🚀 Space and Defense #17

Happy Monday 👋

Australia shortlisted two warship designs for its $7.24B frigate program to modernize its fleet. Canada signed a $1.3B contract with Lockheed Martin to support its Halifax-class frigates. China revealed the Wing Loong-X naval drone, capable of anti-ship strikes, and a concept for its H-20 stealth bomber to compete with the US B-21. Morocco chose Türkiye’s Bayraktar Akinci drone to update its fleet. SpaceX signed a deal with LG Energy to supply batteries. SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft successfully boosted the ISS. Ghana launched its National Space Policy and Agency, and Firefly Aerospace raised $175M in Series D funding, moving closer to a lunar mission.

What's new?

HolonIQ’s new Green Skills Map and Workforce section reveal industry-wide sustainability skills and jobs, as well as workforce development initiatives, supporting upskilling for a sustainable economy.

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🛡️ National Defense

⚓️ Australia Shortlists Warship Designs for Navy's General Purpose Frigate Contract. Australia has shortlisted two warship designs for the navy's $7.24B general-purpose frigate contract.

🚢 Canada Signs $1.3B Deal with Lockheed Martin for Halifax-Class Frigate Support. Canada has signed a $1.3B deal with Lockheed Martin to support the Halifax-class frigates. The contract has options to continue through the end of service for the Halifax class.

🛫 UK Approves Multi Billion-Pound Fighter Jet Project with Italy and Japan. The UK has approved a project to build a new multibillion-pound fighter jet in partnership with Italy and Japan.

🚁 Drones

🚀 China Unveils New Naval Warfare Drone. China unveiled a new naval warfare drone called the Wing Loong-X, which is capable of launching anti-ship missiles.

🛩️ Morocco Selects Turkish Drone to Upgrade Military Fleet. Morocco selects Türkiye's Bayraktar Akinci drone to modernize its military drone fleet.

🚢 Saab Unveils New Autonomous Capability for Naval Vessels. Swedish defense giant Saab unveiled the 'Autonomous Ocean Core', its latest control system for military and civilian naval platforms.

🪖 Armored Vehicles

✈️ China Unveils Concept of H-20 Stealth Bomber to Rival US B-21 Raider. China unveiled the first concept of its H-20 stealth bomber, aiming to compete with the US B-21 Raider stealth bomber.

🚁 Poland Bolsters the Air Force with New Fighter Jets. Poland's military is pursuing a new era of airpower, with the production of FA-50PL fighter jets by Korea Aerospace Industries currently ongoing.

🚢 US Marines Launch Full-Rate Production for ACV-30. Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace secured a $51M contract from the U.S. Marine Corps to initiate full-rate production for the Amphibious Combat Vehicle 30mm program (ACV-30).

🪐 Space Innovation

🚀 SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft Reboosts International Space Station's Orbit. SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft successfully demonstrated its ability to reboost the International Space Station's orbit, marking a significant milestone for NASA and SpaceX.

🌌 Ghana Launches National Space Policy and Agency. Ghana launched its National Space Policy and established the Ghana Space Agency (GSA).

🔋 SpaceX Signs Battery Deal with LG Energy Solution for Starship Rocket. SpaceX signed a deal with LG Energy Solution Ltd, a South Korea-based company, to supply batteries for its Starship rocket, which is expected to launch early next year.

🛠️ Skills and Workforce

With reskilling and upskilling playing a key role in closing workforce gaps, HolonIQ is now tracking these impactful initiatives shaping the space industry. Read on for this week’s insights, and discover more in HolonIQ's latest Skills newsletter.

🌌 SpaceCareers.uk, backed by the UK Space Agency’s 'Space for All' fund, has launched ‘UK Space 101’. This will introduce school students to space careers and show the demand for varied skills from other sectors. Since its founding in 2015, SpaceCareers.uk has connected jobseekers with the UK’s growing space industry, which employs over 50,000 people across 1,800 companies, contributing $25B  to the economy. The director says UK Space 101 will help teachers, parents, and students explore the sector’s everyday impact and job opportunities.

HolonIQ has launched the Green Skills Map, an open-source framework initiated to catalog, evaluate, and contextualize the components of the rapidly expanding field of green jobs. This comprehensive taxonomy will serve as a resource for understanding the full spectrum and complexity of green skills required across various sectors, thereby enabling a cohesive approach toward achieving net zero and decarbonizing the global economy. Green Skills Map spans 11 areas, 54 sub-areas, and 243 green skills clusters. A snippet of the map covering four areas has been included above. Explore the full map on greenskills.org.

💰 Space Deals

🚀 Firefly Aerospace Secures $175M in Series D Funding. Firefly Aerospace, a technology company, closed an oversubscribed $175M Series D financing round in less than two months ahead of its first mission to the Moon.

🔒 CHAOS Industries Secures $145M in Series B Funding. CHAOS Industries, a company focused on defense and national security technology, raised $145M in a Series B funding round to accelerate its development efforts.

🚀 Starfish Space raises $29M for satellite-servicing spacecraft missions. Starfish Space, a company focused on satellite servicing, raised $29M in a new funding round led by a major defense tech investor to launch three full-size satellite servicing spacecraft missions.

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Thank you for reading. Have a great week ahead!
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