Space Force awards first contracts for satellite threat warning radar payloads
Space RCO is already looking to start a follow-on effort to build smaller threat warning sensors for a wider set of Space Force birds.
Space Force buys second Otter spacecraft to power satellites on orbit
The Otter's power can keep a satellite fixed at one point on orbit or scoot it elsewhere, offering operators more flexibility.
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From on-orbit to launch, Space Force needs more focus on dynamic space operations
Building dynamic space operations concepts will be necessary to force "flexibility," and provide capabilities for "maneuver and surprise" on orbit, the new report by the Mitchell Institute says.
DARPA’s DRACO nuclear propulsion project ROARs no more
DRACO began life in 2020 with the moniker "Reactor on a Rocket," or ROAR — a name agency scientists later decided might garner negative attention.
‘Bunch of SCARS’: Space Force’s Hammett speeds phased array antenna integration
"[T]his capability is so important to where we're headed in the next couple of years, with having the capacity to make the SCN [Satellite Control Network] stand up to all the new systems that are coming and all the new mission requirements that they're going to have," Hammett told Breaking Defense.
Space Force zeroed out funding for in-space mobility in FY26 budget request: Sources
On the eve of the third annual Space Mobility Conference here, supporters of Defense Department investment in technologies to enable what SPACECOM calls "dynamic space operations" are facing a recent cooling of near-term interest from senior Space Force officials.
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New C2 software for mobile satellites will support future orbital warfare ops
'I think there [are] things that we will need to be able to, I guess I'll say, 'dogfight' in space," Lt. Gen. Doug Schiess, commander of Space Forces - Space, the Space Force unit that undertakes operations for US Space Command, told reporters on Wednesday.
Secretive space plane X-37B to test ‘first of a kind’ maneuvers for shifting orbits
US Space Command has been clamoring for new technology to enable "dynamic space operations," which include "sustained" maneuvering that doesn't eat up fuel to allow US military spacecraft and satellites to outrun suspect adversary satellites — or potentially be able to chase those suspect birds down both to assess any threats and possibly take action to neutralize them.
Space RCO taps 20 firms for software to control maneuvering sats
"I'm not criticizing ATLAS, but on the record, if it doesn't get there on time, I'm gonna find an alternative, because that's why I exist," Space RCO Director Kelly Hammett told Breaking Defense.
EXCLUSIVE: Pentagon making ‘significant push’ for money to upgrade Satellite Control Network
The SCAR program is being seen as more urgent for keeping satellite communications flowing as top brass have begun to worry more about possible great power conflict with China and/or Russia, Space Rapid Capabilities Office Director Kelly Hammett told Breaking Defense.
Breaking Defense announces Breaking Defense Europe, a new, distinct, European edition
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‘Space fires’ to enable ‘space superiority’ are top SPACECOM priorities for FY27
Gen. Stephen Whiting revealed that the command has just submitted to the Joint Force its FY27 "integrated priorities list" — an annual compendium of requirements put together by each combatant command to "inform the services and defense agencies of our warfighting needs as they prepare their budget and acquisition plans."
SPACECOM prepping data fusion pilot to create ‘common operational picture’
Space domain awareness is one of the mission areas that SPACECOM Commander Gen. Stephen Whiting said currently needs improved command and control capabilities.
Space Rapid Capabilities Office slates $1B for dynamic space ops C2
Under the contract, SpRCO's Rapid Resilient Command and Control project, nicknamed R2C2, will buy ground software in "bite-sized pieces" to support new Space Force satellites capable of rapid and sustained maneuver.
Space Force taking the long view of satellite servicing, with an industry in the balance
"I think the US national security community is going to shape commercial space for the foreseeable future," Carissa Bryce Christensen, CEO of BryceTech, told Breaking Defense.