Sandra Erwin, SpaceNews – A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the NROL-126 mission on November 30. It was the fifth launch of the NRO’s proliferated architecture of imaging satellites built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman.
GPS Without Space? DOD Looks to Quantum for an Answer
Shaun Waterman, Air and Space Forces Magazine – Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), the Pentagon’s acquisition outpost in Silicon Valley, is seeking commercial partners to help develop alternatives to GPS, including quantum sensing technology.
Space Force looks to bulk up against anti-satellite weapons
Brad Dress, The Hill – The U.S. Space Force is building up its space defense architecture to help modernize the Space Surveillance Network (SSN), which monitors objects and potential threats in space.
Startups Race to Make Space-Based Power a Reality
Argyris Kriezis, Payload – Companies like Star Catcher, Aetherflux, Reflect Orbital, and + Volta Space are working on commercializing energy generation from low Earth orbit (LEO) structures.
Aerospace Corp’s CEO talks literal moonshots and Space Agenda 2025
Devin Coldewey and Theresa Loconsolo, TechCrunch – President and CEO of the Aerospace Corporation, Steve Isakowitz, and Agency Chief Technologist at NASA, A.C. Charanya Charania, discussed how to build a thriving lunar ecosystem.
Lockheed Martin unveils solar power array for Artemis program
Sandra Erwin, SpaceNews – Lockheed Martin completed critical tests of a lunar solar array prototype, demonstrating the technology’s potential for operating in the harsh environment of the moon’s south pole.
Cybersecurity in Orbit: How Aerospace is Evolving Defenses Against Emerging Space Threats
The Aerospace Corporation is uniquely positioned to address vulnerabilities across the entire spectrum of space systems, due to its decades of experience working on space and ground-based segments and the connecting links between them.
Rocket Engine Fire Stalls Japan’s Ambitions to Launch Satellites
River Akira Davis and Hisako Ueno, The New York Times – The failed test of JAXA’s Epsilon S rocket, codeveloped with Japanese heavy-industry manufacturer IHI, follows a similar issue in 2023 that led to months of reviews and delays.
Space Force launches for ULA’s Vulcan slip to next year
Michael Marrow, Breaking Defense – The United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan will not be able to conduct two planned national security missions on its launch manifest for this year, after delays with certifying the heavy-lift rocket.
The Promise Of Nuclear-Powered National Security Space
Vivienne Machi, Aviation Week – Lockheed Martin and BWX Technologies are strategic partners for several U.S. government programs that seek to harness nuclear thermal and electric propulsion for civil space missions. They could be viable for national security space missions, as well.