Space News Digest 3 November 2026

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Ground station antennas under a night sky

This is SpaceEconomy's automated daily digest of the most interesting news related to our project. Published daily for your information and entertainment.

Tuesday 3 November 2026

1. Nokia technology helps AT&T and AST SpaceMobile hand off a call from ground network to satellite
Nokia's radio access and mobility software, which runs AST SpaceMobile's space-based network, enabled what the companies call the industry's first seamless handoff from a terrestrial cellular network to a direct-to-device satellite.
https://about.att.com/story/2026/att-ast-spacemobile-engineering-connected-world.html

2. AAC Clyde Space doubles its planned 2027 satellite launches
The Swedish company has started building Sedna-5 and Sedna-6, so four new maritime AIS data satellites are now due to launch in 2027, almost doubling its maritime data fleet.
https://news.bequoted.com/newsroom/aac-clyde-space/pressreleases/aac-clyde-space-scales-maritime-data-services-with-two-addit-76108/

3. Northwood Space raises 375 million dollars at a 2 billion dollar valuation
The ground-station antenna start-up's Series C, co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and DFJ Growth, will expand its global network and production as satellite numbers grow.
https://techcrunch.com/2026/11/02/northwood-space-raises-375m-series-c-at-a-2b-valuation-from-a16z-and-dfj-growth/

4. China's private Kinetica-2 rocket puts 18 Qianfan broadband satellites into orbit
CAS Space's second Kinetica-2 (Lijian-2) flight lifted off from the Dongfeng commercial zone at 8:15 Beijing time on 3 November, its first large constellation deployment.
https://english.news.cn/20261103/e1153512feb3443eb6aa89dd67477c59/c.html

5. Hydrosat unveils Nyktòs tactical infrared satellites for European defence
The thermal-imaging company plans high-resolution mid-wave infrared satellites for NATO and sovereign European customers, backed by new facilities and suppliers in Europe.
https://satnews.com/2026/11/02/hydrosat-unveils-nyktos-tactical-mwir-program-expands-european-footprint-for-sovereign-isr/

Image: AAC Clyde Space