Tag: U.S. Space Force
-
Trump Orders Study of NASA-Led U.S. Space Academy as Civilian-Military Questions Emerge
President Donald Trump signed an executive order at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on August 28, 2026, directing a federal commission to assess the feasibility of creating a United States Space Academy. The proposed NASA-led institution would train engineers, scientists, spacecraft operators and other professionals for civilian, commercial and national-security space activities, but its…
-
Antares Wins $161 Million Space Force Award to Advance Orbital Nuclear Reactor
Antares has received a $161 million Strategic Breakthrough award to conduct a ground demonstration of its R1-S nuclear reactor and integrate the system with a spacecraft for flight certification, the company announced September 11. The award, issued through the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration, moves Antares…
-
Space Force Prepares New GPS Ground Control Program Less Than Six Months After OCX Cancellation
The U.S. Space Force is preparing a new effort to modernize the ground command-and-control system for the Global Positioning System, less than six months after the Pentagon canceled the troubled Next Generation Operational Control System, or OCX. A September 2 notice from the Space Enterprise Consortium marked “Coming” provides the clearest indication that the service…
-
U.S. Space Force Selects Lake Kickapoo, Texas, for Final DARC Radar Site
The U.S. Space Force selected a remote location near Lake Kickapoo in northern Texas on September 9 as the preferred site for the third Deep-space Advanced Radar Capability installation, completing the planned geographic footprint of a three-nation radar network designed to provide persistent surveillance of objects in geosynchronous orbit. DARC is a next-generation ground-based space…
-
SpaceX Launches Classified USSF-153 Mission for U.S. Space Force
SpaceX launched the classified USSF-153 mission for the U.S. Space Force aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, at 8:42 a.m. Pacific time on September 10. The mission carried an undisclosed number of national-security spacecraft toward an unannounced orbit. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East and…
-
Space Force Clears Critical Design Review for 10 BAE Systems MEO Missile-Tracking Satellites
The U.S. Space Force has completed the critical design review for the first two orbital planes of its Epoch 2 medium Earth orbit missile-warning and tracking constellation, Space Systems Command announced Sept. 8. The review covers 10 satellites being developed with BAE Systems Space & Mission Systems and clears the program to begin spacecraft assembly,…
-
U.S. Space Command Conducts First Multi-Orbit Dynamic Satellite Maneuver Exercise
U.S. Space Command has completed its first exercise dedicated to dynamically maneuvering operational spacecraft across low Earth orbit, medium Earth orbit and geosynchronous orbit, testing how military satellites in multiple orbital regimes could be repositioned as part of a coordinated operation. The exercise used actual spacecraft rather than relying solely on simulations. U.S. Space Command…
-
LLNL Telescope Enables Rocket Lab Spacecraft to Track Satellite in Space Force’s Victus Haze Exercise
A Rocket Lab spacecraft used a monolithic telescope and onboard navigation software developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to acquire and track another satellite during the U.S. Space Force’s Victus Haze exercise, demonstrating how quickly an inspection spacecraft can be launched, commissioned and directed toward an object already in orbit. The exercise tested more than…
-
Space Force Expands Space-Based Air Tracking Vendor Pool to 12 Companies
The U.S. Space Force’s Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator program has expanded to 12 participating companies, with Blue Origin, Boeing and commercial radar-satellite operator Umbra appearing in public contract records alongside nine previously identified vendors. The broader supplier pool gives the service additional spacecraft, sensor, processing and integration options as it works toward fielding an…
-
Pentagon Plans 50 Secure Facilities to Help Space Startups Become National Security Suppliers
The Pentagon announced on September 3 a plan to deploy approximately 50 mobile Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities across the United States, lowering a barrier that prevents smaller companies—including commercial space startups—from competing for classified defense work. The Secure Space Network will provide accredited workspaces and related information systems where authorized companies can collaborate with government…