“Requirements in the market are changing dramatically thanks to Elon Musk and SpaceX,” Aaron Brosnan, president of Thales subsidiary Tampa Microwave, said in an interview.
By Michael Marrow“Just the idea of this being more available and so people can find it and try to exploit it, that’s something we just have to bake in and understand,” Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John Plumb said of commercial services like SpaceX’s Starlink constellation.
By Michael MarrowSpaceX alone was responsible for 98 of the 109 launch attempts made by the US in 2023, and 1,937 of the 2,234 US satellites successfully orbited.
By Theresa HitchensWhile Space Systems Command hasn’t publicly expressed concerns, outside observers point out that there is a real possibility that only Elon Musk’s SpaceX will be able to undertake National Security Space Launches in the next few years.
By Theresa Hitchens“The capacity needed during times of crisis or conflict will exceed our steady state peacetime demand,” said Col. Rich Kniseley, who leads Space Systems Commands Commercial Space Office.
By Theresa HitchensUkrainian deputy prime minister Olga Stefanishyna is worried that Twitter is becoming “the major source of manipulation” under Musk’s leadership, with Musk himself “test[ing] the manipulation limits he can use.”
By Valerie Insinna“The way that Starlink was able to upgrade when a threat showed up, we need to be able to have that ability,” said Dave Tremper, the Pentagon’s director of electronic warfare. “We have to be able to change our electromagnetic posture, to be able to change very dynamically what we’re trying to do without losing capability along the way.”
By Valerie InsinnaThe Aerospace study found that controlling the creation of dangerous space junk is a regulatory arena “where clarity is badly needed,” for one.
By Theresa Hitchens“The fighter jet era has passed,” says Musk. The future, he averred, is “autonomous drone warfare.”
By Theresa HitchensOne space expert, with no skin in the NSSL game, opined that for the most part Blue Origin’s protest is “simply whining,” and characterized SpaceX’s lawsuit as “sour grapes.”
By Theresa HitchensUPDATED: Adds Insights On Signficance ONRCO Mum So Far ON Switch GEOINT: In news sure to rock the launch industry, the mighty United Launch Alliance today failed to be named as the company launching the X-37B spaceplane. Instead, Elon Musk’s SpaceX will carry it for the first time, marking what is believed to be the…
By Colin ClarkScience fiction taught us to fear smart machines we can’t control. But reality should teach us to fear smart machines that need us to take control when we’re not ready. From Patriot missiles to Tesla cars to Airbus jets, automated systems have killed human beings, not out of malice, but because the humans operating them…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
If SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s can adapt his reusable rockets for international passenger travel, his company could soon send people and cargo around the world much faster than can the U.S. Air Force. Musk has realized that the same reusable rockets he is building for missions beyond Earth orbit can also be used to do…
By Bill Bruner