The Space Force awarded three contracts for rocket launches worth up to a combined $13.68 billion on April 4—and the usual players SpaceX and United Launch Alliance have got some competition in the form of newcomer Blue Origin.
SpaceX
An F-22 pilot with more than 200 combat hours in the Middle East is trading places on the International Space Station with the first Space Force Guardian to ever launch into orbit. Air Force Maj. Nichole Ayers safely arrived at the ISS early March 16, ...
As the number of crewed spaceflights ticks up, the Air Force expects to train more of its C-17 transport crews to help pluck astronauts out of the water as part of its Human Space Flight Support mission
Frank Kendall, the most consequential Air Force Secretary in years, departed the Pentagon in January at the end of an eventful three-and-a-half-year tenure as the 26th Secretary of the Air Force. His most important contribution, he thinks: Raising “a sense...
Danger Zone “It’s a different world when China, Russia and the U.S. all have a thousand-plus nuclear weapons in the field. It gets more dangerous as there’s other countries that are proliferating weapons. It gets more dangerous as people think...
Space Force Testing AI Automation By Greg Hadley ORLANDO, Fla. T he Space Force is flying new command and control software on experimental satellites that automates some functions for ops crews, said Kelly D. Hammett, head of the Space Rapid...
Blue Origin launched its New Glenn rocket and SpaceX launched its Starship rocket on Jan. 16, as Space Force leaders watched with interest at two vehicles that may redefine how the service accesses orbit in the future.
President-elect Donald Trump has picked Dr. Troy E. Meink to become the next Secretary of the Air Force, he announced Jan. 16. Meink is currently the principal deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office, a Department of Defense intelligence agency that works closely with the ...
The Space Force successfully launched its seventh GPS III satellite into orbit Dec. 16—shaving more than a year and a half off the typical timeline for launching the highest priority national security spacecraft and switching rocket providers to do it.
At the most fundamental level, this requires the Space Force to have assured access to space. The Space Force must retain a diverse stable of launch providers, while expanding options for launch locations.
SpaceX secured orders for Phase 3 launches under the National Security Space Launch program, the first provider to do so, even as the Space Force continues its push to increase its launch options.
The Space Force is preparing to award billions of dollars in launch contracts by the end of this year—provided Congress passes a budget. By the end of 2024, Space Systems Command wants to award a contract for the next phase of its National Security Space ...