SpaceNews — Speaking at the Spacepower conference, U.S. Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink cautioned that China is “super innovative in how they’re operating, which puts even more pressure on us to innovate faster.” His comments align with repeated Pentagon assessments, which find that China is deploying reconnaissance constellations, maneuverable satellites and counterspace systems while expanding military-civilian industrial partnerships.

USSF — Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman outlined the Space Force’s progress and priorities during a keynote address at the Space Force Association’s Spacepower Conference. He cited the graduation of the first Officer Training Course class, expanded academic partnerships, space-specific enlisted development, and continued investment in civilian education.

Aviation Week — In a new report, the Consortium for Space Mobility and ISAM Capability (Cosmic) says the Pentagon needs more testbeds—along with immediate policy reforms and infrastructure investments—to fully exploit the capability.

Air and Space Forces Magazine — The U.S. Space Force is planning improvements at its launch ranges to better accommodate the logistics and infrastructure demands that come with the launch industry’s shift toward reusable rockets.

SpaceNews — Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, the U.S. Space Force’s top acquisition officer told an audience of space industry executives that the Pentagon’s future in orbit will depend on how effectively it harnesses private-sector innovation.

Air and Space Forces — Jennifer Reeves, senior resident fellow for space studies at AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies: “The prevailing and historic mindset in the Department of Defense is that space is a supporting domain. This must change to reflect the new reality—operations in all domains are needed to support space operations.”

Dark Reading — Sam Wilson, Aerospace’s director of strategy and national security at the Center for Space Policy and Strategy: “While knocking out a single asset would cause damage and potentially escalate conflict, it would not achieve taking the entire constellation offline. This has pushed adversaries to consider other types of threat vectors, including [electronic warfare] and cyber.”

T-Minus Podcast — The Aerospace Corporation presented ‘Space Governance: Policy and Regulatory Frameworks’ at the Caribbean Space Summit.

The Washington Post — “There’s also debris that’s so small we can’t track it,” said Grant Cates, a senior project leader for the Space Architecture Department at the Aerospace Corporation. “In [the Shenzhou incident], it probably might have been an untracked piece of debris that struck the spacecraft.”

Aviation Week — USSF Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman outlined ambitious plans to overhaul the service’s acquisition system and force structure. “We’re moving away from a fixed, all-or-nothing ops acceptance milestone in favor of smaller, more frequent delivery increments.”