WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force has tested a new anti-jamming capability that will make the military’s main satellite communications constellation more resilient than ever, the Space and Missile Systems Center announced Aug. 26. On June 18, SMC successfully tested the Mitigation and Anti-Jam Enhancement, or MAJE, capability for Wideband Global SATCOM. WGS provides global satellite communications to American forces. MAJE includes both software and hardware […]
Nathan Strout
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WASHINGTON — SRC Inc. has won a $90 million contract to support the U.S. Air Force’s counter-small unmanned aerial system efforts, the service announced Aug. 24. Under the indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract, which is not to exceed the $90 million ceiling, the Air Force will purchase SRC’s C-sUAS and related components. SRC will also provide upgrades, sustainment, installation support, and design and analysis support. Work […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. National Reconnaissance Office is set to launch a new intelligence payload into orbit in the early hours of the morning on Aug. 26. The Launch Readiness Review has given the mission — dubbed NROL-44 — the “go,” clearing it for liftoff at 2:16 a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. As of the Aug. 24 announcement, the weather forecast […]
WASHINGTON — Beginning in September, entities across the U.S. Department of Defense will be able to buy small, American-manufactured drones from five select companies, allowing users in the field to quickly and easily gain a bird’s eye view of their environment. A spin-off of U.S. Army efforts to develop a rucksack-packable quadcopter with the Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) program of record, the Defense Innovation Unit’s Blue […]
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Space Force will begin sharing valuable space situational awareness data with the United Kingdom as part of Operation Olympic Defender, the service announced Aug. 14. Under a recently signed agreement, the Space Force will share it’s Standardized Astrodynamics Algorithm Library with the U.K.‘s Ministry of Defense. SAAL is a collection of the Space Force’s understanding of orbital physics and algorithms that helps […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force hopes its prototype low-Earth orbit weather satellites will entice commercial businesses and allied nations to partner up on the project, reducing the cost of delivering critical weather data to the war fighter. The U.S. Air Force has been trying to replace the aging Defense Meteorological Satellite Program for years, ever since Congress opted to can it in 2015. Two capabilities […]
In yet another step toward firmly establishing an independent identity from the other services, the U.S. Space Force has published a new document articulating “spacepower” as a separate and distinct form of military power. The Space Capstone Publication is the Space Force’s first official doctrine, and it will serve as a foundation for further doctrines that will delve deeper into the thorny military issues confronting the […]
The Pentagon has cleared 100 megahertz (MHz) of contiguous mid-band spectrum to be used for commercial 5G following a 15-week review, determining that they can share that bandwidth while minimizing impact on military radars. While that 3450-3550 MHz mid-band spectrum is highly desired by commercial 5G developers, it’s been historically used by the military for critical radar operations for purposes including air defense, missile and gunfire […]
WASHINGTON – It’s hard to hit targets you can’t see. That’s the problem Willie Nelson is trying to solve as director of the Army’s Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing (APNT) Cross-Functional Team. In that role, Nelson is integrating the Army’s efforts to locate beyond-line-of-sight threats and delivering accurate targeting data to weapons systems in a timely manner. In order to do that, his team is leveraging […]
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Air Force has completed critical design review of an experimental navigation satellite, clearing the way for fabrication to begin and keeping the launch on track for 2022. The Air Force Research Laboratory’s Navigation Technology Satellite 3 (NTS-3) is one of the Air Force’s first Vanguard programs—platforms that can delivers remarkable new capabilities to the war fighter. NTS-3 is being developed to demonstrate […]
WASHINGTON — A new wide-area motion imagery sensor could make the R1-21A Blackjack an even more powerful tool for the war fighter, allowing the small UAV to simultaneously monitor 5 square miles. Logos Technologies announced July 28 that it was awarded a $6.7 million contract to deliver two wide-area motion imagery (WAMI) sensor prototypes to U.S. Naval Air Systems Command in September. Dubbed Cardcounter by the […]
WASHINGTON – Up and coming U.S. government launch provider Rocket Lab says it has identified the anomaly behind a July 4 in-flight failure of one of its rockets, and the Federal Aviation Administration has cleared the company to resume launches, the company announced July 31. Several minutes after one of the company’s Electron rockets successfully lifted-off from its New Zealand launch pad on July 4, the […]
BAE Systems has completed its $1.9 billion purchase of Collins Aerospace’s military Global Positioning System business from Raytheon Technologies Corporation, the company announced July 31. “Today marks the culmination of a tremendous team effort, and we are extremely proud to welcome the Military GPS employees to our company,” said John Watkins, vice president and general manager of Precision Strike & Sensing Solutions at BAE Systems. “Together, […]
WASHINGTON – The Pentagon is trying to move ahead with reforms to how it acquires space systems, even as a report outlining significant legislative changes has gotten held up by the Office of Management and Budget. Released in May, the Department of the Air Force report recommends nine specific proposals to improve contracting under the newly established U.S. Space Force. While most of the changes can […]
WASHINGTON — More than 120 space specialists, including representatives from the Pentagon, are calling on the United States to develop and promote a “North Star” approach for industrial development to maintain American leadership in space. The push came in a report, “State of the Space Industrial Base 2020,“ following a virtual workshop held in May, which saw leaders from industry, the U.S. government and academia convene […]
WASHINGTON – The nominee to lead the nearly year-old U.S. Space Command voiced support for addressing the problem of overclassification in space during a July 28 hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Lt. Gen. James Dickinson, currently serving as deputy commander of SPACECOM, told senators that in his experience, declassification has helped the war fighter on the ground. “In my previous job as commander of […]
Hypergiant Industries is working on building a new 36 satellite constellation with the U.S. Air Force—an updatable system that the company hopes will be used as a low Earth orbit test range. The company first pitched the concept of a constellation of satellites that could update “functionality and mission profiles on the fly based on real-time emergent scenarios and information” in January. Since then, Hypergiant has […]
WASHINGTON — The Defense Innovation Unit has selected Ball Aerospace to develop a new prototype antenna for the U.S. Navy’s new stealth destroyers, the company announced July 21. The low-observable antenna will allow the DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class destroyers to communicate over multiple frequency bands without compromising the ships’ stealth features. Ball will develop the antenna architecture, beamforming approach and the prototype itself. “We are pleased to […]
U.S. Space Command says that Russia tested an anti-satellite weapon on orbit July 15, continuing a series of aggressive actions that nation has taken in space. According to a July 23 SPACECOM statement, Russian inspector satellite Cosmos 2543 released another object into space in proximity to another Russian satellite, an action inconsistent with its stated purpose. U.S. officials have suggested in the past that such an […]
WASHINGTON – The Department of Defense wants better batteries for its war fighters, and it’s partnering with NanoGraf to develop them. “Just like we civilians are increasingly relying on cell phones and tablets and everything else, the modern soldier is also transitioning towards these really power heavy devices in the field, [like] night vision goggles, weapon optics, all of the communications devices, GPS,” said Chip Breitenkamp, […]
WASHINGTON – General Dynamics will continue providing engineering support for the U.S. Navy’s Knifefish, an unmanned undersea mine hunter, as the service looks to increase testing and evaluation before entering full-rate production.. The Navy issued a $13.6 million contract modification to General Dynamics for continued engineering support for Knifefish on July 20, just as the original $9.2 million contract issued last July was set to expire. […]
WASHINGTON – New software developed by BAE Systems could help the Department of Defense build confidence in decisions and intelligence produced by machine learning algorithms, the company claims. BAE Systems said it recently delivered its new MindfuL software program to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in a July 14 announcement. Developed in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, […]
Since 1961, the National Reconnaissance Office has been in charge of designing, building, launching and operating the United States’ fleet of intelligence satellites. In 2017, the agency’s role expanded. In addition to all of the above, NRO took over the role of acquiring commercial satellite imagery on behalf of the intelligence community from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Under this new paradigm, NGA serves as the geospatial […]
The Defense Innovation Unit has awarded Sierra Nevada Corporation a contract to build an unmanned orbital outpost, the company announced July 14. The unmanned orbital outpost will be placed in low Earth orbit to be used for experiments and demonstrations. The autonomous, free flying vehicle will be able to host payloads and support space assembly and manufacturing, microgravity experimentation, logistics, training, testing and evaluations. Under the […]
The National Reconnaissance Office successfully launched four classified payloads into orbit July 15 from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility — the agency’s first dedicated launch from the Virginia facility. NRO is in charge of acquiring, launching and operating the nation’s intelligence satellites, and while the agency does not typically reveal the details or purpose of its classified satellites, the agency’s director noted that the four payloads will […]
The U.S. Navy wants $464 million for unmanned surface vessels, but Congress is not on the same page. Legislators have so far declined to fully fund the massive investment into research and development for large and medium unmanned surface vessels as they work through the annual defense bill, citing the request as “excessive procurement ahead of satisfactory testing.” Among other things, that budget request would give […]
The U.S. Space Force squadron charged with operating the military’s most secure communications satellites has received a new advanced terminal that has been in development for years. The new Family of Advanced Beyond-Line-of-Sight Terminal (FAB-T) was installed in late June at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado, where the 4th Space Operations Squadron will use it to control protected military communications satellites. “The terminals we were using […]
Raytheon has selected Orolia to provide a critical time and frequency system to the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor the company is building for the U.S. Army, Orolia announced July 8. The Army awarded Raytheon $384 million in October 2019 to deliver six LTAMDS radar units. LTAMDS is expected to replace the Army’s Patriot radars — a system that has been fielded since the […]
Four National Reconnaissance Office payloads will be launched into orbit July 15, continuing the agency’s efforts to leverage the small commercial launch market for its missions. The U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center announced July 11 that it successfully completed its flight readiness review, putting the launch on track for its 9 a.m. ET window at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight […]
The U.S. Space Force and the National Reconnaissance Office will stick with Rocket Lab for upcoming launches, despite the failure of the company’s most recent rocket launch to reach orbit. An anomaly occurred during the small launch provider’s most recent mission, resulting in the loss of the rocket and the commercial payloads it was carrying. Rocket Lab noted in a statement that the issue occurred approximately […]
The U.S. Air Force has awarded Descartes Labs a contract that will allow them to use the company’s geospatial analytics platform for multisensor data fusion and situational awareness. The Small Business Innovation Research Phase II contract was awarded through AFWERX—an Air Force effort to spark innovation through non-traditional vendors—and the Air Force REsearch Lab’s Space Vehicles Directorate and Information Directorate. Descartes Labs did not reveal the […]
The U.S. Space Force’s stopgap Arctic communications system has passed another major milestone, with it’s Control and Planning Segment (CAPS) ground system passing a critical design review. The Space and Missile Systems Center said officials completed a “delta critical design review” of Enhanced Polar System Recapitalization’s (EPS-R) CAPS design June 25. In a press release, SMC noted the assessment included three months of review by the […]
The Joint Artificial Intelligence Center is shifting its focus to enabling joint warfighting operations, developing artificial intelligence tools that will be integrated into the Department of Defense’s Joint All-Domain Command and Control efforts. “As we have matured, we are now devoting special focus on our joint warfighting operation and its mission initiative, which is focused on the priorities of the National Defense Strategy and its goal […]