Did you know that there are exactly 180 days between July 5th and January 1st? The founding fathers spaced out bi-annual hangovers quite well. And if you don’t think those guys knew how to tie one on, you haven’t heard about their legendary bar tab.

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In That Number

99.9%

Momentum Technologies successfully recovered 99.9% pure neodymium-praseodymium oxide from e-waste and magnet production waste using its proprietary process.

Translation: this purity breakthrough demonstrates that an unconventional domestic system can meet commercial thresholds for magnet-grade applications, reducing reliance on foreign supply chains.

On the Radar

DoW

Pentagon UxS Czar. The Pentagon is creating a Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Unmanned Systems (DRPM-UxS) to unify efforts across nearly all unmanned autonomy software and unmanned systems.

  • The Merge's Take: This aggressive structural consolidation is the second “DRPM” (Golden Dome was the first). But the conditions are much different. Drones don’t have a complexity or bureaucratic problem in the Pentagon as much as they have a leadership problem. The lack of agreed-upon standards across software interfaces, hardware interfaces, control mechanisms, and communication networks is the real problem preventing the broad adoption of unmanned systems. Let’s hope DRPM-UxS, and whoever they appoint to lead it, focuses on this instead of just buying more stuff.

 

Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab + Iridium. Rocket Lab is buying Iridium for $8B. The landmark deal unifies Rocket Lab's launch and satellite manufacturing portfolio with Iridium's globally coordinated L-band spectrum and 2.5 million active subscribers.

  • The Merge's Take: Iridium represents the application layer, and now Rocket Lab is the second fully vertically integrated space company (after SpaceX). By absorbing a fully mature LEO constellation provider, the company captures immediate cash-flow scale and elite defense spectrum to underwrite its upcoming heavy-lift Neutron rocket program. A big part of the strategy is also what you can’t see—spectrum. SpaceX bought EchoStar’s spectrum ($19.6B deal) and Amazon bought Globalstar ($11.6B deal) for the same reason. By 2028 expect to see RocketLab and Amazon/Blue Origin operations to look a lot like SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Starlink.

 

DoW

$126B spending race. Of the massive $152B package injected into defense accounts to supercharge munitions, drone production, and naval shipbuilding, program offices had placed only $26B under contract. The Pentagon is now rushing to obligate $126B in 2025 reconciliation funding before the fiscal year concludes on September 30.

  • The Merge's Take: The funds don’t expire, but there is a penalty. Though the money is technically available until 2029, a strict penalty clause mandates an automatic 8.3% budget cut on any unspent balances at the end of the fiscal year. Translation: the Pentagon may lose $10.5B of money Congress appropriated if it can’t get the $126B on contract. This points to the larger problem: contracting is actually one of the biggest bottlenecks in the Pentagon. There aren’t enough people to manage the volume of actions, and it’s a double-edged sword between speed and responsible spending of taxpayer dollars. The real thing to keep an eye on: if the Pentagon stands to lose $10.5B anyway, it may be worth excessive contracting velocity that could wastefully spend a few billion here and there.

TRIVIA

On this day in 1944, Northrop test pilot Harry Crosby took to the skies in the MX-324, making him the first American to fly an aircraft powered by a _______.

A) turbojet 
B) rocket 
C) ramjet
D) pulsejet

creative commons

Premium Intel

Standard Nuclear filed for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on June 18, 2026. The Oak Ridge, Tennessee company wants to list on the NYSE under the ticker "STDN."

Zoom in

America just celebrated its 250th birthday, and a man named Robert Morris played a massive role. In fact, he is probably the most important person you’ve never heard of. He leveraged his immense commercial network, shipping fleets, and personal credit to bankroll the American Revolution. He is also one of only two men to sign the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution. He’s not remembered as well for how he ended up: in debtor's prison.

Zoom in here to learn about how it all happened.

They Said It

“Anyone who asks you to 3D print a ship is a clown.”

— Austin Gray, Co-Founder of Blue Water Autonomy

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ANSWER
B) Rocket. On July 5, 1944, Harry Crosby flew Northrop’s MX-324, marking the first American rocket-powered aircraft. Designed as a "flying wing," the MX-324 was initially tested as a glider before being fitted with an Aerojet XCAL-200 rocket engine. During the historic flight, pilot Harry Crosby was towed into the air by a P-38 Lightning; once released, he ignited the rocket motor.

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