NASA announced that it has chosen four small explorer missions for concept studies on Sun- Earth relationships through investigations of solar phenomena, such as coronal mass ejections, auroras and solar wind. According to Nicky Fox, NASA associate science administrator, the four studies were selected because they complement the agency’s current mission fleet and offer the […]
San Diego-based General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems has secured a $14.2 million Space Development Agency contract to deliver two optical communications terminals integrated into two half-ESPA GA-75 satellite buses. Scheduled to be delivered by December 2024, the spacecraft will be used to test satellite-to-satellite laser communications in degraded environments, SpaceNews reported Friday. GA-EMS won the contract […]
Mynaric announced that it has completed optical verification and phase 1 interoperability tests for the CONDOR Mk3 optical communications terminals, which will be integrated into Northrop Grumman-built satellites built for the Space Development Agency. During the optical verification tests, Mynaric confirmed CONDOR Mk3’s pointing, data acquisition and tracking abilities. Phase 1 interoperability tests focused on […]
AFWERX has awarded two Orbital Prime contracts to Rogue Space Systems to continue the company’s development of a cubesat dispenser system and a contactless spacecraft manipulation solution. Rogue Space will build on its work on its previous Phase 1 Small Business Technology Transfer contracts under the Orbital Prime program. STTR contracts require awardees to partner […]
The U.S. Space Force is looking into establishing a combatant unit in Japan, Gen. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations, said at a press conference in Tokyo Monday. A Space Force presence in Japan represents the next step in expanding the service’s Indo-Pacific footprint, said Saltzman at the start of his visit. In November 2022, […]
Charity Weeden has assumed the role of associate administrator of NASA’s Office of Technology, Policy and Strategy, which advises leadership on strategic planning and investments. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson swore Weeden in at the agency’s Washington headquarters on Monday. In a press release, he noted that Weeden is expected to continue OTPS’ delivery of strategic […]
The U.S. Space Force’s Space Safari and the Defense Innovation Unit are gearing up for Victus Haze, a follow-on to the recently launched Victus Nox tactically responsive space mission. The DIU previously solicited proposals to prototype and demonstrate on-orbit tactically responsive space systems for Victus Haze, including the capability to deploy a satellite within 24 […]
The Space Systems Command has announced a $10 million contract award to the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab to check the software and cybersecurity of SSC’s Evolved Strategic SATCOM’s ground segment prototypes. SSC separately awarded in May a $30 million contract each to two combined vendor groups – Team Raytheon and Team Lockheed – […]
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has transferred to the U.S. Space Force a geostationary weather satellite to extend to 2030 the U.S. military’s Electro-optical Infrared Weather System-Geostationary mission’s Indian Ocean weather monitoring. The satellite, rebranded as EWS-G2, is the second spacecraft under a NOAA-Space Force partnership agreement initiated in September 2020 to provide mission-critical […]
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has put forward the Space Transformation and Reliability Act, a bill that would extend restrictions on Federal Aviation Administration human spaceflight safety regulations to September 2031. Dubbed a “learning period,” the freeze on rules to protect commercial space vehicle passengers was introduced in 2004 and is currently set to expire at […]
