Five stories that surprised the space world: 2025 review
'Unsettled' is a polite word for 2025 in the space domain.
Germany’s first space security strategy aims at independent defensive, offensive capabilities
The new strategy calls on German MoD to develop a number of new space-based capabilities, including "effectors" to counter adversary threats on orbit such as agile spaceplanes and "bodyguard" satellites with shoot-back systems.
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Data overload threatens decisionmakers as autonomy expands
Reducing cognitive overload on warfighters while improving “time to trust” for autonomous systems is a matter of design.
France announces almost $5B in new military space funding
Increased focus on defense is one of five pillars in a new French national space strategy announced by President Emmanuel Macron today.
Army budget prioritizes counterspace for first time
Brig. Gen. Donald Brooks, deputy commander of Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC), said the command's plan to stand up a new Space Branch is now "in the approval process" at the senior service level.
The Army must accelerate counterspace investments
Col. Pete Atkinson argues in this op-ed that the Army needs to have native counterspace capabilities.
Army crafting a new space policy, moving out on counterspace
The Army's emphasis currently is "on the counterspace piece for space control, electronic warfare, really doing counter-communications," said Brig. Gen. Donald Brooks, deputy commanding general for operations at Army Space and Missile Defense Command.
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Meeting Zero Trust goals while maintaining information dominance
Balancing security and access to data are critical to providing users with trustworthy, reliable data for real-time decisions.
Space Force’s new ‘warfighting framework’ says ‘space superiority’ is basis of US military power
The document argues that the US needs to establish space superiority as a precondition for winning a war, and explains that the Space Force does that by exercising "space control."
Space Force takes ownership of first Meadowlands satellite jammer
The program was designed to both to increase mobility and improve the jamming capabilities of the Space Force's legacy Counter Communications System, to include providing multi-frequency jamming in S-band and X-band.
Counterspace capabilities advancing around the globe: Secure World Foundation
The report finds that Russia has been increasingly successful at blocking Ukraine's use of SpaceX's Starlink communications constellation, citing media reports in December 2024 about a new system specifically targeting Starlink called Kalinka and developed by the Russian Center for Unmanned Systems and Technologies.
Saltzman: Space Force in ‘pretty good spot’ regarding DoD funding shift
The chief of space operations said the Space Force is examining how to best invest in six categories of counter-space weapons, because China is doing the same.
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Turning R&D into reality to meet the challenges of the modern battlefield
Knowing when to build on commercial systems and when to develop something new can be the difference between parity and information dominance.
Space Force: Vive la difference, advises a new AEI policy paper
The AEI paper, authored by Senior Fellow Todd Harrison, recommends ditching the standup of Space Futures Command and creating a new organizational structure that combines acquisition and operational functions around mission areas.
Army eyes balloon motherships to drop ‘lethal and non-lethal’ drones, aid in counterspace ops
"We'll have multi-form factor balloons operating at various altitudes, executing different mission sets, ultimately increasing the target problem set and dilemma for our adversaries ...," said Col. Donald Brooks, commandant of the Army's Space and Missile Defense Center of Excellence.
Space Force lauds ‘in-country’ subcomponents in Indo-Pacific, aiding allies ‘aggressive’ space plans
"[T]here's all kinds of excitement, both on the [Korean Peninsula] and in Japan, about what the Space Force can bring those allies," Brig. Gen. Anthony Mastalir, commander of US Space Forces — Indo-Pacific, told the Mitchell Institute today.
Ensured SATCOM, GPS alternatives tops among Space Force budget wishes
"Every dollar invested brings asymmetric returns, while every cut risks asymmetric losses, given the continued advancements of the competitors, the Space Force budget needs more, not fewer, resources to do our job," said Gen. Michael Guetlein, Space Force vice chief.