Robert Wall for Aviation Week – The U.K. Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is funding a group of in-orbit servicing ventures, to help develop ground rules for planned British rendezvous and proximity operations.
Poland Acquires Military Earth-Observation Satellites
Robert Wall for Aviation Week – Poland’s defense procurement agency is buying four microsatellites, as the country looks to build out its space-based reconnaissance capabilities.
Finland Plans Defense Space Strategy
Jason Rainbow for SpaceNews – Finland plans to draft a defense space strategy and a cross-government Finnish Space Situational Awareness Center, adding the Nordic country to the rapidly growing list of those focusing more on military needs.
New US Space Force jammers aim to disrupt China’s SATCOM signals
Courtney Albon for DefenseNews – Space Operations Command approved Remote Modular Terminals for initial fielding. The RMT program is led by the Space Rapid Capabilities Office, a fast-moving acquisition team based at Kirtland Air Force Base.
U.S. Space Force to test laser communications on a GPS satellite
Sandra Erwin for SpaceNews – The GPS III SV-10 satellite will carry an optical communications terminal developed by German aerospace manufacturer Tesat-Spacecom.
U.S. Space Development Agency Data Transport Satellites Prep for Prime Time
Vivienne Machi for Aviation Week – The SDA plans to start launching 154 operational satellites in March, to build out the agency’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) for warfighters stationed around the globe.
U.S. military seeks commercial space technology for strategic edge
Sandra Erwin for SpaceNews – The Pentagon wants to leverage commercial space technology to enhance military capabilities, even as officials work to address longstanding challenges in government-industry collaboration.
White House charges Pentagon to develop cislunar monitoring tech, including for ‘planetary defense’
Theresa Hitchens for Breaking Defense – According to Dec. 2024’s National Cislunar Science and Technology Action Plan, DoD are tasked to “identify and prioritize research and development needed to support extension of U.S. space situational awareness capabilities into cislunar space.”
The Next Frontier: US adversaries ‘shrinking’ the ‘gap’ in space capabilities
Featuring Aerospace’s Sam Wilson in the Washington Examiner – “The most important development in national security space is how the Department of Defense is transitioning from a small number of expensive, big satellites in high orbit to proliferating systems across the diversity of orbits.”
Vast Hires SpaceX For Planned Private Astronaut Mission Bid
By Irene Klotz for Aviation Week – Privately owned startup Vast Space signed an agreement with SpaceX to support a planned bid for a pair of prospective U.S. private astronaut missions (PAM) to the International Space Station, a program that has so far been the sole domain of Houston-based Axiom Space.