For most, space policy is still more science fiction than reality—the stuff of a galaxy far, far away. People imagine laser-toting gunships and interplanetary bases, not airmen at consoles adjusting satellites in orbit. Those perceptions have persisted through about 18 months of pressure from the ...
Gen. Jay Raymond was formally sworn in as the inaugural Chief of Space Operations Jan. 14 at a White House ceremony led by Vice President Mike Pence. “The President and Congress have given us a great opportunity to build the force we need to respond ...
The Space Force has three weeks to come up with an initial organization plan that Congress wants by Feb. 1, a service official said Jan. 10. Maj. Gen. John Shaw, who serves as both US Space Command’s combined force space component commander as well as ...
The Air Force’s science advisers in 2020 will launch three studies on future communications, innovation in space, and the unintended consequences of using autonomous systems, the results of which will shape the service’s research investments. Service Secretary Barbara Barrett tasked the Air Force Scientific Advisory ...
SpaceX on Jan. 6 sent 60 Starlink broadband Internet satellites into orbit from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., marking the Space Force’s first launch since the service was created in December. This is the third batch of Starlink satellites sent into space so far, totaling 180 ...
Congressional appropriators raised a red flag about the future of missile defense and related satellites in the joint fiscal 2020 spending bill, saying the multiple Pentagon offices working on those problems need to do a better job of bringing their ideas together. Central to their ...
Lawmakers have slowly gotten on board with the Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System concept, which is intended to replace the E-8C Joint STARS aircraft, but they still want more information. ABMS will piece together airborne and ground sensors with space systems to better understand ...
Congressional authorizers have agreed to reform how the Pentagon develops and buys space systems, including adding a counterpart to Air Force acquisition boss Will Roper.
Six airmen last month became the first graduates of the new US Air Force Weapons School class aimed at training space warfighters. The new 1C6 Space Warfighter Advanced Instructor Course is aimed at providing advanced academic training to plan and “integrate space capabilities into joint ...
The Air Force’s Space Fence finished its initial operational test and evaluation phase in November, kicking off a trial period to see if the system works well enough to accept it for regular operations. Space Fence’s first increment is neither in space nor a physical ...
Air Force Global Strike Command’s second decade in business will be a busy one. Created in 2009 as Strategic Air Command’s post-Cold War replacement, Global Strike oversees the bulk of the Pentagon’s nuclear weapons and provides bomber aircraft for combat operations and deterrence flights around ...
A rendering portrays Lockheed Martin's GPS III satellite on orbit for the Air Force. Illustration courtesy of Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin’s first on-orbit GPS III satellite on Oct. 21 successfully connected to its upgraded operational control system, known as the...