Aerospace News

Jared Isaacman’s written testimony raises questions on whether his prioritization of Mars would affect NASA’s existing moon missions or represent a rebranding of the program to give Mars a more central emphasis in the space agency’s strategy.

The U.S. Space Force is transferring the launch of a GPS satellite from ULA to SpaceX in, to reduce a backlog of satellites waiting in storage and to demonstrate Space System Command’s ability to launch in three months, compared to the typical 24 months.

Millennium Space is building eight satellites with sensor payloads from L3Harris Technologies. This satellite constellation, known as “FOO Fighter,” cleared a key design review, paving the way for production and a late 2027 launch.

During a symposium organized by the Universities Space Research Association and George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute, representatives of both the space and AI fields argued for greater use of AI technologies for both spacecraft and applications of space-based data.

At Space Symposium, leaders from L3Harris argued that the company has already demonstrated technologies that will be central to the Golden Dome architecture, including MOSSAIC—ground-based infrastructure for Space Force’s space domain awareness architecture—and a prototype hypersonic ballistic tracking satellite.

At Space Symposium, Space Systems Command Commander Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant said that certain missions will remain inherently government, like defensive and offensive space control, while missions like satellite communications, commercial imagery, and GPS satellite operations could be handed off.

At Space Symposium, Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman spoke about the service’s collaboration with Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and Colombia. This partnership exhibits the kind of work he would like to see globally. The team uses a surveillance, reconnaissance, and tracking program to share unclassified information.

In a fireside chat moderated by Aerospace’s Tanya Pemberton, Space Force Gen. Mike Guetlein and Navy Vice Adm. Frank Whitworth focused on opportunities and challenges to collaborate across the intelligence community. One example of a current thriving partnership: the Joint Overhead Persistent-Infrared Center, which is comprised of the NGA, USSF and U.S. Space Command.

Despite emerging global norms and growing concern about orbital sustainability, China is leaving the upper stages of the rockets used for the launches in orbits that will persist in low Earth orbit (LEO) for over a century. Over the next several years, China plans to have 1,000 launches to deploy over 20,000 satellites in its megaconstellations.

The National Security Space Launch contracts include 54 critical missions for the military and intelligence community between 2027 and 2032. Under the contracts: SpaceX wins 28 missions for up to $5.9 billion, ULA wins 19 missions for up to $5.4 billion, and Blue Origin wins 7 missions for up to $2.4 billion.