The U.S. Space Force is studying requirements for future spaceports amid a potential $1.3 billion in modernization funds for fiscal years 2024 to 2028. Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen, the Space Force’s program executive officer for assured access to space, said work is underway to define the capacity and pace of launch such facilities need to […]
CACI International announced that it has secured a potential four-year, $150 million contract to continue providing the NASA Johnson Space Center with spaceflight systems, simulation and software support. Under the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, CACI will provide crewed spacecraft systems engineering, virtual reality applications and simulation systems development and human spaceflight software. The company will also deliver […]
The director of the Space Development Agency said York Space Systems has been awarded a $615 million-plus contract for 62 Tranche 2 Transport Layer data relay satellites. The T2TL will comprise 216 satellites comprising three variants, namely the Alpha, Beta and Gamma satellites. The Alpha satellites will carry optical inter-satellite crosslinks, a Ka-band communications downlink, […]
L3Harris Technologies announced that it has won two contracts valued at up to $134 million in support of the Department of Defense’s ground-based space surveillance and command centers. Secured under the U.S. Space Force’s Maintenance of Space Situational Awareness Integrated Capabilities program, one of the contracts calls for updating the Ground-Based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance […]
The U.S. Space Force is investigating the potential of utilizing small satellites in geosynchronous orbits to improve military communications networks. The Space Force Commercial Satellite Communications Office issued a request for information on Oct. 18 about microGEO satellites, which are smaller and more affordable compared to traditional GEO satellites. According to the RFI, the Space […]
Scientific Systems Company Inc. announced that it is partnering with Science Applications International Corp. to build and maintain command and control solutions for the Space Development Agency’s low-Earth orbit satellite constellation. SAIC recently secured an SDA contract to integrate the Battle Management Command, Control and Communications Application Factory and the Secure Interoperability Layer, SSCI said. […]
NASA has awarded CesiumAstro a contract to complete the design of a Ka wideband active phased array terminal that can enable communications for near-Earth users. The contract work supports NASA’s goal to create a reliable set of commercial services that would enable near-Earth users to switch between space-based and ground-based networks, CesiumAstro said. To inform […]
Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein, commander of the Space Systems Command, disclosed several U.S. initiatives to step up partnerships with its allies in the space domain, where there are shared threats as well as economic opportunities. Speaking at the AFCEA Space Industry Days conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Guetlein said the U.S. has already partnered […]
Space cybersecurity company SpiderOak announced that it has secured an other transactional authority agreement from the Space Development Agency to study the integration of OrbitSecure into the U.S. Space Force’s Rapid Resilient Command and Control program. OrbitSecure uses variable-trust mechanisms to facilitate safe data transmissions on infrastructure with different security protocols, SpiderOak said. The company […]
The U.S. Space Force has awarded Massachusetts-based company Scientific Systems a $1.5 million Small Business Technology Transfer Phase 2 contract to detect and identify objects in space. According to Owen Brown, vice president of research and development at Scientific Systems, the company will work with Stanford University’s Space Rendezvous Laboratory to develop software that would […]
