Colorado-headquartered United Launch Alliance on Dec. 7 launched an Atlas V rocket as part of the Space Test Program-3 mission for the U.S. Space Force. The $1.1 billion STP-3 mission flew to geosynchronous Earth orbit on the Atlas V 551 rocket with five strap-on solid boosters, carrying classified national security payloads and a National Aeronautics […]
Hyperspace Challenge, a business accelerator funded by the U.S. Space Force, has selected the winners of its 2021 prize competition. Three winners each were selected from the startup and university pools, which consisted of 13 and 11 finalists, respectively. Varda Space Industries, SCOUT and Neutron Star Systems won $50,000 in total as the top startups, […]
NASA plans to buy additional commercial crew missions from aerospace company SpaceX to make up for delays in the certification of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner. In a contract notification issued on Friday, the space agency said it wants to acquire three crewed launches to add to six post-certification missions that SpaceX won as part of […]
U.S. military officials said that Russia’s Nov. 15 demonstration of its ability to destroy satellites is “not a surprise.” Gen. David Thompson, the U.S. Space Force’s vice chief of space operations, nevertheless acknowledged during a forum at the Ronald Reagan presidential library that Russia’s advancements in capabilities is “concerning,” SpaceNews reported. During the test, Russia […]
The Space Systems Command has awarded Palantir a $43 million contract extension to continue providing its data and decision platform for national security missions. SSC serves as the Space Force’s acquisitions and development field command headquartered at Los Angeles Air Force Base in California. Palantir said the award is an add-on to a previous contract […]
Nanoracks, together with Lockheed Martin and Voyager Space, will build a commercial space station as part of NASA’s Commercial Low-Earth Orbit program. The project, dubbed Starlab, will promote a commercial space economy and support NASA’s goal of transitioning to industry-built space hubs ahead of the retirement of the International Space Station. NASA awarded an initial […]
NASA has awarded Northrop Grumman a $3.19 billion contract to build boosters for nine Space Launch System rocket flights. Northrop has already produced booster motors for the first three Artemis missions. The new contract definitizes a letter contract awarded in June 2020 that authorized Northrop to order long-lead items and build twin boosters for the […]
The issuance of a second continuing resolution is expected to delay the Space Force’s absorption of military satellite communications units. Lawmakers are looking to announce a new stopgap bill as the continuing resolution issued on Sept. 30 is set to expire on Friday. The second CR will extend the funding deadline to the end of […]
The U.S. Space Force is poised to take on a bigger part of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions for the military as Pentagon policymakers realize the value of approaching the problem from a higher vantage point. Undersecretary of the Air Force Gina Ortiz Jones said that many ISR missions are best carried out in space […]
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency will launch a new space-based manufacturing program that will support orbital manufacturing and supply chain resiliency. The project, named “Biomanufacturing: Survival, Utility and Reliability beyond Earth,” will see scientists conduct biomanufacturing in space to create materials that can be used in orbital operations. Anne Cheever, manager of DARPA’s B-SURE […]
