Drones of the Berlin Air Show, plus a window into Europe’s space ambitions
This week on The Break Out, a brief review of small unmanned systems as well as space-launch options showcased at ILA Berlin 2026.
Satellites at the center: Inside the Pentagon’s next-gen space architecture
From emerging data networks to missile tracking and cyber resilience, Breaking Defense’s latest eBook brings together essential reporting on the evolving role of satellites in national security.
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Built for another era, our air-and-missile-defense industrial base needs more builders
New entrants are filling unmet needs in air-and-missile defense.
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GPS: Still the gold standard in global navigation
The GPS network continues to prove its unmatched reliability, and it’s only getting stronger.
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Voyager is accelerating access to space
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.
NRO needs AI to manage more than 200 (and counting) satellites, director says
Chris Scolese envisions an NRO constellation user saying, “‘I want to know how many ships are in the Taiwan Strait’ ... and then the system could go off and do it.”
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Commercial remote sensing: The critical U.S. National Security Space imperative
Accelerating space-based intelligence — the most critical domain in modern warfare — at disruptive speed and economics.
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Europe rearms: Battle management, counter-UAS, and real AI at the edge
Mapping Europe’s modernization from the Eastern drone wall to actual artificial intelligence resident in tanks.
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Executing “first move advantage” to maintain dominance in space
Amazon Kuiper is building a space network that can withstand attacks by rapidly reconstituting capabilities.
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Weapons and radars built with modular design are relevant and flexible as threats evolve
Next-generation modular radars and new composable weapon capabilities solve a critical problem for the U.S. and allied militaries.
Australia kills $5.3B military space program with Lockheed
"I am sure some companies will seriously consider the business case for dealing with defense as a customer in the future, which I worry will mean our warfighters will miss out on homegrown innovations that can make a difference on the battlefield,” Jeremy Hallett, head of the Space Industry Association of Australia, said in a statement.
Lockheed completes acquisition of smallsat maker Terran Orbital
The smallsat maker — now known as Terran Orbital, a Lockheed Martin Company — will report to Lockheed’s space unit and serve as a merchant supplier to other major space primes, Lockheed said.
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Scaling AI for Defense Teams Without Increasing Data Risk
AI is expanding the mission data footprint across defense environments, increasing the need for scalable, layered data-at-rest (DAR) protection.
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The incubator from whence tomorrow’s radars, missiles, and jammers emerge
Raytheon’s Advanced Technology president sheds light on the team’s behind-the-scenes R&D work to advance radars, hypersonics, and missile defense.
Space Development Agency eyes laser link between different contractors’ birds
“I describe PWSA, the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, as the Android model,” said Space Development Agency director Derek Tournear. “If we get vendor lock, if only one works, or if they can't talk to each other, that falls apart pretty quickly.”
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Intelligence Community and Space Force challenges intersect and require closer collaboration
“Mission engineering” can integrate space and ground assets to push data to the edge.
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Sovereign space as a new line of defense
The O3b mPOWER medium-Earth orbit constellation enables nations to maintain control and autonomy over their space networks and safeguard national security, and to establish sovereign communications capabilities without relying solely on the government-proprietary satellite systems.