Lars Hoffman, Blue Origin’s vice president of national security sales, said that a viable commercial market for space mobility and logistics “doesn’t exist right now.”
By Theresa HitchensGray Eagle is the low-cost, low-risk answer to Army modernization
Gray Eagle STOL and Gray Eagle 25M are the best options for Army aviation as it assesses where to move from its current inflection point.
“We can’t expect to bridge the valley of death through S&T programs, and industry accelerator programs. … We need to identify and prioritize resources, funding and personnel,” said Diane Howard, National Space Council head of commercial space policy.
By Theresa Hitchens
The Mitchell Institute is advocating that from now on Congress bolster the Space Force’s budget by “about $250M a year” and “increase end strength by approximately 200 personnel for the new responsibilities associated with emerging national interests on the moon and the cislunar region.”
By Theresa Hitchens
The Space Force has made some visible progress in its “pivot” towards resiliency, but acquisition reform remains a hard slog.
By Theresa Hitchens
“This oversight regime will balance economic competitiveness together with safety, security, sustainability, and responsibility,” states the new United States Novel Space Activities Authorization and Supervision Framework.
By Theresa Hitchens
“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.
By Theresa Hitchens
“Telling me: ‘I’m creating a monster, but putting it in your closet,’ still means I have a monster in my closet. And I’d really rather not have a monster in my closet,” an industry representative told Breaking Defense.
By Theresa Hitchens
Millennium Space Systems is delivering on critical missile tracking constellation
With programs like MTC, Millennium Space Systems is redefining what it means to be an operational prime – rapidly delivering operational small sat constellations on rapid timelines.
The Biden administration’s plan came, in part, in response to a different congressional proposal about how to divvy up heavenly authorities, sources told Breaking Defense.
By Theresa Hitchens
“Right now, the position of my combatant commander is: ‘I wanna move, I wanna refuel, I wanna have life-extension and I wanna live’,” SpRCO Director Kelly Hammett told Breaking Defense.
By Theresa Hitchens The robotic arms built by the Naval Research Laboratory to be carried on a SpaceLogistics Mission Robotic Vehicle are designed to operate “autonomously” to do “inspection, orbital adjustment, repair and upgrade” missions on spacecraft “that were not designed to be grappled,” Bill Vincent, the lab’s program manager, told Breaking Defense.
By Theresa Hitchens
The Space Force is rushing to meet SPACECOM’s demand, developing a new acquisition plan for space “mobility and logistics” — including on-orbit servicing and repair, satellite refueling and space junk cleanup — a plan that will lean heavily on use of commercial capabilities, said SSC’s Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy.
By Theresa Hitchens
“The closest proximity that we have imagery of was 400 meters” taken during a pass on Feb. 28, said Karla Brown, program manager for the demonstration satellites at Lockheed Martin Space. “So we hope, with two viable assets up there, to continue the demonstration to get even closer and continue to prove out those algorithms.”
By Theresa Hitchens
“As the United States leads the world in the exploration of the Moon and Mars, maintaining U.S. preeminence in space research is important as the use of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) grows and the development of space enters a new era,” states the new national strategy for LEO R&D.
By Theresa Hitchens
“And as weird as that sounds, you know, from an industry guy, I absolutely need regulation and enforcement,” said Tory Bruno, CEO of rocket maker ULA. “Because one bad actor can ruin that entire common environment for all of us.”
By Theresa Hitchens
