The Space Force successfully launched its seventh GPS III satellite into orbit Dec. 16—shaving more than a year and a half off the typical timeline for launching the highest priority national security spacecraft and switching rocket providers to do it.
On Nov. 27, Space Systems Command awarded a $196 million contract to RTX, for more work on the Next-Generation Operational Control System, as the OCX program struggles to move forward after nearly 15 years.
Space Systems Command is adding six more satellites to its medium-Earth orbit missile warning/missile tracking constellation, awarding a $386 million contract to Millennium Space Systems.
SpaceX secured orders for Phase 3 launches under the National Security Space Launch program, the first provider to do so, even as the Space Force continues its push to increase its launch options.
The Space Force’s “Victus” series, aimed at showing the service can respond to new developments in orbit on tactically relevant timelines, gained steam Oct. 4 with the announcement of two new missions in 2026.
The Space Force has selected four contractors to work on concepts for a batch of new, small GPS satellites meant to proliferate the critical position, navigation, and timing constellation.
Despite the Space Force’s “laser-focused” effort to accelerate an initiative to bolster its GPS constellation, the service’s No. 2 officer said the effort is mostly in the study and analysis phase.
When a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., on Aug. 9, it carried to orbit a historic collaboration between the Space Force and a foreign country—two satellites procured by Space Norway hosting USSF payloads for Arctic communications.
The Space Force hopes to finish calibrating and operationalize its newest weather satellite this fall, the head of Space Systems Command’s space sensing directorate said. Beyond that, Col. Robert Davis hinted that the future of space-based environmental monitoring may largely come from commercial satellites and ...
The Space Force’s planned constellation of missile warning/missile tracking satellites in medium-Earth orbit took a small hit June 17, as the service canceled a contract for three space vehicles due to rising costs and schedule delays. Space Systems Command notified RTX, formerly called Raytheon, that it ...
The Space Force is moving to up competition for its most important launches, selecting Blue Origin, SpaceX, and United Launch Alliance (ULA) to take part in the next phase of its National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program. ULA and SpaceX were already part of NSSL ...
Medium-Earth orbit—the range of space 2,000 to 35,786 kilometers above the surface mostly known as the home of GPS satellites and not much else—has been getting more and more attention from the Space Force in recent years. In its latest move, the service is eyeing ...