The Space Development Agency is fine-tuning and expanding its data transport satellites’ Link 16 connectivity, preparing for them to become the “backbone” of the Pentagon’s ambitious joint all-domain command and control system—and perhaps beyond that to NATO.
Space Symposium
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall offered his sharpest critique yet of a proposed Space National Guard on April 10, telling reporters at the annual Space Symposium that the idea “doesn’t make any sense” and new authorities granted to the Space Force make it better positioned ...
The Space Force is ready to integrate commercial satellites and systems into a broad range of missions, starting with satellite communications and space domain awareness, according to the service’s newly released Commercial Space Strategy. The strategy, unveiled April 10 after months of waiting, reaffirms what the Pentagon’s ...
The Pentagon’s space assets need to be able to maneuver in orbit, be refueled and repaired, and keep going, the head of U.S. Space Command said April 9—and those capabilities need to be fielded quickly to deter conflict. Gen. Stephen N. Whiting made the case for ...
The Department of Defense is pushing Congress to give it the authority to start new developmental programs before a budget is approved—a change the Pentagon argues would make critical new programs less vulnerable to Washington gridlock. “Time is going by, and all those things that ...
In this Q&A with Air Force Magazine, Gen. John W. "Jay" Raymond reflects on what it means to be the first Chief of Space Operations and the Space Force’s very first member, as well as the future of the new service and of space itself.
A collection of quotes on air power, space power, and national security issues.
New capabilities are required—now—to combat long- range precision missiles being tested by adversaries. The Department of the Air Force is rolling out plans to beef up missile warning and tracking as China, North Korea, Russia, and even Iran develop, build, test, and field new long-range ...
The Space Force’s first all-Guardian, Guardian-led flight of new recruits starts basic training in May to undertake a space-oriented curriculum that teaches space power and tries to instill a common culture. Core values, the history of space power, and "the identity that we hope that ...
The Air Force-managed modernization of America’s ground-based nuclear missiles has emerged as a test-bed for the use of digital twins—virtual models of real weapons systems—at every stage of the program lifecycle, its chief told the Space Symposium April 7. “What the digital environment allowed us ...
Many of the more remarkable capabilities of the coming generation of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellations come from their extraordinary connectivity—they’re networked not just with receivers on the ground, but with each other, as well. But this connectivity also means an increased cyber attack ...
As commercial satellites feed images from Ukraine to U.S. space and intelligence agencies in a historically collaborative effort, Space Force leaders are eager to learn how else they can put the commercial sector to work for the service.