The traditional space traffic monitoring system for tracking satellites and debris circling the Earth, currently run by the Space Force, is under increasing strain because of the growing numbers of smaller satellites in orbit and growing threats.
space situational awareness
The Space Rapid Capabilities Office quietly launched prototype payloads on a satellite two years ago to help operators know when the spacecraft is being tracked by China’s space surveillance network—a capability the office is now exploring for the rest of the Space Force.
The Space Force operates satellites that can peer hundreds of miles to observe threats like missile launches on Earth to other spacecraft in orbit. Now, one of the service’s acquisition arms wants to make sure USSF satellites can keep track of dangers right next or ...
The People’s Republic of China recently launched its 1,000th satellite into orbit, the Space Force’s chief intelligence officer said Sept. 16, as he highlighted both the growing demand and ability the service has for tracking objects in space.
A cubesat sent to blaze a trail for NASA’s next space station arrived in lunar orbit Nov. 13—the first cubesat known to ever have done so—after a voyage that proved tense at times. Meanwhile the small company that created the tiny spacecraft secured a new ...
USSF must take lead in JADC2; Improved Space Situational Awareness needed.
The effects of Russia’s 2021 anti-satellite weapon test on just one commercial satellite constellation illustrate the urgency of just one aspect of space safety. A “dominating commercial space market” is also expanding the scope of space missions to include the likes of commercial human spaceflight and ...
The Space Force’s goal of improving space domain awareness continues to advance along multiple avenues. New projects include ground-based radars to surveil high Earth orbits and data from a cubesat headed on a unique route around the moon. Northrop Grumman announced that it had received ...
Space nuclear propulsion can support longer missions and make U.S. satellites more resilient and maneuverable.
Two satellites set forth to geosynchronous Earth orbit Jan. 21 to join a constellation of four others surveilling the high satellite belt. Collecting data for the National Space Defense Center and “other national users” will “enhance our ability to navigate freely and safely within the GEO ...
The Space Force’s top officer thinks the U.S. needs to be able to surveil cislunar space as soon as five years from now to defend U.S. interests on and around the moon. "As the nation goes further away, as the world goes further away, from ...
The U.S. government said Nov. 15 that a Russian anti-satellite missile test created hundreds of thousands of new pieces of orbital debris in a "dangerous, reckless, and irresponsible" act that threatens the interests of the whole world. State Department spokesperson Ned Price confirmed reports, saying ...
