Lt. Gen. John Thompson, commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center, formally retired from service during a July 27 ceremony at Los Angeles Air Force Base in California. Thompson wrapped up more than 30 years of service, which dates back to 1984 when he was commissioned to the U.S. military through the Air Force […]
Senators have expressed alarm over the Office of Space Commerce‘s lackluster implementation of space traffic management policies and the office’s inadequate manpower. During a space subcommittee hearing on July 22, lawmakers said they were worried that slow action by the Department of Commerce in establishing a civil STM system is threatening U.S. leadership in orbit, […]
NASA announced Friday that it has selected SpaceX to deliver a spacecraft to Jupiter’s frozen moon, Europa, in October 2024 under a $178 million contract. The decision was made after the agency was cleared to use private sector launch services instead of being limited to the in-house Space Launch System. SpaceX’s participation in the Europa […]
NASA has expanded its contract with Earth data and insights provider Planet to further support the Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition program. Under the expanded contract, the San Francisco, California-headquartered company will provide PlanetScope imagery to support scientific research activities conducted by all federal civilian researchers in the U.S. and National Science Foundation-funded scientists, including their […]
NASA is working to expand the edge computing capabilities of the International Space Station, according to a scientist from the agency. Sarah Wallace, a microbiologist at the Johnson Space Center, said edge computing eliminates the need to transport large chunks of data for processing down to Earth, which she said NASA cannot afford in future […]
Officials from the U.S. Space Force and the U.K. government are discussing plans to establish a deep-space radar site in the U.K. The planned U.K. site will be part of three locations in support of the Space Force’s Deep Space Advanced Radar Concept. DARC is a network of sensors envisioned to track active satellites and […]
The U.S. Space Force has delivered the fourth and penultimate software update to the Advanced Extremely High Frequency system, a jam-resistant six-satellite constellation that allows for secure, high-priority military communications. The modification enables endurance mission re-planning and provides users access to and control over protocol messages for the satellites. A final software update will be […]
A former Air Force official believes the U.S. military should avoid committing mistakes similar to those made by American forces during the first battle of Kasserine Pass in World War II. During that battle, the U.S. struggled against the Axis powers due to a lack of air superiority brought about by the absence of a […]
The mission of an Air Force Research Laboratory spacecraft in medium-Earth orbit has come to an end. AFRL said the Demonstration and Science Experiments mission lasted for 706 days and concluded on May 30, outliving its originally planned lifespan by nearly a year. Mark Scherbarth, chief engineer for DSX’s integrated experiments and evaluation division, said […]
The U.S. Air Force has awarded Rhea Space Activity a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research contract to look into a bi-modal, solar-thermal propulsion system that would provide the Space Force a deep space communications spacecraft with rapid positioning capabilities. As an SBIR awardee, the company will showcase its solution at the 2021 Space Force […]
