ULA CEO Tory Bruno explained that Air Force space acquisition czar Frank Calvelli asked Lockheed Martin and Boeing to create an independent review team to "help" Vulcan production rates and launch site readiness remain on track.
Included among the STP-3 mission's payloads is NASA’s Laser Communication Relay Demonstration (LCRD) aimed at enabling higher speed communications across the vast region of space between the Earth and Mars.
Knowing when to build on commercial systems and when to develop something new can be the difference between parity and information dominance.
"Hopefully we'll be all right and they (ULA) won't have any additional scheduled steps. But I think the strategy has actually been demonstrated to be a good thing," Air Force Frank Kendall says.
As for the new name for Space Force troops, Gen. Raymond said the crowd-sourced search resulted in "over 700 responses" and that his staff is now "narrowing down the list." Our opinion: Space Cadets, Space Marines and Space Troopers are NOT likely, no matter how cool they might be.
"Everybody is watching SMC right now," says Chris Beres of LinQuest, which has secured a new contract to help the Air Force with implementing its milsatcom programs.
CLARIFIED: Adds SMC Comment On Launch Providers WASHINGTON: Last night the Air Force released the final Request For Proposals for five launch contracts for NRO and Air Force Space Command. The most intriguing payload is a code-word program, shared by the NRO and Air Force Space Command, known as SILENTBARKER, which has been described as […]
After manifesting 1,400 payloads aboard the ISS, Voyager is applying its mission management expertise to the next generation of space stations, ensuring uninterrupted mission readiness and success from the ground to space.
CORRECTED: Raytheon Builds VIIRS WASHINGTON: The Trump Administration’s new Space Council should tackle the thorny interagency problem of how much the Air Force will do to provide weather data to the US government, says the chairman of the House subcommittee that deals with space policy. More than […]
UPDATED: 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 […]
When the National Defense Authorization Bill comes to the Senate floor, lawmakers will face an important choice regarding the future of national security space launch. The Defense Department has relied upon United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Delta IV and Atlas V rockets — the latter powered by the Russian-built RD-180 engine. Maintaining redundant launch system capabilities — […]
WASHINGTON: The House Armed Services Committee is certainly no friend to today’s Russia as ruled by Vladimir Putin, but even they now support the Pentagon’s plans to use 18 Russian-made RD-180 rocket engines. The HASC approved by voice vote an amendment by Rep. Mike Coffman of Colorado to the National Defense Authorization Act that would […]
Reducing cognitive overload on warfighters while improving “time to trust” for autonomous systems is a matter of design.
WASHINGTON: Ash Carter made many reporters’ day this morning when he pithily put the case for the Pentagon to continue buying Russian RD-180 rocket engines until the United States has two tested and reliable launch providers capable of replacing the highly reliable and relatively cheap Atlas V built and operated by the United Launch Alliance. “We […]
WASHINGTON: It’s not officially official, but the head of Pentagon acquisition, Frank Kendall, says the Treasury Department has not found any reason for sanctions to be applied against the United Launch Alliance. “The preliminary indications from Treasury (Department) are that they do not apply,” Kendall told reporters after a lunch address to the Washington Space […]
WASHINGTON: The Pentagon’s push to open the EELV to greater competition may be counterproductive to the best management of the program. The Government Accountability Office says this approach “could limit program oversight and scheduling flexibility” for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle. Why? It’s simple really: “The Air Force plans to develop an acquisition strategy for […]
COLORADO SPRINGS: After more than a month during which upstart rocket company SpaceX defined the debate about how much America should pay to launch big satellites into space, the Boeing-Lockheed United Launch Alliance crawled out from under its own rock and let fly. Feisty CEO Michael Gass sat opposite a phalanx of defense and space […]