China has launched 150 satellites so far this year to bring its total to 650 and is expected to develop an anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon targeting Geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) systems, a top Pentagon official said on Dec. 6. “China has the operational direct ascent ASAT missile intended to target Low Earth Orbit satellites, and the…

The Office of Space Commerce (OSC) awarded contracts this week to seven commercial companies for space situational awareness (SSA) data analysis as part of a multi-orbit pilot to evaluate commercial SSA services. COMSPOC Corp., ExoAnalytic Solutions, Kayhan Space, KBR, NorthStar Earth & Space, Slingshot Aerospace and the Space Data Association received contracts for the two-month…

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Dec. 1 established a new U.S. Department of Defense office charged with helping companies that are developing technologies critical to national security partner with private capital to help them get the financing necessary to ensure these technologies transition out of the laboratory and into production. The DoD said that the…

SpaceX is venturing into Earth observation (EO) and hosted payloads for national security use, with a new business line called Starshield. The company added a section to its website for Starshield on Friday, describing it as “SpaceX's Starlink technology and launch capability to support national security efforts.” While Starlink is a commercial business, Starshield will…