Waypoints, Week of 6 October 2026: SALTO slips, DANAE narrows, Omnidea buys Orbex

EU pushes SALTO deadline to 31 December 2026 as Themis hop test slips again

The European Commission has extended the deadline for the SALTO reusable launcher project to the end of 2026, giving the programme another three months to complete the first hop test of Europe's Themis reusable rocket demonstrator. The project database now shows a 31 December 2026 conclusion date, the latest in a series of extensions that have pushed completion back from the original November 2025 deadline. The initial flight campaign is funded under the 42.8 million euro SALTO initiative, which covers the first two low-altitude hop tests of Themis to demonstrate that the vehicle can be launched, recovered and then launched again. The project is implemented by the Space Research unit of HaDEA, coordinated by ArianeGroup, and brings together 25 partners from 12 EU countries. For founders: a sovereign reusability baseline that keeps slipping widens the window for European upper-stage, GNC and recovery-tech vendors to insert IP into Themis successors or compete for ESA's downstream reusable-stage work before Horizon Europe money consolidates around incumbents.

Source: The EU Extends SALTO Deadline Again as Themis Hop Test Slips, European Spaceflight

France picks three teams for DANAE armed USV with 12-month prototype build before 2027 downselect

The French Defence Innovation Agency (AID) and the French Navy have selected the three industrial partners moving forward in the DANAE armed USV programme. Following an initial evaluation phase in January 2026 off Saint-Mandrier near Toulon, where seven existing drone solutions were put through trials assessing navigation, endurance and decision-making autonomy, the DGA and AID narrowed the field to three teams. In the second phase, which kicked off in September 2026 and runs through late 2027, each partner will receive funding to produce and test a larger prototype over 12 months. The retained drones are the Flying USV from ORCAS, SeaOwl's NEMEZIS and Sirehna's Seaquest-S. Exail, Thales, Keys4sea and Marine Tech, which also participated in the first evaluations, are out of the second phase. For ventures: DANAE's partnership-innovation contract route (iterative spec, direct acquisition without re-tender) is now a template, autonomy stacks, EO/EW payloads and MLOps vendors should pursue sub-tier integration with the three primes before the production decision locks in.

Source: French MoD Selects Top Contenders for DANAE Armed Surface Drone Project, Naval News

Portugal's Omnidea closes Orbex UK buyout on 30 September, plans PrimeNEO successor from Forres

Portuguese space technology group Omnidea has acquired most of Orbex's intellectual property and UK assets after the rocket builder collapsed into administration in February, and plans to develop an evolution of Orbex's small launch vehicle called PrimeNEO. Omnidea completed the acquisition of the UK manufacturing assets, intellectual property and brand on 30 September, and is now adapting the Prime launcher into a new vehicle, focusing on simplifying the design and improving manufacturability. It is considering launch sites for PrimeNEO in both Scotland and Portugal. Discussions include whether funding previously allocated to support Orbex's European Launcher Challenge bid could be available to the new company. Orbex had been close to concluding a deal with The Exploration Company, based in Munich, but those talks failed. For founders: distressed European launcher IP is now trading, suppliers to the Forres line should re-paper fast, and ELC-eligible startups should assume Omnidea is a credible bidder for the UK's sovereign-access slot.

Source: Portugal's Omnidea Acquires Orbex Assets, Plans PrimeNEO Rocket, European Spaceflight

The Exploration Company sets 2027 UAE hop test for one-tonne methane lunar demonstrator ONEIROS

The Exploration Company has announced it will test a lunar hopper demonstrator called ONEIROS in the United Arab Emirates in 2027. ONEIROS is a privately funded initiative focused on validating technologies that could eventually support lower-cost access to the lunar surface, with a planned one-tonne demonstrator using a throttleable methane-fuelled rocket engine, autonomous navigation and hazard-avoidance systems to demonstrate the capabilities needed for controlled landings on the Moon. Work on the project began earlier this year according to an abstract presented at the 77th International Astronautical Congress in Antalya, and teams have already built several breadboards to reduce technical risks ahead of the planned flight demonstration next year. The decision to conduct the demonstration in the UAE follows a memorandum of understanding signed with the country's national space agency. The Exploration Company intends to follow ONEIROS with Hilal, a demonstrator to validate precision landing and methane/oxygen propulsion on the lunar surface. For founders: methane-ox lander subsystems, hazard-detection vision and throttleable thrust-control vendors have a near-term, privately funded European buyer outside the ESA procurement cycle, UAE co-funding also opens a Gulf route to flight heritage.

Source: The Exploration Company to Test Lunar Hopper Demonstrator in 2027, European Spaceflight

Open Cosmos plans 192-satellite comms constellation as ICEYE partners Nokia on satcom network

Open Cosmos recently laid out plans for a 192-satellite comms constellation, and ICEYE announced a partnership with Nokia for its own comms satellite network. The moves, flagged in Payload's 7 October analysis, mark a strategic widening by two of Europe's most visible EO scale-ups from image-selling into recurring connectivity revenue, a model long dominated by SES, Eutelsat and incoming IRIS2 participants. The timing matters: with the EU's IRIS2 constellation still in build-out and GovSatCom demand rising on the back of Ukraine-era resilience requirements, EO operators with existing LEO bus heritage, ground networks and defence customer books are well placed to layer comms payloads onto next-generation platforms. For ventures: this is a buy signal for European suppliers of software-defined payloads, optical inter-satellite links, flat-panel user terminals and multi-orbit network orchestration, EO primes are now addressable satcom customers, not just competitors to Airbus and Thales Alenia Space.

Source: Europe's Earth Observation Providers Set Their Sights on Satcoms, Payload