SpaceNexus Weekly Digest: March 10-17, 2026

It has been one of the most consequential weeks in the space industry this year. From a historic NASA milestone to billion-dollar fundraises, here is everything you need to know from March 10-17, 2026.

1. Artemis II Clears Flight Readiness Review, Rollout Targeted for March 19

NASA completed the Artemis II Flight Readiness Review (FRR) on Thursday, March 12, and teams polled "go" to proceed toward launch. NASA is targeting Thursday, March 19 to roll the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center, which would preserve a first launch attempt as early as Wednesday, April 1; the April window runs through April 6, with another opportunity on April 30.

The four-person crew is Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. Artemis II will send humans beyond low Earth orbit for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972.

Read our comprehensive guide: Artemis II Moon Mission: Everything You Need to Know.

2. SpaceX Passes 10,000 Starlink Satellites in Orbit at Once

SpaceX crossed a remarkable threshold this week: for the first time, more than 10,000 Starlink satellites were in low Earth orbit simultaneously. The milestone came with the Starlink Group 17-24 launch, a Falcon 9 that lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 1:19 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, March 17, and deployed 25 more satellites.

SpaceX said in February that Starlink had more than 10 million active customers across 160 countries.

The next chapter is Starlink V3 satellites, which are larger and designed to launch aboard Starship. On January 9, 2026, the FCC approved another 7,500 second-generation Starlink satellites, bringing the authorized Gen2 constellation to 15,000.

3. Sierra Space Raises $550M at $8B Valuation

Sierra Space, created by Sierra Nevada Corporation in 2021, closed a $550 million Series C round on March 5, valuing the company at $8 billion. The round was led by LuminArx Capital with other existing investors. Sierra Space said the money will expand production capacity and pursue growth beyond its current satellite and spacecraft programs. The round came days after Dan Jablonsky became chief executive on March 2.

The company is also developing the Dream Chaser spaceplane, which has not yet flown: after NASA changed its cargo contract in September 2025, Dream Chaser's first flight is planned as a free-flying demonstration rather than a visit to the ISS.

4. Vast Raises $500M for Commercial Space Station Program

Vast announced $500 million in new funding on March 5: $300 million in Series A equity and $200 million in debt, to support development of its Haven space stations.

Vast, founded in 2021 by Jed McCaleb, is building Haven-1, a single-module station that SpaceX will launch on a Falcon 9, with crews of four flying on SpaceX Dragon. Vast has moved Haven-1's launch to the first quarter of 2027. Haven-2, a larger multi-module station, is its planned successor.

Announced the same day, the Sierra Space and Vast deals together brought more than $1 billion of new money into commercial space infrastructure.

5. SATELLITE 2026 Preview: March 23-26 in Washington, D.C.

SATELLITE 2026 kicks off next week at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., running March 23-26.

Key themes to watch:

• Direct-to-device: satellite connections straight to ordinary phones, from SpaceX's Starlink, AST SpaceMobile and others.
• NGSO constellation economics: With Starlink, Amazon Leo (formerly Kuiper), OneWeb, and Telesat Lightspeed all in various stages of deployment, whether the market can support multiple mega-constellations.
• Space sustainability: Debris mitigation, spectrum sharing, and responsible orbital operations, driven by the sheer number of new satellites being launched.
• Defense and national security: military demand for commercial satellite services.
• AI in satellite operations: From autonomous collision avoidance to AI-driven spectrum management, artificial intelligence is becoming embedded in every aspect of satellite operations.

SpaceNexus will be covering SATELLITE 2026 with daily summaries and key takeaway analysis. Follow our News feed for real-time updates from the conference floor.

Looking Ahead: Week of March 17-24

• March 19 (target): Artemis II rollout to Launch Pad 39B
• March 23-26: SATELLITE 2026 conference in Washington, D.C.

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