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.

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).

Breaking Defense — Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy, senior advisor to Air Force Secretary Troy Mink for space acquisition, made the announcement at Space Symposium.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

SpaceNews — Introduced at Space Symposium, the “Future Operating Environment” and “Objective Force” visions offer insight into how the Space Force expects on-orbit threats and enabling technology to evolve over the next 15 years and a roadmap for how it will meet that change.

At Space Symposium, Aerospace’s Nexus Podcast hosted panelists from Air Force Research Laboratory and Redwire Space to discuss Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) operations.