Orbital, a startup aiming to build artificial intelligence data centres in space, has raised $5 million in seed funding. The company plans to run AI inference in orbit to avoid power and siting constraints on Earth and reduce regulatory and permitting burdens. Founder Euwyn Poon says the business depends on lower launch costs, with SpaceX\'s Starship seen as key. Orbital targets a first data-processing spacecraft launch in 2028.

NASA has released a preliminary schedule to carry out up to three additional moon missions by the end of 2026 as it pushes ahead with plans for a long-term lunar outpost. The missions focus on testing rovers and landers and surveying the lunar surface environment. Blue Origin, Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines will provide landers, while Astrolab’s FLIP rover is also slated for deployment. The plan highlights NASA’s separate contracts for landers, rovers and payload transport.