Science & Tech

Inside the Air Force’s anechoic chamber

Future platforms will require bespoke hardware to test at the Edwards facility.

Ideas

What Venezuela’s moonbase vow says about China, Russia, and the USA

Caracas’ participation in the International Lunar Research Station is more than merely symbolic.

Science & Tech

ULA’s first Vulcan launch pushed to end of the year

After an explosion in March, the company launched an investigation into what happened to its new heavy-lift rocket during testing in Alabama.

Policy

Space Force opens marketplace, launches test initiative to get new tech faster

The service's weeks-old Commercial Space Office serves as a hub for several efforts to accelerate acquisition of next-gen tech.

Science & Tech

How Space Force wants to use AI

As satellites multiply, "we won't be able to...control all that by humans in real-time," Space Command's deputy chief says.

Threats

Space Command wants ‘sustained’ satellite maneuverability by 2028

A top U.S. space official says his command is constrained by current satellites’ fuel capacity.

Science & Tech

China’s Commercial Space Ventures Pose A Variety of Threats, DOD Officials Say

Officials worry China may do for commercial-space capabilities what it did for cheap telecom equipment.

Business

Space Force Unworried by Predictions of Commercial-Launch Consolidation

There’s “certainly enough capacity,” the service’s No. 2. officer said—though “more is always better.”

Defense Systems

Pentagon Wants To Demo Space Internet Capabilities This Year

DOD’s innovation agency is working with seven companies on it, following a request for proposal awarded earlier this year.

Policy

Pentagon Buying Musk’s Starlink for Ukraine

SpaceX had donated 20,000 satellite terminals to Ukraine, but later said the service was “never intended to be weaponized.”

Science & Tech

Space Force Will Look At How to Hack Targets From Space

“We're laying the groundwork for starting to figure that,” said the leader of Space Operations Command.

Defense Systems

NRO, Awash in Satellites and Their Data, Hopes AI Can Help It Cope

Artificial intelligence and machine learning could help send information faster and simplify constellation management, said the agency’s director, Chris Scolese.

Defense Systems

Bringing GPS to the Moon Is the Next Frontier

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is part of a government collaboration to bring precise navigation to the lunar surface.

Threats

US Will Use AI to Track Orbiting Objects, Space Command Says

The four-year-old command is set to reach full operating capacity this year—but will it stay in Colorado?

Exclusive Ideas

How Special Operations Forces Must Meet the Challenges of a New Era

To the commander of U.S. SOCOM, what matters most is whether we solve the problem our nation needs solved.

Policy

Space Force Hopes to Recoup Costs of Commercial Launches

A law that limits launch fees is under reconsideration as more private companies use government facilities to send rockets skyward.