The week closed with an unmistakable signal: money keeps flowing into space at record pace, with satellite investment beating any previous annual total in just six months and the aftermath of the SpaceX IPO widening the universe of investors. In parallel, science gave no respite: a second consecutive successful Starship flight, a Chinese probe reaching its target asteroid and astronomical findings with a Latin American stamp from Chile. A review of what mattered most in economics, industry, science and exploration.
Economy, investment and industry
1. Satellite investment sets an annual record halfway through 2026. According to Space Capital data reported by SpaceNews, investment in satellite companies reached USD 8.1 billion in the first half of 2026, beating any full-year total recorded so far. The push comes after the SpaceX IPO — which generated some USD 85.7 billion in its Nasdaq debut, with a valuation close to USD 1.8 trillion — and consolidates the space sector as an increasingly «mainstream» asset class, attracting investors beyond specialist funds. Analysts are watching closely whether Blue Origin completes its plan to raise some USD 10 billion, one of the largest private rounds in the sector's history. Source: SpaceNews
2. Iceye leads the mega-rounds with a USD 1.2 billion Series F. Finnish synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite operator Iceye led second-quarter funding activity after closing a USD 1.2 billion Series F round, aimed at expanding its radar satellite production in the face of strong demand tied to NATO agreements. The deal reflects the growing weight of Earth observation and geospatial intelligence as a strategic and defence business. Source: SpaceNews
3. Sateliot expands its round to bring satellite internet directly to phones. Spanish startup Sateliot is seeking to raise its ongoing round to EUR 150 million (around USD 172 million), close to 50% more than planned, to accelerate the deployment of its direct-to-device connectivity constellation under the 5G NB-IoT standard. The financing — public-private in nature, with a EUR 116 million Series C tranche — targets a connectivity market for areas without terrestrial coverage that is shaping up as one of the great battlegrounds of New Space. Source: Bloomberg
4. The US Congress locks in NASA's budget at USD 24.4 billion. NASA ended up with USD 24.4 billion in base funding for fiscal year 2026, plus an additional USD 3.1 billion through reconciliation: the largest inflation-adjusted budget since 1998. The figure is far above the USD 18.8 billion the administration had requested in its May proposal, which put forward cuts of close to 50% in science and space technology. Space operations — including the International Space Station and support for commercial stations — receive USD 4.175 billion, as part of the ISS transition towards commercial destinations in low orbit. Source: SpaceNews
5. Argentina: SABIA-Mar enters its final integration stage and picks its launcher. CONAE announced that SABIA-Mar, the new Argentine satellite for observing the Argentine Sea, the coasts and continental waters, is now in the final integration and testing stage at INVAP's facilities in Bariloche. Once in orbit, it will provide its own high-resolution information on marine productivity, fishing resources, water quality and vessel presence. In addition, after bids were opened on June 9, CONAE recommended US company Montero USA Inc. for the launch, using «orbital tug» technology that operates as a «last mile» service in space. The launch is scheduled for the first half of 2027. Source: Argentina.gob.ar / CONAE
6. Latin America accelerates: Brazil clears SpaceSail and regional infrastructure grows. Brazil's telecommunications agency, Anatel, officially authorised SpaceSail — the Chinese broadband constellation described as the equivalent of Starlink — to operate in Brazilian territory. In parallel, Panama activated its first ground communication antenna for CubeSat Panamá — developed by the Technological University of Panama — ahead of a launch expected between late 2026 and early 2027, while Ecuador courts investors with the promise of cheaper launches thanks to its location just two degrees from the equator. The region is establishing itself as a protagonist of the new space economy. Source: Americas Quarterly
7. Amazon Leo races against the regulatory clock and New Glenn's setbacks. Amazon faces July 30, 2026 as the FCC deadline to have half of its broadband constellation deployed (Project Kuiper / Amazon Leo), a target it is unlikely to meet — it was due to have some 1,600 satellites in orbit — so an extension request is expected. The delays worsened with the recent explosion of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket during testing. Even so, Amazon Leo is adding key commercial deals, such as the one with Delta Air Lines for on-board wifi, in full competition with Starlink, which already exceeds 9,000 satellites and some 9 million customers. Source: Yahoo Finance
Science, exploration and missions
8. Starship strings together its second consecutive successful test flight. On Thursday, July 24, SpaceX achieved the second consecutive successful test flight of its Starship mega-rocket, which lifted off from Starbase (Texas) atop the Super Heavy V3 booster. After two and a half minutes, the booster separated and returned to Earth. The achievement came after an attempt aborted on July 16 due to a problem starting four Raptor engines — which forced the replacement of six engines — and a further delay caused by low cloud. The performance is good news for NASA, which is counting on a variant of Starship's upper stage as the lunar lander for the Artemis program. Source: Spaceflight Now
9. China's Tianwen-2 probe reaches its target asteroid. China's Tianwen-2 mission, the country's first aimed at returning samples from an asteroid, reaches its target in July 2026: 469219 Kamoʻoalewa, a small near-Earth body known as a «quasi-satellite» located between 15 and 39 million kilometres away. The spacecraft will study it up close with 11 instruments — cameras, spectrometers and radar — before attempting to collect some 100 grams of material. The mission, launched on May 28 from Xichang, anticipates China's ambition to add Martian sample return with Tianwen-3 around 2028. Source: Physics World
10. James Webb detects a hidden planet in the Beta Pictoris system. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) identified a giant planet previously hidden in the famous Beta Pictoris star system, one of the favourite laboratories for studying planet formation. The new world has the widest orbit of the system's three known exoplanets, a finding that helps in understanding how young gas giants are distributed and evolve around their stars. Source: NASA Science
11. A Latin American stamp: the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, in Chile, discovers more than 11,000 asteroids. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, located at Cerro Pachón (Chile), revealed more than 11,000 new asteroids with only its first observations, including 33 previously undetected near-Earth objects. Among the findings is 2025 MN45, the asteroid with the shortest known rotation period for bodies over 0.5 km in diameter (one turn every 1.88 minutes), and trans-Neptunian objects with extreme orbits reaching some 1,000 times the Earth-Sun distance, among the 30 most distant known minor planets. A preview of the potential of the LSST survey from South American soil. Source: NOIRLab
12. NASA will test the SpaceX and Blue Origin lunar landers before the next Moon landing. NASA confirmed it will flight-test the SpaceX and Blue Origin lunar landers before astronauts next reach the Moon. On Artemis III (planned for 2027), the Orion capsule crew will practise rendezvous and docking manoeuvres with prototypes of both landers, a key step in validating the complex operations that the program's later crewed missions will require. Source: ScienceDaily
Join Argentina Space 2026
All of this news — record investment, satellite connectivity, scientific missions and the progress of Latin America and Argentina with SABIA-Mar — converges in one place: Argentina Space 2026 — Argentina promoting the New Space Economy, the first major national gathering of the space, technology and scientific industries, bringing together agencies, companies, universities, startups and investors from Argentina and around the world.
Join Argentina Space 2026 on November 11, 12 and 13 at the Salta Convention Center, and be part of the founding core of New Space in Argentina. You can take part as an exhibitor, sponsor or attendee. More information: https://argentinaspace.com · Contact: marketing@argentinaspace.com
