Fairfax County counts more than 150 companies doing space-related work, and a long run of them sits between Reston and Chantilly. Blue Origin and Scout Space are on Edmund Halley Drive, HawkEye 360 flies more than 30 satellites from the Town of Herndon, and five contractors with space businesses keep headquarters in Reston. The past year added more: Umbra took a Reston office, Anduril is building out floors at Reston Town Center, Booz Allen and Amentum are moving headquarters here, and a defense company called GRVTY filed for a sign on an office tower near Route 28. We map all of it and talk through why so much of this work cannot be done from home.

Before the big story, we cover the week in Reston and Herndon: where the Gilmore Girls would live if they moved here, our new guide to Reston's 55 miles of trails, and seven openings coming to Reston before the end of the year, including Kinship Wine + Wares at Lake Anne, Ebbitt House at Reston Station and Dogfish Head Alehouse at Reston Town Center. We also update the Town of Herndon's court fight with Comstock over five downtown acres, now headed to a Final Order on September 25, and the Board of Supervisors vote that keeps crossing coverage at South Lakes High School through June. Then a fall calendar: the Reston Multicultural Festival, Rocktoberfest, the Reston Home Tour and the Herndon Homecoming Parade.

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Links referenced in this episode:

GRVTY and the space companies of the Dulles corridor (our post) https://greaterrestonliving.com/grvty-herndon-sign-permit-dulles-corridor-space-companies/

Reston Trails guide https://greaterrestonliving.com/reston-trails-guide/

Where the Gilmore Girls would live (Instagram) https://www.instagram.com/p/DdRpXiaEW6r/

Herndon v. Comstock backstory (our post) https://greaterrestonliving.com/herndon-comstock-trial-downtown-five-acres/

Town of Herndon downtown redevelopment and litigation page https://www.herndon-va.gov/businesses/economic-development/herndon-downtown-redevelopment-project

Reston Multicultural Festival https://restoncommunitycenter.com/things-to-do/events/reston-multicultural-festival/

Rocktoberfest at Reston Town Center https://www.restontowncenter.com/calendar-events/rocktoberfest

Reston Home Tour https://www.restonmuseum.org/reston-home-tour-updated-2026

Herndon NatureFest https://www.herndon-va.gov/departments/recreation/special-events/naturefest

Herndon Puzzle-Palooza https://www.herndon-va.gov/departments/recreation/special-events/puzzle-palooza

Herndon Homecoming Parade https://www.herndon-va.gov/departments/recreation/special-events/homecoming-parade