Space Force wants commercial sat buses to carry ‘bundled’ experiments

Space Force wants commercial sat buses to carry ‘bundled’ experiments
Space Force wants commercial sat buses to carry ‘bundled’ experiments

The effort, called Space Test Experiments Platform 2.0 (STEP 2.0), aims to set up a consortium of providers who have flight-proven buses via an indefinite delivery/indefinite quality (ID/IQ) contract, Lt. Col. Jonathan Shea, STP director, said Monday.

Navy lab experiment on ISS could improve long-range radio communications

Navy lab experiment on ISS could improve long-range radio communications
Navy lab experiment on ISS could improve long-range radio communications

The Experiment for Characterizing the Lower Ionosphere & Prediction of Sporadic-E (ECLIPSE) sensors are slated to launch to the ISS in March via the DoD Space Test Program, Andrew Nicholas, one of the effort’s lead researchers, told Breaking Defense in an email. 

Newest sats launched by DoD include jammer-evading, classified payloads

Newest sats launched by DoD include jammer-evading, classified payloads
Newest sats launched by DoD include jammer-evading, classified payloads

AFRL’s experimental CubeSat, called Recurve, uses artificial intelligence/machine learning to autonomously decide how to route data through large constellations of interlinked satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

Space Force launches experimental sats to detect nukes, test laser communications

Space Force launches experimental sats to detect nukes, test laser communications
Space Force launches experimental sats to detect nukes, test laser communications

Included among the STP-3 mission’s payloads is NASA’s Laser Communication Relay Demonstration (LCRD) aimed at enabling higher speed communications across the vast region of space between the Earth and Mars.

Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne To Fly DoD Sats By Year End

Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne To Fly DoD Sats By Year End
Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne To Fly DoD Sats By Year End

“I want to see a kickass flight, really really soon!” says Mandy Vaughn, president of VOX Space, about her 2020 goals for Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne.

Branson: Virgin Launch of First Sat By End Of Year

Branson: Virgin Launch of First Sat By End Of Year
Branson: Virgin Launch of First Sat By End Of Year

Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson hopes that his LauncherOne airborne launch system’s capability to rapidly launch smallsats “will be a deterrent to an enemy state, that is to not attack satellites in the first place.”

Senate Approps Keeps Global Hawks Flying; Army WIN-T Loses

WASHINGTON: The defense spending bill passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee today keeps Block 30 Global Hawk drones flying, instead of letting them be warehoused as the Air Force had planned, a congressional source confirmed to Breaking Defense. That is arguably the final flourish on Congress’s utter rejection of the Air Force’s proposed cuts in…