SpaceNews — NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is now scheduled for launch in early September, ahead of schedule.
DiskSat Demo Heads For VLEO As Interest Widens
Aviation Week — “There’s at least 40 different companies that have expressed interest in some element of the DiskSat,” Debra Emmons, VP and CTO at Aerospace. “Some are space companies thinking about doing spacecraft manufacturing at scale. Others are thinking about it as a host platform for their payloads or mission operators.”
White House Picks Raytheon Exec to Lead Space Force Acquisition
Air and Space Forces Magazine — Col. Erich Hernandez-Baquero retired from the Air Force after 27 years of service, then held a number of space-related positions within the intelligence community before joining Raytheon in 2021.
Space Force Shifts From SDA transport Layer to New Space Data Network Backbone
Breaking Defense — The U.S. Space Force not plan to fund future iterations of a data relay constellation managed by the Space Development Agency (SDA), officials revealed, opting instead to build out a new constellation dubbed the “backbone” of the service’s budding Space Data Network (SDN).
With Eyes on Future NASA Moon Base, Space Force Launches Cislunar Acquisition Task Force
Breaking Defense — Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, senior advisor to Air Force Secretary Troy Mink for space acquisition, made the announcement at Space Symposium.
Space Force Seeks Bigger Operational Footprint With 4 New Ops Centers
Air and Space Forces Magazine — The four operations centers would cost $250 million each and be built at Kirtland Air Force Base, Redstone Arsenal, Schriever Space Force Base, and Grand Forks Air Force Base.
Falcon 9 Launches Final GPS III Satellite Into Orbit For US Space Force
SpaceNews — Space Systems Command and Space Launch Delta 45 played pivotal roles for the launch from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. SV-10 caps Lockheed Martin-built series as SpaceX continues to absorb missions shifted from ULA.
Space Force Kicks Off Effort to Build Airborne Targeting Satellites by Selecting Vendor Pool
Air and Space Forces Magazine — During Space Symposium, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said the service recently issued a baseline indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract for space-based air moving target indication to multiple providers.
Maj. Gen. Purdy highlights Space Force’s Acquisition Transformation Successes
U.S. Space Force — Purdy emphasized the importance of accelerating acquisition models, noting that space acquisition processes have pivoted from planning to doing and are keenly focused on delivering integrated, resilient warfighting capabilities.
White House Releases Space Nuclear Policy
SpaceNews — At Space Symposium, Michael Kratsios, director of the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), announced a policy directing NASA, the Pentagon, and the Department of Energy to develop space nuclear power systems that could launch as soon as 2028.
