“On their aircraft and their ground units, they’ll be able to talk directly to us with Link 16 to our Tranche 0 satellites that are on orbit now,” Derek Tournear said at the 2024 Space Symposium.
By Michael MarrowGA-ASI’s MQ-9B: The right UAV for persistence, power, and performance
When assessing the state of the art of unmanned aerial systems, it’s critical to be very clear about what various aircraft can and can’t do – and could never do.
“By the end of next year, we’ll have 126 Link 16 satellites that are operational on orbit,” said SDA Director Derek Tournear.
By Theresa Hitchens
SDA is asking for $357 million for FY25 launch services, down from the nearly $530 million in FY24. Those funds would pay to manifest four planned launches of the Tranche 2 Transport Layer satellites in 2027.
By Theresa Hitchens
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall explained that the “small decrease in the number for the Space Force” isn’t itself quite reflective of reality, as there are mitigating circumstances that lessen the blow.
By Theresa Hitchens
Gen. Michael Guetlein said that the service is “looking at losing about seven” of the 10 launches it planned under the National Security Space Launch program in FY24 if the CR is prolonged.
By Theresa Hitchens
Space Force’s primary acquisition command, Space Systems Command (SSC), is seeking industry input on the possibility of building smaller, lighter and cheaper GPS satellites.
By Theresa Hitchens
“We need a budget to be able to continue to fund this,” said Space Development Agency Director Derek Tournear. “We always assume there will be a continuing resolution for a few months, but not six to 12.”
By Michael Marrow
BAE Systems’ LR-PGK: The Superior Anti-Jam Solution
Going the distance to defeat emerging jam threats.
The agencies said in their joint announcement that the “launch of the two prototype systems will be followed by two years of on-orbit testing.”
By Theresa Hitchens
While GEOST has made infrared sensors for classified systems in the ones and twos, the new contract will involve building infrared sensors designed to be used in a larger constellation, LightRidge CEO Bill Gattle told Breaking Defense.
By Theresa Hitchens
Chief Executive Officer Kathy Warden said that despite cost growth for the company’s Sentinel ICBM program, the company’s “near-term assumptions” of its sales and profitability are not “materially impacted.”
By Michael Marrow
An SDA official explained that the six “preliminary fire control” satellites in Tracking Layer Tranche 2 will carry a mix of wide-field-of-view and medium-field-of-view infrared cameras.
By Theresa Hitchens
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A new constellation with laser comms and compatibility with the Space Development Agency’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture is now taking shape.
By Breaking Defense
The Space Force has made some visible progress in its “pivot” towards resiliency, but acquisition reform remains a hard slog.
By Theresa Hitchens
In this op-ed, Masao Dahlgren discusses the launch of a forthcoming missile-tracking satellite constellation and what can be learned from it.
By Masao Dahlgren