For space, two steps forward, one step back: 2023 in review
The Space Force has made some visible progress in its "pivot" towards resiliency, but acquisition reform remains a hard slog.
UN takes ‘parallel’ paths on space security amid geopolitical rift
One new working group, led by the UK and US, will focus on norms; the other, led by Russia and China, will draft legal treaty.
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How TAK gives the US military an advantage at the Edge
“Tactical operating system” for warfighters has evolved to provide more situational awareness of the battlefield.
Russia spikes UN effort on norms to reduce space threats
Only a small number of nations, including Venezuela, Iran and China, supported Russia's objections, especially its rejection of responsible behavior as a foundation for norms.
SILENTBARKER ‘watchdog’ to be ‘exponential’ leap in DoD monitoring of Chinese, Russian sats
As the Space Force prepares to launch highly classified space domain awareness satellites, China calls foul on purported close approaches to its sats by existing US birds.
EU embraces Biden administration’s limited ASAT test ban as UN meeting looms
The EU move, which comes in the run up to the final meeting of the UN working group to prevent space threats at the end of the month, brings the number of countries supporting the limited ASAT testing ban up to 35.
Debris from ASAT tests creating ‘bad neighborhood’ in low Earth orbit: Analyst
Russian and Chinese anti-satellite tests are responsible for "pretty much 20 percent" of "conjunction" warnings, that is predictions that two space objects are likely to collide, in 2022, said the State Department's Eric Desautels.
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Data overload threatens decisionmakers as autonomy expands
Reducing cognitive overload on warfighters while improving “time to trust” for autonomous systems is a matter of design.
Space Force’s FY24 budget includes ‘offensive’ options for space. What does that mean?
"There are hard kill and soft kill capabilities, if you will, that we're funding," Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said with regards to offensive space capabilities, but none that would created dangerous space debris.
SpaceX didn’t intend that Starlink be ‘weaponized’ by Ukraine: Shotwell
Moscow has charged that Starlink is directly enhancing the ability of Ukrainian forces to target weapons on Russian forces.
At UN meeting, space cooperation picks up momentum, but Moscow and Beijing play spoilers
American initiatives are seeing more support, while rivals used the opportunity to raise a litany of complaints against Washington.
At home and internationally, ‘governance’ is the space watchword: 2023 Preview
There are a host of open questions bedeviling national and international policy- and law-makers as they struggle to get a better grip on both the explosion of commercial players with innovative ideas for space utilization and the growing military interest in space as a tool of, and venue for, war.
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Turning R&D into reality to meet the challenges of the modern battlefield
Knowing when to build on commercial systems and when to develop something new can be the difference between parity and information dominance.
UN committee endorses US call for moratorium on destructive ASAT missile tests
"There are ongoing reviews to find other other commitments that we can make, specifically around national security space activities," said the State Department's Richard Buenneke.
EXCLUSIVE: US pushes ASAT missile ban as UN norms group reconvenes
Up to now, only Canada and New Zealand have joined the US in unilaterally pledging not to test destructive ASAT missiles, but diplomats expect others to join in.
New legal ‘manual’ on peacetime military space activities could aid norms drive
The McGill space law manual is modeled on other well-known legal manuals that, while not official or legally binding, heavily influence the decision-making of military and government lawyers around the world in planning military operations in other domains.
As danger grows for commercial firms in space, so does call for norms: Aerospace
One critical issue for the commercial space industry identified by the Aerospace study is the potential for their satellites and ground stations to be deliberately targeted.