Ideas

State of Defense 2020: Special Report

Our annual service-by-service look at the big questions facing the U.S. military.

Policy

100 US Soldiers to Transfer into Space Force in 2021

The Army is the first branch outside the Air Force to announce initial plans regarding the new branch of service.

Science & Tech

Pentagon Wants to Build One Satellite Per Week 

Over the next two years, the Space Development Agency is looking to put dozens of satellites into orbit. 

Ideas

The US Space Force Is Not a Joke

It’s not all President Trump promised, but it exists now.

Science & Tech

US Space Force Lists 20 Tough Problems for 1st Pitch Day

The military’s newest branch invites industry to bring solutions on March 4. Officials want to move quickly if they see something they like.

Ideas

Best of 2019: Ideas

Revisit some of the best op-eds and commentary we had the privilege of publishing over the past year.

Science & Tech

Space Force Is Go for Launch, But ‘Thousands’ of Decisions Remain

The 2020 defense authorization act ushers in the first new service branch in 72 years.

Defense Systems

The Army's innovation lab is the key to solving tough problems

Porter Orr, director of the capabilities accelerator team with Lab, explains how the Army connects with nontraditional problem solvers to close capability gaps and speed modernization.

Ideas

US Forces Can’t Hide from Ubiquitous Satellites. They Need to Fool Them.

A new generation of deception-and-denial ideas is needed to counter global monitoring from space.

Policy

The Space Force Appears Cleared For Launch

Lawmakers hint that bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act will create a new military branch.

Science & Tech

Will New Plasma Thrusters Keep Next-Gen Satellites Safe?

How the fourth state of matter could enable more nimble satellites and change the space game.

Business

What Does the US Military Need For A War In Space? It’s Hard to Say

The plans for war above the atmosphere remain so tightly classified that industry can’t start building the things that will be needed.

Ideas

Does America Need a Space Force?

A new service branch would put more bureaucracy between critical capabilities and the troops who need them.

Science & Tech

The Satellites Were Never Supposed to Launch

Two years after illegally launching tiny satellites into orbit, a start-up is trying to convince regulators it’s going to play by the rules.

Science & Tech

The NSA Is Studying Satellite Hacking

Low Earth orbit will soon be awash in small satellites, and the national security community is increasingly concerned about their security.

Ideas

Is This Space’s ‘Billy Mitchell Moment’? Let’s Hope Not

Enflaming service rivalries will not help the U.S. military develop the joint spacepower it needs.

Science & Tech

The Aging Spacecraft of Deep Space

NASA is rationing watts to keep its oldest mission going.

Ideas

Two Ways to Ward off Killer Spacecraft

One is diplomatic; the other, technological.

Ideas

Let the US Air Force Move Ahead with Its Heavy-Lift Rocket Program

Lawmakers' attempt to force the service to allow more companies to bid on satellite launches would do more harm than good.

Science & Tech

Report: Pentagon Should Assume US Satellites Are Already Hacked

As U.S. and its allies tether more of their military operations to government and commercial satellites, they need to start taking cybersecurity more seriously.