Spy satellites, classified payloads among the newly scheduled launches.
By Theresa HitchensGray Eagle is the low-cost, low-risk answer to Army modernization
Gray Eagle STOL and Gray Eagle 25M are the best options for Army aviation as it assesses where to move from its current inflection point.
“I am concerned about the transition of HBTSS from the Missile Defense Agency to the Space Development Agency. The apparent shift in strategy to deploy this capability does not reflect the urgency of the hypersonic threats we face,” Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., chairman of the House Armed Service’s strategic forces subcommittee, told Breaking Defense.
By Theresa Hitchens
The 10 satellites, which will be lofted on a reusable SpaceX Falcon 9 from Vandenberg SFB to low Earth orbit (LEO), are the first batch of the Tranche 0 constellation, building blocks of America’s resilient space strategy.
By Theresa Hitchens
The bulk of SDA’s FY24 request, some $4.1 billion, is in research, development, test and evaluation aimed at getting the first iterations of its planned satellites for both data relay, called the Transport Layer, and missile warning and tracking, called the Tracking Layer, into orbit.
By Theresa Hitchens
The new satellites will be integrated into SDA’s first operationally capable set of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, called “Tranche 1,” the SDA spokesperson explained.
By Theresa Hitchens The name change for SDA’s seven-layer network of satellite and ground systems was approved by both Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall and space acquisition czar Frank Calvelli, and is designed to better reflect the network’s actual mission, SDA Director Derek Tournear told Breaking Defense.
By Theresa Hitchens
For the newest military arm, this year saw it plant the seeds for important changes in everything from strategy to acquisition.
By Theresa Hitchens
Enterprise-wide training: the Army’s $3.5B program for multi-service combat readiness
The competition for Warfighter Training and Readiness Solutions will bring together training networks, combat training centers and live ranges across the DoD enterprise.
While the timeframe for certifying SDA’s Tracking Layer as part of the nuclear attack sensor network remains unclear, SDA Director Derek Tournear said there is “plenty of time” to get it done.
By Theresa Hitchens SDA will decide next March whether the UHF- and SHF-band payloads being tested by T1DES should be integrated into its next iteration of Transport Layer data relay satellites.
By Theresa Hitchens
“We’ll do away with the GEOs, and the big, exquisite expensive satellites,” said SDA Director Derek Tournear.
By Theresa Hitchens The awards are a first step in the Space Force’s plan, which will move the Defense Department away from today’s reliance on a a handful of large expensive satellites in Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) and highly elliptical polar orbits, SDA Director Derek Tournear said.
By Theresa Hitchens
The WFOV satellite, being built by Boeing’s Millennium Space Systems, is expected to launch this evening on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas 5 rocket, under the National Security Space Launch program.
By Theresa Hitchens The Space Force doesn’t fare too badly under the House Appropriations defense subcommittee’s draft released today — getting a slight bump up from its procurement request but taking a cut in RTD&E.
By Theresa Hitchens
Under the $324.5 million contract, the team will develop the “ground Operations and Integration (O&I) segment for Tranche 1 of the National Defense Space Architecture.”
By Theresa Hitchens
