Golden Dome: Space Force awards first space-based interceptor prototype contracts
The Space Force did not identify the winners, saying their names are "protected by enhanced security measures."
The Space Force did not identify the winners, saying their names are "protected by enhanced security measures."
Other than stating that the call is for hit-to-kill rather than directed-energy systems for shooting down adversary missiles during their orbital flight trajectory, the notice is lacking technical detail.
Blue Origin also stuck the landing of New Glenn's reusable first stage, becoming only the second company after SpaceX to do so.
The award will fund modification of the company's multispectral infrared imaging payload, Quickbeam, "to add additional spectral bands" to meet military environmental monitoring needs.
"[O]n the ops floor, [ATLAS is] generating a catalog — it's publishing data to Space-track.org They're using that as a primary system," Space Systems Command's Shannon Pallone said in an exclusive interview.
While the Pentagon has funded experimental re-fueling efforts, RG-XX is the first official acquisition program to have a refueling requirement.
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.
Space Systems Command is prototyping a Joint Antenna Marketplace to offload some of the SCN's burden and expand its capacity by using existing commercial and non-DoD agency antennas, rather than building costly new ones for the network.
The three new Space Systems Command (SSC) system deltas in the pipeline will be responsible for acquisitions related to space combat power, assured access to space and positioning, navigation and timing, SSC Commander Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant told Breaking Defense.
The reorganization of the JCO will involve two elements: setting up processes for JCO to provide commercial space monitoring data directly to operators and establishing an acquisition pathway for that data.
CDAO’s Advana data analytics platform is ingesting data from about 500 DoD business systems.
DARC has been plagued with delays almost since its inception, according to a series of annual studies by the Government Accountability Office.
The Protected Tactical Satellite Communications-Global awards are representative of a wider shift in Space Force acquisition strategy aimed at using commercial tech to speed new capabilities to the field.
The move is part of a long-running effort by Space Systems Command to reorganize acquisition programs along mission area lines, syncing up with the structure of the service's main operational arm, Space Operations Command.
The MILNET contract with SpaceX is being paid for by the Space Force but managed by the National Reconnaissance Office, sources said.