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NEWS Russia targets UK military satellites The head of UK Space Command revealed that Russia has been stalking British satellites, flying its own satellites close to them in order to collect information. It also regularly tries to jam British satellites with ground-based lasers. Russia’s Kosmos (and related “Nivelir”) satellites can perform rendezvous-and-proximity operations (RPO). These co-orbital systems can approach, inspect, and, in theory, disable other satellites without a launch from Earth. The manoeuvreable satellites effectively provide deniable surveillance today, but tomorrow could be used as a weapon. Although Russian counter-satellite operations are not new, the increase in incidents belies a broader increase in Russian grey zone operations, designed to remain below the threshold of open conflict. UK Space Command, and Europe more broadly, does not have an equivalent capability. It remains an area of focus only for the US, China, and Russia. That position had, until recently, seemed unlikely to change. But it may now be reconsidered (see below). Europe builds a drone wall European leaders gave broad support to the mission of building a drone wall. This comes after a series of airspace violations in Poland, Estonia, Romania and Denmark over recent weeks. The idea is part of a Scoping Paper released by the European Commission in which it outlined, among other ideas, four flagship projects it believes need to be financed and implemented as a matter of urgency. These include a European drone wall, an Eastern Flank Watch, an Air Defence Shield and a Defence Space Shield. Counter-drone defence has suddenly become a large and obvious gap in European military capability. Because the threat is new, it remains a market largely untouched by the established defence primes. Romania and Poland both scrambled fighter jets to shoot down cheap Russian drones - they need a cheaper, more sustainable way of dealing with the threat. That opportunity hasn’t escaped a number of early-stage defence tech companies, which are fervently building interceptors to meet the demand in countries like Poland. It’s a race to finalise the product and scale manufacturing quickly enough to ship thousands per year. European navies test drone tech for undersea operations Last week NATO wrapped up its Dynamic Messenger and REPMUS exercises in Portugal. The drills, which focused on testing over 200 unmanned systems, ran for three weeks in local waters. This is in part a response to the threat posed by Russian subsea activity in the Baltic and North Seas - another part of the Kremlin’s grey zone campaign. Uncrewed Underwater Vessles (UUVs) could provide surveillance of the area at a cost and scale impossible for traditional submarines. The exercises signal a shift in NATO’s mindset - from treating unmanned systems as niche enablers to viewing them as (more) central to maritime deterrence. The lesson from the Black Sea is that massed, networked autonomy can offset conventional shortfalls. If NATO can translate these experiments into doctrine and procurement, the underwater domain could become the next arena where cheap, smart systems change the nature of warfare. As with air defence, there are a number of early-stage defence tech companies looking to claim the market. FUNDRAISING Galactic Energy Aerospace Technology, a Chinese reusable-rocket startup, raised a $336m Series D led by Beijing Commercial Spaceflight. Firehawk Aerospace, a developer of 3D printed rocket propellants, raised a $60m Series C led by 1789 Capital. Filigran, a French startup that helps enterprises detect, analyze, and respond to cyber threats using open-source intelligence tools, raised a €58m Series C round led by Eurazeo. Oneleet, an American developer of integrated tools such as penetration testing, code scanning, and attack surface management, raised a $33m Series A led by Dawn Capital. Commcrete, an Israeli builder of agile satellite communications technology, emerged from stealth with $29m in funding, led by Greenfield Partners. NanoQT, an American developer of ultra-low-loss nanofiber cavity-QED (quantum electrodynamics) interconnects specifically designed for quantum processors, raised a $14m Series A led by Phoenix Venture Partners. Kiutra, a German developer of cooling tech for quantum computers, raised €13m in funding led by NovaCapital and 55 North. Tycho AI, an American developer of navigation and AI systems for unmanned vehicles, raised a $10m Series A round led by FirstMark. TiHive, a French industrial deeptech startup, raised an €8m round led by EIC Fund, Karista, and Wind. iNGage, a developer of micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) navigation sensor technology, raised a $7m round led by Supernova Invest and 360 Capital. Aventra, an American developer of low-cost guidance kits to convert unguided munitions into long-range precision weapons, raised a $3m seed round led by Lavrock Ventures. Cosmoserve Space, an Indian developer of autonomous robotic spacecraft to remove space debris, raised a $3.2 million pre-seed round led by Alan Rutledge, with AUM Ventures and Shakti VC also participating. The Economic Times has more here. Firefly Aerospace, an American launch and spacecraft company, agreed to acquire SciTec, an American defense analytics firm specializing in missile-warning and space domain awareness systems, for $855m in cash and stock.
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