Aria Alamalhodaei – At TechCrunch Disrupt, Aerospace’s CTO Debra Emmons said the government stood up the Defense Innovation Unit, the Office of Strategic Capital, and other funding mechanisms to bring private and public money together.
Space regulation for the next US Administration
T-Minus Space Daily – In this podcast, Maria Varmazis speaks to Brian Weeden, Systems Director at Aerospace’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy, about Space Agenda 2025’s chapter on space regulation.
NRO taps 3 startups for innovative launch experiments
Theresa Hitchens, Breaking Defense – The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) announced that it awarded study contracts on innovative launch capabilities to three U.S.-based startups: Cognitive Space, Impulse Space and Starfish Space.
Space Force opens national security launch contracts to new players
Sandra Erwin, SpaceNews – The National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 1 program, structured as an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, is projected at $5.6 billion over five years, and allows the Space Force to issue individual task orders to qualified providers.
U.S. Space Force Seeks Strength In Numbers With Global Partnerships
Vivienne Machi, Aviation Week – The Defense Department is streamlining space-related foreign military sales (FMS) requests for which technical and security analysis has already been completed, reflecting Space Force leaders’ “allied by design” approach.
Commentary: It’s time to have in-space rescue capabilities for human spaceflights
Charles Frank Bolden Jr., Jim Bridenstine and Sean O’Keefe for Orlando Sentinel / Co-signed by Steve Isakowitz, Frank Culberson and Dr. John Grunsfeld – “[I]t is our responsibility to ensure realistic and sensible in-space search and rescue capabilities are available.”
After nozzle failure, Space Force is “assessing” impacts to Vulcan schedule
Stephen Clark, Aviation Week – Space Force officials expect to approve ULA’s Vulcan rocket for military missions without requiring another test flight, despite an unusual problem on the rocket’s second demonstration flight earlier this month.
Aerospace report recommends greater DOD support of commercial space capabilities
Jeff Foust, SpaceNews – “Without consistent government demand, many U.S. commercial space firms that offer valuable defense applications may not survive,” said Sam Wilson, systems director at Aerospace’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy.
Blue Origin conducts first flight of second human-rated New Shepard
Jeff Foust, SpaceNews – Blue Origin carried out the first flight of a new model of its New Shepard suborbital vehicle. The flight was the first for a new model of both the New Shepard capsule, called RSS Kármán Line, and the booster.
Artemis Accords Celebrate Four Years and 45 Signatories
Jacqueline Feldscher, Payload – Focus areas for the next year include prioritization of sustainability in space, including how to handle debris on and around the Moon as the pace of commercial lunar missions is poised to pick up.