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 ...
News last fall that SpaceX owner and CEO Elon Musk restricted the Ukrainian military’s use of his Starlink satellite broadband service to stymie an attack on Russian forces highlighted the extraordinary power wielded in that war by a single business owner with some outlandish ideas. But ...
The Space Development Agency plans to finish two major demonstrations of its low-Earth orbit satellites—and get started on a rapid series of launches—before the end of 2024, its director said March 6. The series of milestones outlined by SDA boss Derek M. Tournear represent the ...
After multiple scrubbed launches, the Space Force’s X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle returned to orbit Dec. 28, riding a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The launch of the secretive reusable space plane came two weeks after China launched its own mysterious spacecraft, “Shenlong,” ...
Multiple delays and scrubbed launches have kept the Space Force’s X-37B from returning to orbit this week. But after suggesting several years ago the secretive space plane may be on its way out, Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman indicated its future is brighter ...
The Space Force will send its space place, X-37B, back into orbit this weekend. When it comes back down is anyone’s guess, at least publicly. On Dec. 10, a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket is slated to lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida as ...
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III embarks this weekend on his ninth trip to the Indo-Pacific theater, with visits set for India, South Korea, and Indonesia. Austin's visit follows the announcement last week that South Korea's first-ever reconnaissance satellite will be launched into space ...
The Space Force aims to boost its National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program from 12 launches in fiscal 2023 to 21 missions in 2024, with United Launch Alliance (ULA) responsible for 11 missions and SpaceX handling 10.
The Space Force is bolstering its satellite network—and its ties to SpaceX—with a $70 million contract for the company’s new Starshield service. Starshield, often described as a government equivalent to SpaceX’s Starlink network, is made up of satellites in low-Earth orbit (LEO) and will provide ...
Nearly five months after the Space Development Agency celebrated the first launch of its massive planned satellite constellation in low-Earth orbit, the organization is set for their second go-around Aug. 31. Thirteen satellites from Tranche 0 of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture are slated to head ...
As governments become more reliant on information provided by commercial space assets, the line between military and civilian targets will become increasingly blurred in future conflicts, three former Air Force space operators-turned commercial space executives said a panel discussion hosted by the Hudson Institute July ...
If all goes well, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will lift off at 7:29 a.m. Pacific time from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., on March 30, carrying the first pieces of the Space Force’s planned constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites. Two and a half years after ...