SpaceX and United Launch Alliance have won massive five-year National Security Space Launch contracts from the U.S. Space Force and National Reconnaissance Office, the Space and Missile Systems Center announced Aug. 7. The contracts will support more than 30 heavy lift launches planned between fiscal 2022 through 2027, with task […]
Nathan Strout
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WASHINGTON – The U.S. Space Force has completed upgrades to the Global Position System’s ground that will allow it to partially utilize a new military GPS signal known as M-Code, the service announced Aug. 6. While the new anti-spoofing, anti-jamming, encrypted M-Code signal has been available on many GPS satellites […]
WASHINGTON – U.S. Special Operations Command could order up to $172 million worth of inflatable satellite communications terminals under a new five-year contract with GATR Technologies, a subsidiary of Cubic Corp. By using an inflatable radome, GATR Technologies antennas are designed to be ultra-portable and easy to set up. The […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Space Force has selected Raytheon Intelligence & Space to build an advanced weather satellite prototype that can provide the military with theater weather imaging and cloud characterization (TWICC), the company announced July 22. The Next Generation Electro-Optical Infrared Weather Satellite is intended to replace the Defense […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]