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 ...
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 ...
The Space Force’s experimental satellite bound for geosynchronous orbit should help to mitigate some of the risks associated with the U.S.’s plans to improve space-based missile warning and tracking. The Wide Field of View Testbed satellite is one of two payloads scheduled to launch on ...
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 ...
CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, Fla.— A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, powered by a Russian-made RD-180 rocket motor, blasted off on a crisp 68 degree Florida day into clear blue skies, carrying the GOES-T National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite into orbit. Seven years ...
Two satellites set forth to geosynchronous Earth orbit Jan. 21 to join a constellation of four others surveilling the high satellite belt. Collecting data for the National Space Defense Center and “other national users” will “enhance our ability to navigate freely and safely within the GEO ...
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 ...
The Space Test Program (STP)-3 launch scheduled for Dec. 5 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla., will prototype new warfighter capabilities, add nuclear launch detection sensors to orbit, and enhance Space Force efforts to improve resiliency in a new “threat-driven paradigm.” In all, 16 ...
The Space Force is thinking ahead to what it might need from rocket providers at the end of the decade, as it plans for the next phase of the National Security Space Launch program. The service released a request for information on Nov. 10 to ...
Check out United Launch Alliance CEO's fireside chat on space with Space Force Vice Commander Lt. Gen. David Thompson—whom the Senate has since confirmed to serve as USSF's first-ever Vice Chief of Space Operations—that was held during the Air Force Association's virtual Air, Space & ...
United Launch Alliance Chief Executive Officer Tory Bruno supports the idea of sending space industry employees for stints in the Space Force, suggesting it could be modeled on an existing Air Force program that lets service members try out private sector jobs. The Space Force ...