The Space Force is opening up its competition for rocket launches with a “dual-lane approach,” according to a new draft request for proposals (RFP) from industry—potentially giving smaller companies more opportunities. Late Feb. 16, the service released the draft RFP and announced it would be hosting ...
The U.S. Space Force and SpaceX successfully launched the sixth GPS III satellite into orbit Jan. 18, bolstering the crucial position, navigation, and timing constellation. The launch, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex-40, took place at 7:24 a.m. Eastern, with the satellite riding SpaceX’s ...
The effects of Russia’s 2021 anti-satellite weapon test on just one commercial satellite constellation illustrate the urgency of just one aspect of space safety. A “dominating commercial space market” is also expanding the scope of space missions to include the likes of commercial human spaceflight and ...
The rapid proliferation of commercial satellites is revealing increased potential for counter-satellite military operations and collateral damage. To help inform efforts to establish norms, the not-for-profit Aerospace Corporation’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy studied other areas where civil and military activities converge. The study ...
A pair of Air Force units across two major commands have announced plans to purchase services from SpaceX’s Starlink constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit. The contracts come not long after service leaders praised the effectiveness of the satellite internet service in aiding Ukraine ...
Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. "Jay" Raymond offered some of his early observations on the role of space activities in the war in Ukraine. After nearly a three-year pandemic hiatus, many of the world's top national security and foreign affairs officials gathered in ...
NASA, SpaceX, and United Launch Alliance are all preparing to launch their next-gen rockets from Florida’s Space Coast, two of them before the year is out. One is expected to liberate the U.S. launch enterprise from its reliance on Russian-made RD-180 engines, while all three rockets ...
Drawn closer by business interests and geopolitical necessity, the military and NASA “would be remiss” not to collaborate more, said the space agency’s No. 2 political appointee. Yet as the Defense Department has committed billions in weapons toward a Russian defeat in Ukraine, NASA Deputy ...
CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, Fla.—Air Force and Space Force personnel and systems have stood at the ready to remotely destroy a rocket if it were to go off course from the Eastern Range and endanger the public. Now as launch companies adopt autonomous flight ...
Going the full fiscal year funded by a continuing resolution would cost the Defense Department the ability to procure two space launches and cause a “ripple effect for years to come.” Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond addressed the effects of ...
The commander of Space Launch Delta 30 envisions Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., as a “national spaceport” and said the launch delta is trying to figure out how to make that dream a reality. Vandenberg has plenty of room to grow, and the convenience of ...
Reports of production troubles on the SpaceX rocket that could contend for military cargo deliveries happened to coincide with a different company’s concept receiving an early nod—one that might not require a rocket at all.