The FCC Opens Spectrum—and Rewrites Space’s Environmental Review — October 1, 2026

The FCC voted to open satellite spectrum and change its environmental-review approach for certain space activities; the practical effects depend on final rules. Varda, Crew-13, and Astranis also feature in today's episode. Varda Raises $251M Series D — Payload Crew-13 astronauts set for launch to ISS after weeks of delays — NASASpaceFlight.com Astranis lands $468M financing to boost MicroGEO satellite manufacturing — SpaceQ FCC Continues Deregulation Push with Environmental Regulations and More Spectrum — Via Satellite Chapters 00:00 Today's headlines 00:30 Varda has closed a $251M Series D 01:57 Astronauts scheduled to launch on repaired Dragon 03:07 Astranis gets credit facility for satellites 04:28 FCC opens spectrum and changes NEPA review 07:05 Hype check on the FCC's spectrum vote Source links @nasahqphoto on X @SawyerMerritt on X spaceq.ca spacewatch.global Space Stakes is an AI-voiced podcast, built and run by a real person. Nothing in this episode is financial advice. Follow Space Stakes: subscribe on YouTube · Apple Podcasts · Spotify More from Brian Lampert: Quickly Quantum , the daily quantum computing briefing, and Concrete Compute , the daily AI infrastructure briefing. Transcripts and every episode: space-stakes.kngoworld.chatgpt.site .