Disputes over spectrum use by mega-constellations in low Earth orbit, such as SpaceX’s Starlink, also carry heavy political baggage at the 2023 World Radio Conference that starts tomorrow in Dubai.
By Theresa HitchensWhen it comes to leveraging commercial space tech, one analyst said, “The old adage holds — show me your budget and I’ll show you your priorities.”
By Theresa HitchensTodd Master, Umbra’s chief operating officer and a former DARPA official, told Breaking Defense on May 22 that DRIFT “is a legitimately great example of how government can actually advance capability using commercial investments instead of just saying ‘leverage commercial’ over and over.”
By Theresa HitchensThe month-long World Radiocommunications Conference in Dubai will decide whether to change how spectrum use is allocate among various users – including spectrum needed by DoD planes and ships operating abroad.
By Theresa HitchensUnder the deal, Maxar will be able to expand its SAR data offerings to international customers, and Umbra will get global eyes on its products, company officials told Breaking Defense.
By Theresa Hitchens“There is significant value in unclassified, shareable SAR imagery. And we’ve seen that in Ukraine. And so I think that has changed people’s minds quite a bit which has given a lot of momentum to … how government thinks about future procurements,” Capella CEO Payam Banazadeh told Breaking Defense.
By Theresa Hitchens“Sapphire has done yeoman’s service for us. It is beyond end of life, but keeps chugging away like the Energizer Bunny. And, and every day that it has a hiccup, I go, ‘Not today, not today,'” said Brig. Gen. Mike Adamson.
By Theresa HitchensMarc Bell, Terran Orbital’s CEO, told Breaking Defense that despite the decision to abandon plans for its PredaSAR subsidiary to operate a SAR-sat constellation, the company intends to fully uphold its obligations under a pair of contracts with NRO.
By Theresa Hitchens“This agreement is a significant step in responding to the Government of Ukraine’s urgent request for critical earth observation data and it will greatly benefit our Armed Forces,” said Serhiy Prytula, whose eponymous foundation crowdsources kit for the Ukrainian military.
By Theresa HitchensEven as Canada acknowledges growing importance of space in defense, Jessica West of Canada’s Project Ploughshares said, “The creation of a division within the military [structure] rather than a standalone force points to the integration of space across military functions rather than a ‘warfighting’ orientation.”
By Theresa Hitchens“I’m focusing on laser communication terminals because I think that’s the strongest candidate to build in the US,” Rob Geckle, CEO of Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, told Breaking Defense.
By Theresa HitchensThe markup also calls for a comprehensive report on how DoD plans to leverage ISR data from commercial radio frequency (RF) satellites, noting that lawmakers have been “encouraged” by the successful use of RF geolocation in exercises, including by European Command.
By Theresa HitchensICEYE currently is planning to launch another five satellites this year, Jerry Welsh, CEO of the Finnish firm’s US arm, told Breaking Defense. But he did not provide a breakout of those to be built in Finland vice the US.
By Theresa HitchensPayam Banazadeh, CEO of Capella Space, told Breaking Defense that the Ukraine war has been a “critical place for the industry to show itself,” but NRO says it isn’t accelerating the SAR acquisition process.
By Theresa Hitchens