The Pentagon is moving forward with plans to invest in manufacturing capacity for the space industrial base, awarding multiple contracts in recent weeks to companies who supply key space components and subsystems as well as firms with innovative manufacturing technology that’s ready to scale.
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The Space Force wants contractors to sweep decommissioned satellites out of orbit when their useful lives are over, and it's signed up three companies to advance its Deorbit-as-a-Service project: Firefly Aerospace, Katalyst Space, and D-Orbit.
The Pentagon is looking for industry’s ideas for lower-cost, attritable drones that can fly in groups and take on some of the missions that MQ-9A Reapers have performed.
Space Force Accelerates On-Orbit Refueling By Courtney Albon As the Space Force makes plans for two on-orbit refueling and maneuver demonstrations in 2027—and closely watches similar government and commercial endeavors—the service official overseeing the effort says he want to take...
Venture capital-backed aircraft startup Hermeus announced May 28 its Quarterhorse unmanned aircraft will conduct a series of flight tests with the Defense Innovation Unit over the next few years.
In an effort to improve connectivity aboard Air Force tanker and mobility aircraft, the Pentagon’s commercial technology innovation unit wants a system to install new applications on aircraft, such as a moving map display that helps aircrew see through the fog of war.
The Defense Innovation Unit is gearing up for the first flight of its commercially developed hypersonic testbed as soon as the end of February—part of a larger project to quickly increase the cadence of the Pentagon’s hypersonic flight testing and field advanced, high-speed systems and ...
Space Force Looks Beyond Earth’s Orbits By Courtney Albon The Space Force’s small size has limited its capacity to consider what role it will play in future operations on and around the moon. That needs to change, according to Vice...
The Defense Innovation Unit, the Pentagon’s commercial technology hub, plans to demonstrate low-cost, commercially derived missile defense sensors on orbit within the next two years, according to a new notice to industry.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week released strategies meant to focus the Pentagon’s “alphabet soup” of innovation organizations and proliferate artificial intelligence—moves that experts say could provide the structure needed to make the military’s efforts to integrate and field new technology more effective.
Four satellite missions will launch in the coming year to demonstrate on-orbit refueling, servicing, and repair capabilities to extend the lives of military satellites. Funded by different Department of Defense entities, each will also entail commercial efforts.
Amid growing concern about supply chain issues, the Pentagon’s commercial innovation hub is seeking companies with advanced manufacturing expertise to help bolster the space industrial base.
