NASA has delivered the Orion Artemis II Optical Communications System, a laser communications terminal designed to improve data reception and delivery for future space missions, to the Kennedy Space Center. NASA will test the O2O laser during Artemis II, slated for November 2024. According to O2O project manager Steve Horowitz, the laser is designed to […]
NASA has awarded PickNik Robotics two Small Business Innovation Research contracts focused on advancing autonomous robotic systems. Under the first SBIR award, the company will develop software that can detect and report issues with autonomous robotic systems NASA uses to maintain spaceflight hardware. The tool will enable operators to resolve system failures remotely in real […]
The Department of State has published a framework to ensure its efforts focused on space policy and space diplomacy correspond with national space policy and the 2021 Space Priorities Framework. According to Jennifer Littlejohn, acting assistant secretary of state for oceans and international environmental and scientific affairs, the new framework focuses on coordinating existing efforts […]
The deputy chief of space operations for operations, cyber and nuclear at the U.S. Space Force said in an interview that other countries want to work with the United States on defending space-based technologies and systems. According to Lt. Gen. DeAnna Burt, allied European countries are increasingly investing in space defense systems and are developing […]
Science Applications International Corp. has received a $64 million contract from the Space Development Agency to develop the Battle Management Command, Control and Communications Application Factory, a cloud-based software delivery system for the satellites that make up the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. PWSA is SDA’s low-Earth orbit constellation aimed at facilitating communications and decision-making. It […]
The Air Force Research Laboratory has tasked Viasat to provide on-orbit space relay connectivity for a future program that would demonstrate operational space-based capabilities for the Department of Defense. Under the ARBALEST program, Viasat will provide a Ka-band space relay payload that will be integrated into a future AFRL spacecraft. The company will also provide […]
The U.S. Space Command is now the overall sensor manager following President Joe Biden’s approval of the 2022 Unified Command Plan. Previous reports stated that the realignment involves transferring missile defense responsibilities to Space Command, including missile warning, missile defense and space domain awareness. In a recent call with reporters, however, Gordon White, SPACECOM’s deputy […]
Regina Caputo, a research astrophysicist at NASA, is leading the creation of energy-efficient, mass-producible instruments for measuring gamma rays emitted by black holes and exploding neutron stars. She oversees Goddard Space Center’s AstroPix program, which is currently in the development and testing stage for silicon pixel sensors similar in structure to semiconductor sensors used in […]
Iris Lan has been named general counsel at NASA, succeeding Sumara Thompson-King, who retired in December. FedScoop reported that Lan previously served as an associate deputy attorney general at the Department of Justice, exercising responsibility over 93 United States attorneys. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the agency’s team of attorneys and paralegals is critical to […]
The Space Systems Command’s new facility in Chantilly, Virginia, shows the critical role played by commercial space technologies in maintaining a competitive edge in modern warfare and national security, SSC head Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein said during the facility’s opening on Tuesday. Breaking Defense reported that the new office and conference center, which has been […]
