Stories about military and national security missions in orbit.
RAND Corporation is out with a new report on how the US’ principal adversaries—China and Russia—perceive the American space program. The overall findings are bleak, though they come as no surprise: “The Chinese and Russian native-language primary sources reviewed for this project reflect a sustained perception that US military activities related to the space domain […]
The Space Force (USSF) has signed on to be one of the very first customers of a gas station in space. This week, in-space refueling company Orbit Fab won a $13.3M USSF contract to gas up geostationary (GEO) military satellites starting in 2025. Under the four-year contract, which was first reported by Bloomberg, the Colorado-based […]
Happy Fiscal New Year, Payload readers. On Oct. 1, fiscal year 2023 (FY23) officially began. As is tradition in recent years, Congress has yet to pass any of the 12 appropriations bills necessary to keep the government running for the next fiscal year. President Biden signed a continuing resolution (CR) into law on Friday, avoiding […]
Time just flies by in the space industry, and we’ve already arrived at the end of the third quarter of 2022. It was a busy quarter, full of major partnership announcements, strides in science, and a jam-packed conference season. Here are the highlights from the last three months in commercial, military, and civil space. July […]
Commercial radio frequency (RF) sensing companies are opening their doors to the NRO in hopes of winning future data procurement contracts. Driving the news: The National Reconnaissance Office awarded six study contracts to Aurora Insight, HawkEye 360, Kleos Space, PredaSAR, Spire Global ($SPIR), and Umbra Lab. Bringing in industry These contracts are part of an […]
Protests in Iran reached their 10th night and 50 cities over the weekend, following the death of Mahsa Amini in custody. A digital curtain descends… In response to anti-government protests, Tehran has throttled internet access and mobile networks and blocked WhatsApp and Instagram, popular Western services within the country. NetBlocks, Cloudflare, and OONI are documenting […]
Today marks the six-month anniversary of Russia invading Ukraine. Over the last half year, space-based services have played an integral role in each step of the conflict. Today, we’re providing a partial accounting of how space-based services and hardware have altered the course of the conflict (and how the space industry has itself been changed). […]
DARPA, the Pentagon’s high-risk, high-reward R&D arm, has its mind on laser links. The agency is specifically working to develop an interconnected network of links for speedy and secure communications between military, civilian, and commercial space assets. The DARPA program, known as the Space-Based Adaptive Communications Node (Space-BACN), recently announced 11 Phase 1 awardees. Space-BACN: […]
ICEYE signed a contract with the Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation yesterday to provide the Ukrainian government with access to its SAR constellation’s imaging capabilities. The background: ICEYE has launched 21 satellites to date and owns the world’s largest SAR satellite constellation. SAR satellites can gather information day and night, in all weather conditions—a major asset […]
Congress has spent the last few weeks hammering out next year’s authorizations and funding decisions. On the policy side, CHIPS and Science passed in both the House and Senate last week. On the funding side, policymakers have been reviewing and amending next year’s NDAA, which will provide funding for military space programs. CHIPS and Science […]
Moscow removed Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin from his position on July 15, as part of a wider shake-up in the Russian government. No official reason was given for his ousting. Rogozin will be replaced by Yuri Borisov, who was previously the deputy prime minister for defense and space. Rogozin: Rogozin doubled down on his penchant for […]
Super Secret Spaceplane Celebrates New Record Somewhere In Space…With that alternate title, we would have given the “Sally sells seashells by the seashore” tongue twister a run for its money. Unpacking the news: The Boeing-made, US Air & Space Force-operated X-37B spaceplane set a new orbital endurance record on Thursday, passing a previous one set […]
