Geospatial intelligence firm BlackSky has filed a request for special temporary authority with the Federal Communications Commission for the ability to operate two satellites that are running out of propellant. The company wants to shift the Global 7 and Global 8 imaging spacecraft from their orbits at 385 kilometers to a new lower limit of […]
Rocket Lab deployed two NASA tropical cyclone-monitoring spacecraft on Sunday aboard an Electron rocket from New Zealand. The 3U cubesats were launched under the space agency’s Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats mission. Two more TROPICS satellites are planned for launch on board another Electron rocket in two […]
Raytheon Technologies has selected CesiumAstro to provide Ka-band, multi-beam communications systems to seven vehicles supporting the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 1 Tracking Layer. CesiumAstro Vireo is an active electronically scanned array radio frequency communications payload that can create multiple steerable and shapable beams when working together. It is designed to support various defense and commercial […]
NASA has announced that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Geostationary Operational Environment Satellites-U weather satellite completed a solar array test deployment. During the test, engineers unfolded the array’s five panels on rails simulating zero-gravity environments. The test verified that GOES-U’s solar array will properly deploy once the satellite reaches geostationary orbit, NASA said. The […]
NASA has awarded five organizations contracts to conduct research and development in support of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Next Lagrange 1 Series Coronagraph Phase A Study. Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, EO Vista, the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Raytheon Intelligence & Space and Southwest Research Institute […]
General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems has delivered to the University of Colorado a simulator of a spacecraft that would measure solar irradiance and provide long-term climate data. The Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor-2 simulator allows users to send and verify commands, receive thermistor data and provide information on vehicle health and telemetry. It can also […]
A SpaceX rideshare mission will launch dozens of small microsatellites and nanosatellite to a sun-synchronous orbit, including a Viasat-built 12U cubesat carrying a Link 16 tactical communications radio and an L band antenna. The Transporter 8 rideshare mission is expected to be deployed on board a Falcon 9 rocket in June. Viasat developed the satellite […]
The 46th Test Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida will support the Space Development Agency’s demonstration of the first batch of Link 16 satellites this summer. The capabilities to be tested include network entry, sending and receiving messages within the network and relaying such transmissions to ground stations. The United States and NATO […]
Major players in the space industry will most likely be awarded contracts under the two-lane approach introduced by the U.S. Space Force to encourage competition between emerging companies and industry leaders for phase 3 of the National Security Space Launch program, at least initially. Under the two lane-system, which is a response to congressional calls […]
A collaborative program office the U.S. Space Force established in 2022 has enabled Pentagon agencies developing missile warning and tracking satellites to share technical information, resolve challenges and clarify responsibility for various elements of the space architecture. The program office, consisting of the Space Development Agency, Space Systems Command and Missile Defense Agency, was created […]
