Special Edition – Top Ten Space Business Stories of 2025
#1 – D2D and Mobile Spectrum Gold Rush
Mobile spectrum’s value skyrockets in sprint to deploy direct-to-device (D2D) services; EchoStar sold 3.45 GHz, 600 MHz spectrum to AT&T for $22.65b, AWS-3, AWS-4, H-block spectrum to SpaceX for $19.6b; AST SpaceMobile (AST) $535m deal with Viasat and Ligado for L-band spectrum and S-band spectrum deal for $64.5m; Lynk Global and Omnispace agreed to merge; Eutelsat tested 5G over OneWeb satellites; SpaceX D2D Starlink satellites total 650+; Verizon ordered AST D2D services; ViaSat, Space42 form L-band spectrum JV.
#2 – Rise of Space Sovereignty
Governments prioritized space sovereignty; the United States launched its Golden Dome missile defense program with $25b development funding; the UK and France contributed over €900m to Eutelsat Group funding; European Union backstops IRIS constellation, refined €1b European Resilience from Space initiative; Germany awarded €1.7b contract to Iceye and Rheinmetall; Finland picked Iceye for €158m Earth observation constellation; Poland selected Creotech for €52m constellation.
Read more related news in Space Business Review December 2025.
