Courtney Albon
Courtney Albon is the Space Editor at Air & Space Forces Magazine. She has been covering the U.S. military since 2012, with a focus on the Air Force and Space Force. During that time, she has reported on some of the Defense Department’s most significant acquisition, budget and policy challenges, including the F-35 fighter jet, hypersonic capability development and the creation of the Space Force.
Recent stories by Courtney Albon
Senate Confirms Schiess as Next Chief of Space Operations
Lt. Gen. Douglas Schiess will receive a fourth star and take the helm of the Space Force following a unanimous Aug. 6 vote, approving his nomination to become the third CSO since the service’s establishment in 2019.
Space Force Closely Watching Execution Risk as it Implements Acquisition Reforms
As the Space Force implements sweeping acquisition reforms over the next few years that will change the way it sets requirements, manages programs, and fields systems to operators, the head of its acquisition field command wants to ensure all of the change doesn’t disrupt program ...
Space Force Awards Three New Vendors for Sensing, Targeting Tech
The Space-Based Air Moving Targeting Indicator awards, announced Aug. 4, went to Rocket Lab, Systems & Technology Research, and a third firm whose name the service withheld “due to operational security.”
Private Investors Purchase Majority Stake in L3Harris’ Space Propulsion Business
AE Industrial closed its purchase of a majority stake in L3Harris’ space propulsion business and plans to re-establish it as Rocketdyne, a nod to its more than 60 years of heritage as a rocket enginemaker.
Space Force Picks 15 Firms to Build Test and Training Infrastructure
The Space Force chose 15 companies to compete to build out its advanced live and simulated test and training range.
Space Force to Launch 18 Comms and Targeting Missions by End of 2027
The Space Force awarded SpaceX a $1.6 billion contract to conduct 18 launches for communications and targeting satellites by the end of 2027.
Space Force Eyes ‘Usable’ Airborne Target Tracking by ’28, More Capability to Follow
The Space Force expects its nascent airborne moving target indicator program will have a “usable capability” in the next few years—but the official in charge of the program says there’s more work to be done beyond that to refine the sensing, data processing, and orchestration ...
Space Force Awards Key Software Contract for Strategic SATCOM
Space Systems Command on July 27 announced a $287 million award to Sphinx Defense to develop a mission planning prototype for the Evolved Strategic Satellite Communications program’s ground segment.
Space Force Picks Rocket Lab for Suborbital Launches from Alaska
The Space Force awarded Rocket Lab $266 million to launch 12 suborbital missions over the next three years—most of them from a new launch pad in Alaska.
Space Force Wants Commercial Bandwidth for SATCOM Experiments
The Space Force is moving forward with a series of experiments to test ideas for broadening its narrowband satellite communication mission to medium-Earth orbit, and a new notice to industry seeks commercial satellites to help demonstrate the viability of a future hybrid architecture.
Space Force Launch Program Sees Demand Surge from 60 Missions to 170
The Space Force is tripling the size of one of its main launch procurement contracts from $5.6 billion to $17 billion to accommodate growing demand from government customers.
Space Force Could Cap Launch Support Without Extra Funding, Saltzman Says
Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman is warning lawmakers that the Space Force may eventually have to limit the number of launches it can support each year without additional resources to manage surging demand at its spaceports.
York Confirms Health of 21 New Space Development Agency Satellites
York Space Systems said it has confirmed the health of 21 satellites that launched July 16 as part of the Space Development Agency’s data transport constellation.
Space Development Agency Launches 21 Data Transport Satellites on SpaceX Rocket
The Space Development Agency resumed its Tranche 1 launch effort July 16, sending 21 data transport satellites to continue building out a mesh network in low-Earth orbit.
SDA to Resume Launches After 9-Month Pause, Early On-Orbit Challenges
The Space Development Agency is on track to resume its Tranche 1 launch campaign this week after a nine-month pause to fix hardware and software issues that arose on orbit following the launch of its first operational satellites last fall.