Space

Space Force will own next-gen neighborhood watch sats, based on commercial tech

Space Systems Command expects to issue a draft request for proposal by the end of the calendar year, a Space Force spokesperson told Breaking Defense.

NATO investing $728M in new space capabilities, including a new ‘data lake’

NATO's collectively funded space efforts are focused on space domain awareness and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, Col. Jonathan Whitaker, who heads the NATO Combined Forces Space Component Command, told Breaking Defense.

NRO needs AI to manage more than 200 (and counting) satellites, director says

Chris Scolese envisions an NRO constellation user saying, “‘I want to know how many ships are in the Taiwan Strait’ ... and then the system could go off and do it.”

Space Force to get NOAA antennas to supplement Satellite Control Network

Space Systems Command is prototyping a Joint Antenna Marketplace to offload some of the SCN's burden and expand its capacity by using existing commercial and non-DoD agency antennas, rather than building costly new ones for the network.

SSC to finish ‘system delta’ reorg next month

The three new Space Systems Command (SSC) system deltas in the pipeline will be responsible for acquisitions related to space combat power, assured access to space and positioning, navigation and timing, SSC Commander Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant told Breaking Defense.

Beyond ‘potpourri’ of sensors: Saltzman pushes holistic approach to space domain awareness

The service needs to better detect and track on-orbit activity, and find objects that have been "lost" to its surveillance network, Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman said.

For Golden Dome to work, it needs to be put to the test

Rigorous end-to-end systems testing is imperative and needs to happen soon for Golden Dome for America to be a success, according to this op-ed from Sarah Mineiro.

Space Force cell explores reorg to push commercial data to military

The reorganization of the JCO will involve two elements: setting up processes for JCO to provide commercial space monitoring data directly to operators and establishing an acquisition pathway for that data.

The Earth Observation industry’s biggest threat isn’t China, it’s Washington

There are four steps the US can take to ensure it doesn't lag behind China and other adversaries in Earth Observation satellites, writes Payam Banazadeh in this op-ed.

The Break Out: A Golden Dome prize pool and Project Octopus [VIDEO]

Diving into a proposed prize pool for space-based interceptors, and a look at Project Octopus, this week on The Weekly Break Out.

House Intel Committee props up FY26 funding for NRO commercial imagery buys

The bill also directs the Director of National Intelligence to appoint a single official to oversee the acquisition of commercially available information by all IC agencies.

Anduril, Impulse to demo maneuvering satellite, with sights set on Space Force missions

"I just think freedom of maneuver is going to be the enabler for every space mission going forward," said Gokul Subramanian, Anduril's senior vice president of engineering.

EXCLUSIVE: DoD envisions prize competition for boost-phase SBI prototypes

The plan faces some skepticism from industry, citing massive investment requirement for potentially relatively little.

White House comes out against Senate FY26 NDAA language on DoD spectrum rights

Section 1564 would give the Joint Chiefs of Staff the right to nix changes to military systems that would be required to comply with planned spectrum sharing plans.