The Air Force is closely monitoring the unfolding war in Ukraine and is committed to deterring—and defeating—further Russian aggression, but the forthcoming National Defense Strategy will maintain that despite the current threat environment, the pacing threat is still China, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said ...
The Space Development Agency has awarded contracts for the 126 satellites that will make up its Tranche 1 Transport Layer, splitting the deal between Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and York Space Systems, it announced Feb. 28. All told, the three contracts for 42 satellites each ...
A satellite constellation specially suited to tracking hypersonic missiles could be up and running by 2025. Director of the Space Development Agency Derek M. Tournear laid out the advantages of the Tracking Layer of SDA’s still-envisioned National Security Space Architecture in a virtual talk Jan. ...
Leaders of the Space Force foresee the service continuing to become more “lethal” in its third year, inventing new tactical scenarios while maturing its organizational charts and carving out roles for companies, universities, and other of the world’s militaries.
After one of the bidders lodged a protest the same day proposals were due for the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 1 Transport Layer earlier this month, the agency is planning to rescind that request—and to issue a new one under a different acquisition authority.
On the same day industry proposals were due for the Space Development Agency’s Transport Layer Tranche 1 of 126 small satellites, one of the contenders filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office.
When it comes to developing and deploying new technologies for the Space Force and other space-focused units in the Defense Department, the Space Development Agency wants to be on a two-year cycle. But influential Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) criticized that plan as too slow and ...
The Space Development Agency will issue an official request for proposals Aug. 30 for the Tranche 1 Transport Layer of its National Defense Space Architecture. It will provide the Defense Department a range of options for sharing information if signals are jammed or systems destroyed. ...
The Space Force is asking for $17.4 billion in its 2022 budget request—more than 10 percent of the Department of the Air Force's $173.7 billion "blue" budget and a $2 billion increase from 2021. The request would grow the service to 8,400 Guardians, pay to ...
The proliferation of long-range strike options under development across all the U.S. armed forces should prompt a comprehensive review by civilian leaders, a new report by two influential think tanks concludes. Titled “Understanding the Long-Range Strike Debate,” the report by AFA's Mitchell Institute for Aerospace ...
The Defense Department's Space Development Agency wants to blanket Earth with a constellation of low-cost, open-architecture data-relay and missile-tracking satellites whose sheer numbers, along with their 1,000-kilometer-high orbits, would theoretically thwart some modes of interference—but not all. With all going according to plan so far, ...
The U.S. Space Force has done much in its first 16 months. We must allow it to unlock its full potential, by providing it with the tools and authorities to accomplish its mission. The new service should be authorized to unify the department so everyone ...