Four launches flew and all four succeeded, 48 new solicitations posted, and $9.5M was committed across 2 awards signed this week.
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Generated image, Higgsfield, 2026-08-02. Made by a model for this issue. It depicts nothing: no part of it is a photograph, and nothing in it is evidence of anything the brief describes.
The opportunity
NASA wants a Ka-band relay for user continuity
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center posted the final solicitation for the Network Extension for User Continuity and Sustainability (NEXUS) Ka-Band Backward-Compatible Relay, a Broad Agency Announcement under NextSTEP-3 Appendix E. It closes August 4. The latest update notes two administrative errors on the export-controlled Attachment A.2, the NEXUS Service Requirements Document, as posted with the Amendment 01 update.
The buyer here is looking for relay service that existing users can keep talking to. Anyone weighing it should read the amendment history first: Update 13 records two errors in the requirements document posted with Amendment 01, and does not say a corrected document has been issued.
NASA signed an $8.7M award with Axiom Space Inc for Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services on July 28. That was the larger of the two awards in the week, and the only one above a million dollars.
On the markets desk, L3Harris Technologies fell 7.7 percent between July 26 and August 2. The same week, a notice of intent to sole source to L3Harris for the 422 TES appeared from the Air Force, closing August 5. Elsewhere, Momentus was down 14 percent and York Space Systems down 13.7 percent over the same dates, with York Space Systems also filing a 4 on August 1.
The money
Two awards signed and several stakes disclosed
Government money was committed twice. NASA signed $8.7M with Axiom Space Inc on July 28 for Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services, and $800K with Creare LLC on July 29 for the Venus Mass Spectrometer Wide Range Pump for DAVINCI. Total committed was $9.5M.
Ownership disclosures were busier. Vanguard Capital Management LLC disclosed stakes in Rocket Lab, Virgin Galactic and Honeywell Aerospace on August 1. BlackRock, Inc. disclosed stakes in Spire Global, Virgin Galactic and Voyager Technologies on July 31. Moog filed an 8-K on July 31, and Intuitive Machines filed two 4s on July 30.
The launch record
Four flights, no failures, some short slips
All four launches flown this week were successful. SpaceX flew Falcon 9 Block 5 with Starlink Group 17-52 on August 1 and NROL-95 on July 30. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation flew Long March 6A with TJSW-27A and B on July 30 and Long March 7A with Tianlian 3-01 on July 29.
Schedule movement was mostly minor. Starlink Group 17-52 and Starlink Group 17-53 each slipped 1 day on July 30. Vega-C with Sentinel-3C and FLEX slipped 4 days on July 31 and went from TBD to Go the same day. Nine launches are scheduled in the coming week.
The week in numbers
Watch this week
The Counter Air Missile Program Ground Launched Counter Air Enterprise Test Vehicle solicitation from AFLCMC closes.Aug 3, 2026
NASA's NEXUS Ka-Band Backward-Compatible Relay BAA closes at Marshall Space Flight Center.Aug 4, 2026
The Air Force notice of intent to sole source to L3Harris for the 422 TES closes.Aug 5, 2026
Aug 2, 2026: An earlier version of this issue led the company section on a one-day removal of about 2,000 SpaceX job listings. That was our own collector observing the employer republishing its board, not company activity, and it should not have been reported as a story.
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