Military
Stories about military and national security missions in orbit.
HawkEye 360 and NSSA Create Ukraine Aid Initiative
HawkEye 360 and the National Security Space Association (NSSA) have launched a joint initiative to send humanitarian aid from space industry donors to Ukraine. The campaign, called Space Industry for Ukraine, is raising money from space companies to donate to organizations supporting Ukrainian refugees and victims of war on the ground. Payload caught up with…
White House Bans US Direct-Ascent ASAT Weapons Testing
The White House is instituting a self-imposed ban on direct-ascent ASAT, or anti-satellite, tests, VP Kamala Harris announced yesterday on a visit to the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The administration is hoping that other nations will agree to adopt the same ban in an effort to reduce orbital debris creation (and protect national…
ESA Withdraws from Roscosmos Lunar Missions
Putin declared that Russia is going to restart its own lunar program, develop a nuclear space tug, and field a new launch vehicle, Russian media reported. But ongoing sanctions on Russia warrant some healthy skepticism on the feasibility of these programs. The Russian leader made the announcement on Yuri’s Night, the 61st anniversary of Soviet…
Colorado & Texas Lawmakers Push to Keep Space Assets within State
Two states that are among the biggest movers and shakers in the US space economy are fighting back against federal decision-making, albeit in very different ways. Colorado Senators Michael Bennet (D) and John Hickenlooper (D) and Reps Doug Lamborn (R) and Jason Crow (D) released a joint statement Monday: “We have said before that the…
DIA Releases “Challenges to Security in Space,” 2022 Ed.
On Tuesday, the Defense Intelligence Agency published “Challenges to Security in Space,” an updated edition of a report it first released in 2019. The findings aren’t necessarily groundbreaking, but they’re aimed at communicating the rapidly evolving threat landscape in space to the general public: The DIA says that US efforts to ensure the space domain “remains…
White House Releases FY23 Budget Request
Less than a month after the budget for FY22 was finally approved, President Biden has released his budget request for FY23. NASA funding: The budget proposes $26B for NASA in 2023, $2B (~8%) increase over FY22 enacted levels. Here’s how that breaks down, taking the broad view: $7.5B for Deep Space Exploration Systems $4.3B for…
Satellite Imagery Raises Doubts on North Korean Claims of Successful “Monster Missile” Launch
A screenshot of NK Pro’s before-and-after analysis of Feb. 12 and March 17 Planet satellite imagery overhead a site near Pyongyang. Image via NK Pro. North Korea claimed to launch Hwasong-17 on Thursday. Analysts have described the ICBM in question as a “monster missile.” In Pyongyang’s telling… …the mega-ICBM, first unveiled at a military parade…
WaPo: US Has Privately Attributed Hack of Viasat KA-SAT Ground Infrastructure to GRU
US intelligence officials have attributed the hack of a satellite broadband service to the GRU, Russia’s largest military spy agency, the Washington Post reported Thursday. While its spooks may have reached a determination, the US government has not publicly attributed to Russian military hackers. “We are concerned about the apparent use of cyber operations to…
Starlink App Sees Downloads Spike in Ukraine
SpaceX has trucked in Starlink terminals to Ukraine to keep the country online during the ongoing war. Over 5,000 terminals are in the country, the Washington Post reported over the weekend. Tesla has complemented these efforts by supplying battery storage systems that can power Starlink dishes, per an internal company email seen by CNBC. SpaceX…
Satellites Reveal Further Destruction in Ukraine
Imagery shows destruction of a neighborhood in Moschun, Ukraine. Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies. Satellite imagery is continuing to prove a trustworthy source and rare window into the tolls of war. New Maxar imagery shows massive destruction by Russian attacks across Ukraine, as well as the movement of Russian military forces. The damage: Ukraine’s cities…
Biden Signs FY22 Federal Appropriations Bill
After months of delays in Congress, POTUS has signed the FY22 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which funds the federal government through the end of September. The bill introduces some changes into funding levels for NASA, NOAA, and USSF for the next year (ahem…six months). Here’s our rundown of those changes. NASA The agency is slated to…
Payload CEO Moderates Space Force Panel at SXSW
On Sunday, Payload CEO Mo Islam hosted a SXSW panel—“Space Force: More than a Meme”—with a decorated bench of panelists: Maj. Gen. Kim Crider (Ret.), head of Deloitte’s government and public services unit’s AI practice. Crider is also former CTO of USSF. Eric Fanning, CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association and 22nd secretary of the…
Report: Western Intelligence Agencies Probing Viasat European Outages
Western intelligence sources have confirmed to Reuters that a broad cyberattack disrupted Viasat broadband satellite internet services in and around Ukraine. Though sources declined to say who carried out the attack (or, at least, definitively make an attribution), the timing gives us some hints. The cyberattack began when Russian missiles started flying into Ukraine and…
