Theresa Hitchens, Breaking Defense – U.S. Space Force chief Gen. Chance Saltzman named outgoing head of UK Space Command, Air Marshall Paul Godfrey, as his first “Assistant Chief of Space Operations for Future Concepts and Partnerships,” a move designed to help advance combined operations with allies.
Tim Fernholz, Payload – According to the U.S. government’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, growth in 2022 in real GDP was faster in the space economy than the overall economy. National security space spending has nearly doubled since 2017.
Garrett Reim, Aviation Week – According to Lori Gordon, systems director of Aerospace’s Space Enterprise Evolution Directorate, the U.S. government pressures companies to maintain greater cybersecurity control over their supply chains, which can lead to a vertical integration strategy.
Brian P. D. Hannon, AP – Four volunteer crew members of a NASA mission to Mars emerged from their craft, after spending over a year inside NASA’s first simulated Mars environment at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Mike Gruss, Aerospace America – “A nuclear detonation in space would present a catastrophic impact to space activity,” says Eric Buhr, senior project leader in the Aerospace’s electrical systems assurance department.
Sandra Erwin, SpaceNews – A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on June 28 launched the NROL-186 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office. Just over eight minutes after liftoff, the first-stage booster landed on a drone ship, marking SpaceX’s 326th booster landing to date.
Stephen Clark, Ars Technica – According to engineers at Aerospace’s Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies (CORDS), more research is urgently needed to understand how composites survive the extreme conditions of reentry, especially with more objects being launched into space than ever before.
Sandra Erwin, SpaceNews – Luch 2’s latest move, flagged by Slingshot’s automated tracking system, was a “large maneuver” on June 23 that indicates the satellite is moving toward an Intelsat communications satellite.
Theresa Hitchens, Breaking Defense – The “Report on Process and Plan for Space Force Space Situational Awareness,” signed by Air Force space acquisition czar Frank Calvelli, was required by the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Stephanie Nano, AP – NASA said it wanted more time to analyze problems in the spacecraft’s propulsion system, which is used to maneuver in flight. During re-entry, the system is ditched and burns up in the atmosphere.
