“Watch me do this kickflip” is essentially what top Space Force officials said on Oct. 10 when they announced the secretive X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle will soon start aerobraking, a maneuver where an orbiting space vehicle dips into the atmosphere...
The Space Rapid Capabilities Office, charged with quickly delivering cutting-edge, often-classified technologies for the Space Force, has awarded orders to 20 different small companies to work on software for commanding and controlling satellites that move around in orbit.
U.S. Space Command is interested in orbits around Earth outside the traditional regions where satellites operate, and commander Gen. Stephen N. Whiting sees refuelable spacecraft as a possible key to getting to them.
The Space Force has handed out a contract for startup Starfish Space to build and launch a satellite that will dock with and maneuver U.S. government satellites in geosynchronous orbit, a "first-of-its-kind" effort in the service’s burgeoning move to embrace space mobility and logistics.
The Pentagon’s space assets need to be able to maneuver in orbit, be refueled and repaired, and keep going, the head of U.S. Space Command said April 9—and those capabilities need to be fielded quickly to deter conflict. Gen. Stephen N. Whiting made the case for ...
As Pentagon and Space Force leaders start planning for a future of dynamic space operations where satellites can maneuver as needed and get refueled to prolong their service lives, industry leaders are preparing to deploy new technology and finalizing their concepts of operations for what ...
For decades, the Space Force and the Air Force before it have had a tried-and-true method: massive, costly satellites are sent into orbit by launches that have been planned for months. Once there, those satellites mostly stay put in their orbits, preserving as much fuel ...