The largest MoD investment detailed in the new strategy is a planned £880 million between 2026/2027 and 2029/2030 for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and space control "activities."
The space industry lauded a new Trump administration 1,000-launches-a-year space policy, but experts told Breaking Defense that the current space infrastructure doesn’t have enough capacity and someone’s going to have to pay, potentially a lot, to change that.
Traditional thinking about how to protect facilities must adapt to new threats such as drones or downstream attacks.
Lt. Gen. David Miller, Space Force deputy for Strategy, Plans, Programs and Requirements, said on Tuesday that the service alone is looking at some 1,000 launches between fiscal 2027 and 2031.
AE Industrial will take a 60 percent stake in the new business focused on civil and commercial space; L3Harris will maintain about a 40 percent share.
ESA's ruling Council of Ministers approved a whopping $25.7B in funds over the next three years — a 32 percent increase over the previous three-year budget.
SpaceX was assigned seven NSSL Phase 3 Lane 2 launches under a contract worth $714 million; ULA two launches worth $428 million.
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The draft EO would eliminate, waive and/or loosen federal environmental protection reviews required for launch licenses, including for those from Space Force ranges.
While US spending on national security space continues to dwarf that of the rest of world, non-US military space spending has jumped a whopping 76.5 percent over the last five years.
While not necessarily a near-term possibility, Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen said the Space Force is "looking at increasing the resiliency, increasing the ways that we have to get assured access to space, that's where the these initial discussions with our international partners are coming in."
The smaller SBI price tag enabled by the drop in launch costs could be offset by the need for a much larger number of satellites to fulfil Trump's Golden Dome plan, the Congressional Budget Office study caveats.
AI is reshaping the Army’s approach to cyber, electronic warfare and command and control. At TechNet Augusta 2026, leaders outlined how they’re turning emerging technology into capabilities for the battlefield.
While the number of launches contracted to Blue Origin is small, the award represents a vote of confidence for the company founded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos.
The new guidance "strengthens the U.S. ability to deter our adversaries, expands U.S. exports .... and broadens the scope of future space partnerships with U.S. allies and partners," one recent Biden official told Breaking Defense.
ULA CEO Tory Bruno expressed confidence that the Vulcan Centaur would be able to loft its two manifested launches scheduled for early next year for the National Security Space Launch program.
ULA CEO Tory Bruno explained that Air Force space acquisition czar Frank Calvelli asked Lockheed Martin and Boeing to create an independent review team to "help" Vulcan production rates and launch site readiness remain on track.