A top U.S. Space Force official said small nuclear reactors are a viable option for powering space missions. Speaking at a virtual forum hosted by the Mitchell Institute, Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. David Thompson argued that nuclear propulsion could enable long-endurance exploration in areas like cislunar space, which could be a problem for […]
Army Gen. James Dickinson, head of U.S. Space Command, said the organization’s mission is closely linked with that of U.S. Cyber Command. According to the general, USSPACECOM and USCYBERCOM share an operating environment and face similar cybersecurity threats, Air Force Magazine reported Tuesday. “That’s why our two combatant commands are so closely aligned—that’s why together […]
Tech magnate Jeff Bezos offered to cover more than $2 billion in project costs if NASA decides to award his Blue Origin company another Human Landing System contract. Bezos said in a letter to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, that the company would waive up to $2 billion in payments in the first years of a […]
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 […]
