SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 24, 2025 — Astera Labs, a semiconductor connectivity solutions company, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire aiXscale Photonics GmbH. The acquisition enables Astera Labs to develop photonic scale-up solutions by combining aiXscale’s fiber-chip coupling technologies with Astera's connectivity and signal processing portfolio. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Leonardo and Hanhwa signed a memorandum of understanding. The companies will collaborate on solutions in the electro-optical infrared domain for both air and land applications. Courtesy of Leonardo.
MCLEAN, Va. — Leonardo, a provider of defense technology, and Hanwha Systems, a defense and security company, signed a memorandum of understanding for collaboration in the electro-optical infrared domain for both air and land applications. The agreement strengthens an ongoing collaboration; the companies previously collaborated to develop and supply avionics technologies, including Leonardo's GrifoE radar and the Infrared Search and Track System, as well as other mission systems for both the South Korean and international markets.
LISLE, Ill. — Molex, an electronics connectivity company, signed an agreement to acquire Smiths Interconnect, a provider of connectivity products that serves the aerospace and defense, medical, semiconductor test, and industrial markets. Smiths Interconnect designs and manufactures electronic components, along with microwave, optical, and radio frequency products and subsystems for critical applications. Smiths Interconnect has 21 sales, R&D and manufacturing locations across 12 countries, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Tunisia, India, China, and Singapore. The acquisition is expected to close in the first half of 2026.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Muon Space, an end-to-end space systems provider, announced an agreement to integrate its satellites into the Starlink global digital infrastructure. The collaboration will enable persistent, real-time access to Muon’s satellite constellations and data-on-orbit, which eliminates the latency associated with traditional ground networks.
ENSCHEDE, Netherlands — The University of Twente, along with a consortium of regional companies, received a grant of €1 million ($1.1M) from the European Regional Development Fund. The companies Twente Medical Optics, which is a spin-off of the University of Twente, and Beeliners will use the funding to develop a commercial prototype of a handheld medical device that can make tissue blood flow visible. The device is the result of a collaboration between researchers from the University of Twente and medical partners in the region that run clinical tests of the device.
OXFORD, England — University of Oxford spin-out QFX, a quantum hardware supplier, closed its £2 million ($2.3M) seed funding round, which will be used to deliver scalable quantum technologies for computing, sensing, and secure communications. Additionally, the company added two members to its executive team. Timothy Balance was appointed CEO, having previous experience as the U.K. president of Infleqtion. Sadie Mansell was appointed COO, coming from Infleqtion, where she served as director of operations.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Quantum technology company, Rydberg Technologies Inc., launched Rydberg Photonics GmbH, a Berlin, Germany-based spin-off from the Ferdinand-Braun-Institut (FBH). The company will commercialize FBH’s research on optical frequency references and hybrid integrated lasers for quantum sensors, clocks, communications, and computing. Rydberg Technologies and Rydberg Photonics will collaborate across U.S. and European markets to integrate German photonics innovation with U.S. system development for scalable, field-ready quantum solutions.
BOSTON — Teledyne FLIR Defense received an order from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for 15 of its Griffin G510x portable chemical detectors, specifically designed to analyze and identify explosives and narcotics, such as fentanyl and nitazenes, within five minutes. Provided for CBP's Laboratory and Scientific Services program, the instruments will be fielded across the U.S. Teledyne FLIR Defense expects to deliver all 15 systems this month.
LEUVEN, Belgium — imec opened an office in Heilbronn, Germany, which will serve as an automotive chiplet innovation hub. The hub will closely partner with the German industry and researchers for chiplet-based architectures in the automotive industry. It is also a partner of CHASSIS, a European CHIPS JU project that is dedicated to heterogeneous integration for automotive high-performance computing. Additionally, imec signed a memorandum of understanding with the Technical University of Munich with the goal of knowledge sharing, training, hands-on development, and chip designs.
CENTENNIAL, Colo. — NUBURU entered into a strategic framework agreement with Nuburu Defense and Maddox Defense to establish a joint venture. The newly formed company will be controlled by Nuburu Defense and will focus on the development, manufacturing, and deployment and advanced drone systems for both military and commercial applications. Per the agreement, the parties intend to execute a definitive joint venture agreement by Dec. 15, establishing the joint venture company under Italian law as a European-based manufacturing and research hub.