OUTERSPACE TODAYNEWS
← All editionsThursday, August 13, 2026 / Issue 054
[ OST Daily ]

Firefly Clears Its First $100M Quarter, Space Force Adds $28M for Two More Impulse Mira Missions, Northrop Starts the Optus Servicer Handover

Outerspace Today4 min read / 2026-08-13
OST Daily August 13, 2026 — Firefly Aerospace reported $117.7 million in second-quarter revenue, up 45.5% sequentially and its first quarter above $100 million, Space Systems Command added $28 million to Impulse Space's Victus Salo contract for two more Mira missions, and Northrop Grumman began separating its Mission Extension Vehicle from an Optus satellite to hand off to a robotic servicer.
The daily pictureOST editorial illustration · 2026-08-13
[ 01 ]

The briefing

Firefly Aerospace reported $117.7 million in Q2 revenue, its first $100 million-plus quarter, and extended its multi-launch agreement with Lockheed Martin by two years to cover up to 25 Alpha Block II flights through 2031, with the Block II debut now slipping into Q4 on Alpha Flight 8. Spire Global reaffirmed full-year revenue guidance alongside its Q2 report, and Virgin Galactic pushed the resumption of commercial Spaceship flights into February 2027 after assembly delays.

Government demand keeps widening the buyer base. The U.S. Space Force added $28 million to Impulse Space's Victus Salo contract for two more Mira maneuvering demonstrations, taking that award to about $62.8 million,. Northrop Grumman began separating its Mission Extension Vehicle from Optus in geostationary orbit to make way for a Mission Robotic Vehicle that will bolt a new propulsion pod onto the aging satellite, Astranis unveiled the Perceptor geostationary orbit (GEO) surveillance spacecraft on its microGEO bus, and Lockheed Martin test-fired an offensive round from its new Kodiak containerized launcher for the first time.

[ 02 / 4 items ]

The headlines

01

Firefly clears its first $100 million quarter at $117.7 million

FLY LMT

Firefly Aerospace reported $117.7 million in Q2 revenue, up 45.5% sequentially, and its first quarter above $100 million. The company extended its multi-launch agreement with Lockheed Martin by two years to cover up to 25 Alpha Block II launches through 2031 and is exploring sea-based launch with Seagate Space, while Alpha Flight 8, the first Block II mission, has slipped into the fourth quarter of 2026.

02

Space Force adds $28M for two more Impulse Space Mira maneuvering missions

Space Systems Command modified its Small Business Innovation Research Phase 3 contract with Impulse Space to add Victus Salo 2 and Victus Salo 3, using the company's Mira spacecraft to host government payloads in low Earth orbit. The $28 million addition brings the deal's total value to about $62.8 million and comes weeks after Impulse joined the National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 1 pool as an upper-stage provider.

03

Northrop begins swap of Mission Extension Vehicle for robotic servicer at Optus

SpaceX NOC

Northrop Grumman's Mission Extension Vehicle disengaged from an Optus communications satellite in geostationary orbit after more than a year of station-keeping, making room for its Mission Robotic Vehicle to install a Mission Extension Pod. The MRV, developed with DARPA and launched with three MEPs on a SpaceX Falcon 9 in July, will use two robotic arms to attach a modular propulsion pod to the 2009-vintage Optus satellite in 2027, targeting several more years of revenue-generating operations.

04

Astranis unveils Perceptor GEO surveillance satellite on microGEO bus

Astranis announced Perceptor, a geostationary space domain awareness spacecraft built on its existing microGEO platform with sensors for inspection and electric propulsion for repositioning across the GEO belt. CEO John Gedmark said multiple Perceptors could operate together for military and commercial reconnaissance, and the debut extends the company's push beyond broadband after its $450 million funding round in May and inclusion in the Space Force's Andromeda contract vehicle supporting the RG-XX GEO surveillance constellation.

[ 03 / +34 / -12 ]

Market pulse

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

Gainers+34
Decliners-12
Big mover YSS-12.2%

Intuitive Machines was the top delayed gainer at 10.3% as the company disclosed a $1.8 billion quarter-end backlog alongside its Q2 8-K.

AssetSnapshotMoveTrend
LUNRIntuitive Machines$19.36+10.3%
SPCEVirgin Galactic$3.328+6.0%
PKEPark Aerospace$39.33+5.5%
YSSYork Space Systems$10.11-12.2%
VOYGVoyager Space$43.31-2.2%
TSATTelesat$51.55-2.0%
[ 04 / 6 tracked ]

Launch watch

Schedule and countdowns as recorded in the 2026-08-13 edition.

Long March 12

CASC · Long March 12 · Commercial LC-2 · Wenchang Space Launch Site

Long March 2C

CASC · Long March 2C · LC-9 · Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center

Zhuque-3 | Flight 2

LandSpace · Zhuque-3 · Launch Area 96B · Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center · LEO

[ 05 / 6 in window ]

Filings

[ End of Issue 054 ]

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