Rocket Lab Signs a 20-Launch Electron Deal With Synspective, Blue Origin Seeks FAA Approval for 50 New Glenn Launches a Year, and the Pentagon Replaces Its Space Policy Chief

[ 01 ]

The briefing

Rocket Lab signed a 20-mission Electron agreement with Synspective, the largest Electron deal it has signed. The Japanese radar-satellite operator has now booked 47 Electron launches, 13 of them flown since 2020, most recently on September 25. Blue Origin is seeking Federal Aviation Administration approval for up to 50 New Glenn launches and 50 booster landings a year. In Europe, Portugal's Omnidea completed its purchase of Orbex's UK manufacturing assets, intellectual property and brand on September 30 and plans a simplified version of the collapsed Scottish company's rocket, called PrimeNEO, with launch sites in Scotland and the Azores under consideration.

The Pentagon replaced Marc Berkowitz as assistant secretary for space policy without an announcement, and his former deputy, Michael Gancio, is acting in the role. Sources said Berkowitz, confirmed by the Senate in December, resigned after clashing with policy chief Elbridge Colby. The Space Force confirmed the retirement of the Defense Support Program after its last two missile-warning satellites raised their orbits in September, ending a program that first launched in November 1970.

SpaceX scheduled a Falcon 9 for early Monday morning from Vandenberg with 21 Northrop Grumman-built data transport satellites for the Space Development Agency, the fourth launch of production satellites for the agency's military constellation. On the International Space Station (ISS), 11 people are aboard after Crew-13's arrival, and Crew-12's Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adenot and Andrey Fedyaev are packing for a return that depends on weather off the California coast.

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The headlines

Rocket Lab signs a 20-launch Electron agreement with Synspective, its largest Electron deal

SpaceX RKLB

Rocket Lab signed a 20-mission Electron launch service agreement with Synspective, the Japanese operator of StriX radar imaging satellites, and called it the largest Electron agreement it has signed. The deal takes Synspective's total bookings with Rocket Lab to 47 launches, including the 13 already flown since 2020; the most recent was on September 25. Founder and chief executive Peter Beck said signing 20 launches in a single deal is a vote of confidence in Electron's launch cadence, mission reliability and orbital precision.

Pentagon replaces Marc Berkowitz as space policy chief, with deputy Michael Gancio acting

The Pentagon replaced Marc Berkowitz as assistant secretary for space policy, and his former deputy, Michael Gancio, is now acting in the role; the change was not formally announced, and the Defense Department's website reflected it by Thursday, October 1. Sources inside and outside the Pentagon said Berkowitz, who was confirmed by the Senate in December and started in January, resigned after clashing more than once with his boss, policy chief Elbridge Colby. Gancio has an intelligence background and most recently advised Senator Tom Cotton, who chairs the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

SpaceX readies 21 Northrop Grumman-built Space Development Agency satellites for launch from Vandenberg

SpaceX

SpaceX scheduled the Tranche 1 Transport Layer A mission for early Monday morning from Vandenberg Space Force Base, a Falcon 9 with 21 Northrop Grumman-built data transport satellites for the Space Development Agency. It is the fourth launch of production satellites for the agency's Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, a constellation for missile tracking and secure military communications, after two batches built by York Space Systems and one by Lockheed Martin. The satellites were delivered to Vandenberg on September 28, and booster B1103 is assigned to its sixth flight with a landing planned at Landing Zone 4.

Omnidea acquires Orbex's UK assets and plans PrimeNEO small launcher

Portuguese space technology group Omnidea completed the acquisition of Orbex's UK manufacturing assets, intellectual property and brand on September 30, after the Scottish small-launch company collapsed into administration in February. Omnidea plans to develop PrimeNEO, an evolution of Orbex's Prime vehicle focused on simplified design and manufacturability, and is weighing launch sites in Scotland and the Portuguese Azores. The deal excludes Orbex's Danish operations and the Kinloss test site and Sutherland Spaceport assets.

Space Force retires the last Defense Support Program missile-warning satellites after more than 55 years

The Space Force said the final two Defense Support Program satellites took part in an on-orbit maneuvering exercise in early September, and confirmed that this marked the program's official retirement. Independent tracking showed both satellites then raised their orbits by a few hundred kilometers, a move associated with disposal in a graveyard orbit above the geostationary belt. The first of the infrared missile-warning satellites launched in November 1970 on a Titan IIIC, and the last in 2007. The program that succeeded it has been operational since 2011, and the generation after that could launch within 12 months.

Station crew grows to 11 as Crew-12 packs for the trip home

SpaceX

Eleven people are living on the ISS after Crew-13's arrival, with six spacecraft attached: two Crew Dragons, Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL, Soyuz MS-29 and the Progress 95 and 96 cargo ships. Crew-12, made up of NASA's Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, has been packing cargo, configuring its Dragon and testing pressure suits for the return, and Meir was scheduled to hand command of the station to Pyotr Dubrov on Sunday, October 4.

[ 03 / +13 / -32 ]

Market pulse

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

Gainers+13

Decliners-32

Big mover SATL-8.5%

Asset	Snapshot	Move
PKEPark Aerospace	$27.22	+3.2%
HOThales	€224.10	+2.7%
RBCRBC Bearings	$510.00	+1.3%
SATLSatellogic	$4.71	-8.5%
PLPlanet Labs	$15.96	-7.1%
SIDUSidus Space	$1.44	-7.1%

[ 04 / 8 in window ]

Filings

8-K

Starfighters Space, Inc. · 8-K

2026-10-03 · Starfighters Space disclosed that its board and compensation committee raised chief executive Tim Franta's annual base salary from $108,000 to $350,000 and chief financial officer David Whitney's from $180,000 to $300,000 on September 28, 2026, with maximum annual bonuses of 50% and 30% of base salary and back pay from March 1 and June 24, 2026, respectively.

8-K/A

Teledyne Technologies Incorporated · 8-K/A

2026-10-02 · amendment · Teledyne Technologies disclosed that Vice Chairman Jason VanWees will retire effective February 1, 2027 and transition to strategic advisor through May 3, 2027, under a separation agreement that includes a $170,000 lump sum, cooperation obligations through year-end 2027 and customary non-solicitation and release provisions.

Form 4

Firefly Aerospace, Inc. · Form 4

2026-10-03 · Firefly Aerospace, Inc. filed a Form 4 ownership update: Llc Glow Ns Holdings, Llc Aeroequity Gp, Llc Glow Holdings Aggregator, Michael Robert Greene, and David H. Rowe (10% owner) each reported 42,215 shares disposed (17,683,007 shares after). These filings are routine insider-ownership disclosures, not operating updates.

Form 4 x2

Carpenter Technology Corporation · Form 4 x2

2026-10-03 · Carpenter Technology Corporation grouped 2 Form 4 ownership updates: Charles Douglas Jr Mclane (director) received 69 shares (25,321 shares after); Julie A. Beck (director) received 53 shares (1,096 shares after). These filings are routine insider-ownership disclosures, not operating updates.

Form 4 x4

Astronics Corporation · Form 4 x4

2026-10-03 · Astronics Corporation grouped 4 Form 4 ownership updates: James Mulato received 666 shares (10,209 shares after); Nancy L. Hedges (Principal Accounting Officer) received 666 shares (8,064 shares after); Julie M. Davis (Secretary) received 156 shares (2,282 shares after); Mark Peabody (Executive VP & Pres-Aerospace) received 666 shares (232,721 shares after). These filings are routine insider-ownership disclosures, not operating updates.

Form 4

Planet Labs PBC · Form 4

2026-10-02 · Planet Labs PBC filed a Form 4 ownership update: Ita M. Brennan (director) sold 11,500 shares at $16.30 (250,373 shares after). These filings are routine insider-ownership disclosures, not operating updates.

[ End of Issue 091 ]

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