Hewlett Packard Enterprise (@HPE) announced that its new AI-compute module—Spaceborne Computer-4—is set to deploy on Astrolab’s FLIP rover during a mission expected to launch this year. Computer-4 stands on the shoulders of three earlier models that flew to the ISS in 2017, 2021, and 2024, Computer-4 is HPE’s first Spaceborne Computer to operate in the vacuum of space. As such, its been designed to withstand the harsh environment on luna: 💾 Low-power CPU and GPU, and flash-memory storage inside solid-state drives from KIOXIA. 🪭 The system is designed to weather the lunar environment by operating without fans, instead using a space radiator to keep the system from overheating. ☢️ Computer-4 is also engineered to monitor the effects of radiation, and lower its compute power during episodes that could damage the hardware. Payload reporter @Douglas__Gorman explores how the mission will set the groundwork for future AI workloads on the lunar surface. Link below.

With its first full quarter as a public company under its belt, @SpaceX blew past expectations Tuesday with ~$14.7B in revenue and net income of $4.4B. The revenue number is up 87% from Q2 and 161% YoY—substantially higher than the ~$12.8B that analysts had expected. Key figures include: 🚀 Space revenue in Q3 jumped 84%; 🛰️ Starlink earned $2.4B in operating income on $5.2B in revenue—36% of the company’s total; 🤖 SpaceXSI brought in $7.6B in Q3, nearly triple its Q2 total and more than half of SpaceX’s revenue. Payload reporter @vicky_woodburn explored where the company's financials stand as it heads in to the final months of the year. Link below.

The State Department is starstruck. At last week’s second annual US Space Forum, the US Mission to the International Organizations in Vienna launched Project Constellation, a $5M effort to build international space partnerships. The State Department tapped three US organizations to run the program: 💰 Meridian International Center—the prime recipient—will oversee strategy, delivery, partner coordination, and finances, and organize exchanges through its diplomatic and industry networks. 🏛️ The Commercial Space Federation will lead the commercial side, promoting procurement and building business partnerships with US companies. 📝 SPACEAIMS—a public policy consulting firm—will guide the law, policy, governance, and diplomacy work, including country assessments, policy dialogues, and training. Payload reporter @vicky_woodburn has the full story in Payload. Link below.

In the contest to build up commercial launch capabilities in Canada, Quebec-based startup @Reactiondyn has entered a new weight class. The launcher today unveiled its medium-lift rocket—called Borealis—which is targeting a debut orbital launch attempt in 2031. Borealis’ 6,000 kg to LEO payload capacity represents a massive leap compared with the company’s ~200 kg capacity Aurora small-lift launcher—which is targeting a first orbital launch attempt in Q4 2028. But both vehicles are built on much of the same underlying technology. Payload reporter @Douglas__Gorman has the deets. Link below.

CO-based WarpWare closed its $1.2M pre-seed round today to expand what it calls an AI-enabled engineering platform for space missions. WarpWare grew out of a question the founders had while working at Sierra Space: How much of the company’s flight software could be reused for a new vehicle? The answer—according to Reynolds and COO Michayal Mathew, also a cofounder—was almost none. Payload reporter @vicky_woodburn spoke with Matthew about the future of WarpWare and how the funding round will help the company expand its customer base. Link to the full article below.

EraDrive, the Palo Alto, CA-based startup building autonomous capabilities for satellites, won a $13M DoD award, under which the @USSpaceForce will buy an undisclosed number of the company’s Era-Node vision-based autonomy modules. The APFIT award is intended to provide direct procurement funding for new capabilities, unlike R&D-focused awards such as SBIR and STTR. EraDrive’s award creates an accelerated pathway for the Space Force to acquire Era-Nodes for future spacecraft. Payload reporter @Douglas__Gorman spoke with EraDrive CEO Sumant Sharma about what the award means for the future of the business, and the space industry's ability to operate satellites autonomously. Link to the full story below.

The @spacegovuk is dressing up as a waste-management company for Halloween. Yesterday, the agency announced its selection of @ClearSpaceToday, the in-orbit servicing startup with offices in the UK, to act as the prime contractor for UKSA’s first active debris removal (ADR) mission launching NET 2029. Under the contract worth ~£61M ($81M), ClearSpace will attempt to remove two UK-registered defunct satellites from LEO using giant robotic claws. The mission will require ClearSpace to demonstrate new capabilities including in-orbit inspection, proximity operations, and the capture and relocation of unprepared objects. Read the full mission breakdown from Payload reporter @Douglas__Gorman. Link below.

RATLOG (YC F26) launched this week—but not from a pad. The heavy-lift rocket startup debuted in Y Combinator as part of the Fall 2026 batch. RATLOG’s pitch diverges from the traditional approach to rocket-engine design—starting with eliminating ~90% of the engine’s parts. Read the full breakdown of what RATLOG is building, from Payload reporter @vicky_woodburn. Link below.

The space investment market is booming. This year has seen some of the largest influx of private capital into the industry in history, and for @seraphim_space, that boom is paying off. Seraphim Space Investment Trust ($SSIT) published its FY26 financials this week, revealing a valuation of £605.5M (€716.3M)—more than double its value in June 2025. The investment strategy behind Seraphim’s portfolio is one focused on the digital infrastructure underlying the space industry—on the companies that can build a vertically integrated, IP-protected business leveraging space. It's major holdings @iceye_global, @allspaceltd, @D_Orbit, @hawkeye360, and @XonaSpace, which together represent more than 75% of the firm’s portfolio, show this strategy in action. Payload reporter @Douglas__Gorman spoke with Seraphim Space CEO Mark Boggett for this week's Payload Europe story—both how the portfolio has grown YoY, and what lies ahead for the space VC firm. Link in the comments