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.
Chinese sats appear to be attempting first-ever on-orbit refueling, sat tracking firms say
"While this type of close approach activity does not automatically signify a military mission, it obviously could provide a co-orbital counterspace capability," expert Victoria Samson told Breaking Defense.
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Next-generation KC-390 Millennium expands multimission options for air forces
The jet-powered transport’s speed, survivability and multi-mission agility position it as a viable option to the C-130 for the US and NATO allies.
Space RCO head sees potential ‘product line’ for orbital warfare satellites
Space RCO Director Kelly Hammett envisions that his shop will feed tech into the Space Force's new effort to contract commercial firms to replace the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) satellites for monitoring the heavens.
Space Force picks up pace of on-orbit refueling experiments
Space Systems Command is moving out with a trio of projects — contracting with Northrop Grumman for two separate experiments, and with Astroscale US for the first on-orbit refueling operation involving a military satellite.
Space Systems Command reviewing expensive legacy programs for possible commercial shift
The idea behind the commercial reviews is to find potential alternatives for "getting us out of one-off, billion-dollar systems into a proliferated architecture," said Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy.
Space Safari, DIU to select Victus Haze launchers within ‘weeks’
"This will be a modified mission from the Victus Nox mission," David Ryan, space portfolio manager at the Defense Innovation Unit said, noting that "there are two parts of the mission, and DIU is working on a single part with Space Safari."
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Threat warning and survivability in the modern battlespace
Protecting warfighters requires fast, accurate, and dependable systems that work flawlessly to military standards.
EXCLUSIVE: Freedom to maneuver key for future space ‘combat mindset,’ says ex-SPACECOM deputy
"In a sense, we drive our satellites today as if we're going to church. Our adversaries drive their satellites as if they're going to combat," Lt. Gen. John Shaw, who recently retired from US Space Command, told Breaking Defense in this Q&A.
SILENTBARKER ‘watchdog’ to be ‘exponential’ leap in DoD monitoring of Chinese, Russian sats
As the Space Force prepares to launch highly classified space domain awareness satellites, China calls foul on purported close approaches to its sats by existing US birds.
NRO seeking new electro-optical imagery from private sector
The NRO is planning to award new contracts for commercial satellite imagery, perhaps including that of other satellites, the spy-sat agency's head of commercial operations, Pete Muend, said today.
Space Force envisions ‘freight trains’ to space, ‘Walmarts on orbit’
Stephen "Bucky" Butow, director of space at the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Unit summed up the end goal for future operations as creating a "blue collar space."
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An autonomy blueprint is essential to keep legacy platforms relevant in modern warfare
It’s about improving existing platforms with autonomy, and applying AI, edge computing, quantum encryption, and sensor fusion.
Space Force delivers first payload for Japan’s QZSS satellites
The two hosted payloads, designed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory, will keep tabs on spacecraft and dangerous debris in geosynchronous orbit (GEO).
Startup SCOUT piques Space Force interest with space data software
Sergio Gallucci, SCOUT co-founder and chief technology officer, told Breaking Defense that its new AFWERX contract is focused on demonstrating its software for integrating and streamlining unclassified data from multiple satellites.
To infinity and beyond: New Space Force unit to monitor ‘xGEO’ beyond Earth’s orbit
Space Force has established the new 19th Space Defense Squadron to monitor what officials now refer to as "xGEO" space.
Key space monitoring sensors still rely on outdated CAVENet computer system
At the moment it is unclear when Space Force and Space Command actually will decommission CAVEnet, 2000s-era tech that analysts use for highly accurate and classified tracking of space objects.