Airbus, Lockheed, Lynk: $8B+ Reshapes Space & Defense Infrastructure

Mergers, secure networks, and lunar logistics accelerate supply chains. Satellite Spotlight, Edition 43.

Author

Imagining Forward
October 27, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

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space brew

deal flow

government

  • Kymeta wins U.S. Army contract to supply satellite terminals for tactical satcom (GN).

  • Vantor wins USSF award for space domain awareness of LEO blind spots (ST).

  • ABB wins CSA contract for an infrared spectral imager to model aerosol cloud interactions (SM).

seed

  • Generation Lab raises $11M Seed for diagnostics measuring biological aging (LT).

  • Adaptyx raises $14M Seed for wearable molecular monitoring (LT).

series A+

  • Elevara Medicines raises $70M Series A by Forbion, Sofinnova Partners to advance fibroblast therapies for arthritis (LT).

public

  • Kratos Defense wins $68.3M DoW contract for thermal propulsion & hypersonic materials facility (SN).

m&a

  • Airbus, Leonardo, Thales merge space units into $7.6B ARR entity competing with SpaceX & Northrop (ES).

  • Hughes (EchoStar) acquires Anderson Connectivity to vertically integrate payload design & engineering (ST).

  • Lynk Global, Omnispace, SES merge S-band spectrum & D2D satellite networks to unify 1B users, 7B smartphones & IoT (SN).

headlines

  • Lockheed Martin Ventures invests in Venus Aerospace for dual use high thrust rocket engines (SN).

  • Airbus & Spanish Armed Forces launch anti-jam SATCOM constellation for secure communications (AT).

  • ispace & OrbitAID partner for refueling & recharging lunar landers (SN).

  • ICEYE & EMIS partner on SAR flood intelligence for disaster response (SN).

  • Space Cargo & COMAT partner on microgravity platforms for in-space manufacturing (SD).

  • Quantum Dynamic Enterprises wins U.S. Patent for propulsion thrust without exhaust gases (SN).

community spotlight

Space events at TechCrunch Disrupt SF.

today, 10/27

  • Data in Power social (NYC).

  • Healthtech social (NYC).

  • Founder meetup x TC Disrupt (SF).

tuesday, 10/28

  • Re-industrializing America (NYC).

  • Investor breakfast x Draper (NYC).

  • Founder breakfast (NYC).

  • Founder poker night (NYC).

  • GCP founders feud (NYC).

  • Health tech hang (LA).

  • NASA JPL visit (LA).

  • Hardware after party (SF).

  • Biomanufacturing panel (SF).

wednesday, 10/29

  • Brex Supper Club (NYC).

  • Founder & VC breakfast x Stifel (NYC).

thursday, 10/30

  • Breakfast x VentureSails (NYC).

  • AI after hours (SF).

friday, 10/31

  • Deep tech breakfast (SF).

orbital classifieds

10+ Pre Seed/Seed founders raising.

1) SpaceBilt

Founder: Dennis Wingo, Steve Kwast, Tommy Hicks

Raising: Series A

In orbit servicing, manufacturing, reprovisioning of spacecrafts. Partnered with Axiom Space for data center on ISS.

2) Black Sheep Group

Founder: Justin Kelley

Raising: Seed

Dual use solution to analyze RF signals. Partners include Anduril. $6M+ in defense contracts secured.

3) Type One Compute

Founder: Param Nayar

Raising: Seed

Dual-use processors for space domain awareness & electronic warfare. Partners include, Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, and General Atomics.

4) Aviary AI

Founder: Karishma Inamdar

Stage: Pre-Seed

Edge AI software for in-orbit data intelligence. Founded by engineers from NASA, ESA, Google, and CalTech.

5) Nuotwo

Founder: Marko Brkljačić

Stage: Pre-Seed

Decarbonization panels to drop heating/cooling expenses.

6) ORBES

Founder: Anna Shaposhnik

Raising: Seed, $2 Million

Filming & inspection equipment for zero-gravity. Techstars 2025.

Steussy Law

Have you met Ed? Reach out if you seek a fractional general counsel for deep tech. Steussy Law carries deep knowledge of IP & Trademark Law. Website. Find Ed at [email protected].

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