The U.S. Space Force has assumed formal authority over the Space Development Agency in line with provisions under the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act. Congress had mandated the transfer from the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering to reduce the number of organizations conducting space programs and streamline acquisition program management. […]
Firefly Space Transport Services and Millennium Space Systems will support the Space Systems Command’s rapid launch mission in 2023. The mission, dubbed Tactically Responsive Space-3, aims to demonstrate the capability to launch an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance satellite within 24 hours after receiving a deployment order. Firefly STS and Millennium Space won task orders for […]
The U.S. Space Force will conduct an experiment that would demonstrate the capability to launch a satellite for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance within 24 hours after receiving a deployment order. Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein, head of Space Systems Command, unveiled the plan during the Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies conference in Hawaii. The […]
The Senate has approved the promotion of Lt. Gen. Chance Saltzman to general and his appointment as the new chief of space operations. He will replace Gen. John Raymond, who is retiring after 38 years of service. Saltzman, a former Potomac Officers Club speaker, was previously the Space Force deputy chief of operations for operations, […]
The Federal Communications Commission has unanimously adopted a new rule designed to address debris in low-Earth orbit. The rule requires operators to de-orbit LEO satellites within five years after the end of their mission. Prior to the adoption of the new rule, operators had 25 years to de-orbit satellites. The order will be applied to […]
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has awarded Spire Global a two-year broad agency announcement to enable hyperspectral microwave sensing capabilities. Under the BAA, Spire will create a prototype payload that will demonstrate HyMS capabilities to improve the accuracy of NOAA’s Numerical Weather Prediction capability. HyMS is a concept that uses advanced millimeter wave technology […]
NASA has awarded a five-year, $170 million deal to Science Applications International Corp., extending its work to independently verify and validate space systems and software. Other services to be delivered include safety and mission assurance, software assurance and mission protection. SAIC received the award under the Systems and Software Assurance Services 2 contract, which is intended […]
NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test spacecraft hit the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos on Monday. The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory confirmed the event, which demonstrated a technique that changes the course of a space rock as part of NASA’s planetary defense strategy. Having the capability to deflect an asteroid could protect Earth in case a space […]
Atlas Space Operations has won a Small Business Innovation Research Phase II award to enhance its space domain awareness capabilities for monitoring satellite launches, minimizing collision risks and various defense and intelligence applications. Leveraging unused antenna time on its global ground network, Atlas will conduct radio frequency observations of space assets. According to Mike Carey, co-founder and […]
A national security mission, dubbed NROL-91, lifted off on Sept. 24 aboard United Launch Alliance’s Delta IV Heavy rocket from Space Launch Complex 6 at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The mission deployed a spy satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office to an undisclosed orbit. It marked the 95th Delta flight from Vandenberg Space Force […]
