force added two providers on July 8, bringing the NSSL Phase 3 pool to seven companies eligible for Lane 1 and Lane 2 task orders, with 84 missions expected to be awarded across FY25 to FY29. The piece also flags FCC Chair Brendan Carr's plan for a July 22 commission vote on the Space Modernization Order, which would overhaul satellite and Earth station licensing, and a NASA Office of Inspector General finding that agency launch facilities will likely hit capacity by the end of the decade.

[ 03 / +4 / -39 ]

Market pulse

Archived snapshot from this edition. Prices and moves are not live.

Gainers+4
Decliners-39
Big mover ASTS-18.7%

AST SpaceMobile's delayed provider tape showed ASTS down 18.7%, moving alongside the company's proposed $1 billion convertible senior notes offering and associated capital-structure disclosures.

AssetSnapshotMoveTrend
AMEAMETEK$236.56+1.3%
PHParker Hannifin$964.53+1.2%
TDYTeledyne Technologies$628.87+0.8%
ASTSAST SpaceMobile$53.91-18.7%
RKLBRocket Lab$67.25-11.7%
PLPlanet Labs$22.11-11.2%
[ 04 / 6 tracked ]

Launch watch

Schedule and countdowns as recorded in the 2026-07-15 edition.

Starship | Flight 13

SpaceX · Starship V3 · Orbital Launch Pad 2 · SpaceX Starbase, TX · Suborbital

Vikram-I | Demo Flight

Skyroot Aerospace · Vikram-I · Satish Dhawan Space Centre First Launch Pad · Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India · LEO

Gravity-1

Orienspace Technology · Gravity-1 · Yellow Sea (launch location 5) · Haiyang Oriental Spaceport

[ 05 / 5 in window ]

Filings

[ End of Issue 033 ]

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