Tag: Space Systems Command
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Jacobs Wins $4 Bln U.S. Space Force Contract to Support Launch Ranges Through 2035
The U.S. Space Force has awarded Jacobs Technology a contract worth up to $4 billion over 10 years to provide engineering and technical services across the nation’s primary space launch ranges, the military said. The “Space Force Range Contract,” awarded by the Space Systems Command on May 31, will support operations at the Eastern Range,…
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U.S. Space Force, Lockheed Martin launch newest GPS satellite on SpaceX Falcon rocket
SpaceX launches its Falcon 9 rocket on May 30, 2025 at 1:37 p.m. EDT (1737 UTC) with the GPS III-7 Space Vehicle 08 satellite from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now Update May 30, 3:14 p.m. EDT: SpaceX confirmed deployment of the GPS III-7 SV-08 spacecraft.…
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U.S. Space Force certifies ULA’s Vulcan rocket to begin launching national security missions
Vulcan climbs away from Space Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station shortly after sunrise on Oct. 4, 2024. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now. In an announcement highly anticipated by United Launch Alliance and others in the spaceflight community, the U.S. Space Force’s Assured Access to Space (AATS) office affirmed that the Vulcan…
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SpaceX launches national security satellite for NRO on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral
A SpaceX Falcon rocket lifted of from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) to begin the NROL-69 mission on behalf of the National Reconnaissance Office and the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now The National Reconnaissance Office, which manages the American military’s spy satellites, launched its fifth mission of the 2025 out…
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U.S. Air Force’s X-37B spaceplane lands following 434-day orbital mission
The X-37B on the runway at Vandenberg Space Force Base following its landing there on March 7, 2025. Image: U.S. Space Force. Announced with the thunder of a sonic boom, the secretive U.S. military X-37B spaceplane made its return from orbit early Friday at 2:22am EST (0722 UTC). The uncrewed spacecraft touched down on a…
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SpaceX prevails over ULA, wins military launch contracts worth $733 million
The US Space Force’s Space Systems Command announced Friday it has ordered nine launches from SpaceX in the first batch of dozens of missions the military will buy in a new phase of competition for lucrative national security launch contracts. The nine launches are divided into two fixed-price “task orders” that Space Systems Command opened…
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Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser prepares for pre-launch journey to the Cape
Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser spaceplane shown inside a test chamber at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio. Image: Sierra Space Sierra Space is getting one step closer to finally seeing its Dream Chaser spaceplane reach the launch pad. The spacecraft completed its environmental testing at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio,…
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SpaceX launches Space Force weather satellite designed to take over for a program with roots to the 1960s
The Weather System Follow-on – Microwave (WSF-M) space vehicle was successfully encapsulated April 8, 2024, ahead of its scheduled launch as the U.S. Space Force (USSF)-62 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., marking a major milestone on its upcoming launch into low Earth orbit. Image: SpaceX SpaceX launched a military weather satellite designed to…
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Capitol Hill budget battle may limit initial funding of some National Security Space Launch missions
A ULA Vulcan rocket during a testing campaign (left) and a Falcon Heavy rocket at liftoff (right). Both launch vehicles were tapped to launch National Security Space Launch (NSSL) missions during the fifth and final ordering year procurement by the U.S. Space Systems Command. Images: ULA, SpaceX The U.S. Space Systems Command revealed the details…