United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket—sidelined since February after an anomaly—is scheduled to return to flight Nov. 13 to launch a batch of satellites for Amazon’s high-speed internet constellation in low-Earth orbit.
SpaceX
When a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla., on Oct. 20, it carried with it the usual mix of micro-satellites and cubesats built by a wide range of companies looking to catch a ride into orbit, and also ...
The Space Force expects the scope of its main launch program to grow by 91 missions and nearly $17 billion by fiscal 2032 as demand for national security space capabilities soars.
America’s launch enterprise has been outperforming expectations for more than a decade, steadily increasing the missions it can support, the pace of resetting launch pads, and the agility to launch on demand.
The Space Force announced five new contract awards for its Space Data Network, broadening the vendor base for the proliferated data transport constellation.
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.”
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 ...
The Space Force awarded SpaceX a $1.6 billion contract to conduct 18 launches for communications and targeting satellites by the end of 2027.
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.
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.
Officials at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla., said the range is “fully mission capable” to support launches following a major May 28 mishap involving Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket.
The Space Force awarded SpaceX a $4.16 billion contract on May 29 to build a constellation of satellites that can sense and track airborne targets from orbit.