The Space Force sees NASAβs new Space Academy as a potential civilian talent pipeline, while keeping the Air Force Academy as an officer commissioning source.
FILE - In this photo released by the U.S. Air Force, Capt. Ryan Vickers stands for a photo to display his new service tapes after taking his oath of office to transfer from the U.S. Air Force to the U.S. Space Force at Al-Udeid Air Base, Qatar, Sept. 1, 2020. (Staff Sgt. Kayla White/U.S. Air Force via AP, File)
U.S. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink confirmed Monday that the United States has weapons in orbit designed to disable or destroy adversary satellites, a rare public admission from a senior Pentagon official about a capability the government has typically declined to discuss, Defense One reported. Meink made the statement during a Monday morning speech at [β¦]
βWe need to make sure that there's strong buy-in not just from Congress or from any administration, but from the people of this country,β Sen. Deb Fischer said.
A Russian satellite built to maneuver alongside and inspect other countriesβ spacecraft up close fell back to Earth on September 12, but the object that came down may not have been the real satellite, according to Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who tracks satellite activity. The satellite, Kosmos-2558, launched from [β¦]
The Office of the Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration has awarded a $161 million Strategic Breakthrough contract to Antares, a California nuclear startup, to advance a reactor design meant to power spacecraft. The company describes it as the largest Department of War award to date focused specifically on [β¦]
The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory has awarded BlueHalo a contract worth up to nearly $100 million for research and development work under a program called Leveraged Orbital Battlespace Optimization. The five-year, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract runs through August 29, 2031, and came out of a competitive process in which BlueHalo was the only company to submit [β¦]
BlackSky Technology said it has been named the exclusive provider of very-high-resolution optical satellites for what organizers call the worldβs first AI-enabled satellite constellation, a $1 billion initiative unveiled September 9, 2026, at the first International Space Summit in Paris. The initial constellation will include 50 satellites carrying radar, optical and other sensors, built to [β¦]
Israeli satellite company ImageSat International unveiled a new Earth observation satellite on September 8 designed to capture imagery sharp enough to identify small objects on the ground from orbit, while processing some of that data in space before it ever reaches an analyst. The satellite, called EROS NOVA, will capture imagery at a native resolution [β¦]
Sierra Space has signed contracts with undisclosed national security and commercial customers to fly payloads aboard the first mission of its Dream Chaser spaceplane, the company announced, adding new passengers to a debut flight that has already been delayed for years. Dream Chaser is a reusable, uncrewed spacecraft designed to land on a runway like [β¦]
JP Aerospace, a volunteer-run organization that has spent decades pursuing an unconventional path to orbit using airships instead of rockets, has released still images from an upcoming concept video showing a vehicle it calls Hazel being launched from a high-altitude airship called SuperTandem. The images, shared by JP Aerospace president John Powell, show an animated [β¦]
The U.S. Air Force has given one of its newest contracting vehicles a name that sounds like it belongs in a Hollywood blockbuster: Megatron. The Department of the Air Force posted a notice on September 4 on the governmentβs public contracting portal, opening a new multi-year purchasing arrangement called the βDAF Battle Network βMegatronβ Multiple [β¦]
Manufacturing company Quickparts announced a nearly $6 million investment in its Seattle Aerospace & Defense Center of Excellence, adding 12 Stratasys NEO 3D printing systems across its facilities in the United States, France, Italy and the United Kingdom, the company said Tuesday. The deployment is the companyβs second major capacity investment in 18 months, following [β¦]
Leonardo DRS has won an Other Transaction Agreement contract from the U.S. Space Force to further develop sensor technology intended to support space superiority and space control missions, the company said Tuesday. Under the award, Leonardo DRS will continue developing sensor technology designed to detect, identify, track and target fast-moving threats in challenging conditions. The [β¦]
The disagreement highlights the confusion, both within government and in public, about how one of the Trump administration's highest priorities would work.
FILE - A presentation of the U.S. Space Command colors, Sept. 9, 2019, during a ceremony to recognize the establishment of the United States Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo. (Christian Murdock/The Gazette via AP, File)