Government/Military

Update: On Tuesday, Jan. 19, the FCC denied a request to stay the Ligado decision. “[The] order imposed stringent conditions in order to protect incumbent users, including GPS services and […]

The FCC’s C-band auction has set a new FCC auction record at the end of its first phase, grossing $80.9 billion. This far exceeds previous estimates for the auction, which […]

OneWeb has adjusted its plans for the size of its Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation down from a 48,000-satellite constellation to roughly 7,000, the company announced Wednesday.  In May, while the […]

Airbus revealed Thursday that it has successfully completed the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for the Skynet 6A project. The project now has permission to move into the next phase, which […]

The U.S. Air Force has picked Redstone Arsenal, Alabama as the “preferred location” for U.S. Space Command’s headquarters, pending a final decision in 2023 after the completion of an environmental […]

At the 13th European Space Conference on Wednesday, Gerry Collins, network and services policy expert for ESOA stated that the satellite industry needs to change its way of doing business […]

NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have signed an MOU to support commercial space activities. Under the MOU signed Jan. 8, the FAA and NASA have agreed to collaborate […]

The FCC has granted SpaceX permission to launch ten Starlink satellites into Polar Orbit. In an FCC order issued Jan. 8, the commission granted SpaceX the ability to deploy and […]

European Space Agency (ESA) Director General Jan Woerner has decided to step down from his position at the end of February, a few months before the end of his term, […]

The U.S. Space Force-developed Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA) Flight System (EFS) is to demonstrate the launch of up to 18 multi-mission national security and civil satellites […]

SpaceX has been awarded a $150.5 million firm-fixed-price contract from the Space Development Agency to launch its Tranche 0 transport and tracking layer satellites.  The award, announced by the U.S. […]

BlackSky has been awarded a contract from the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) for a research program that will work to automate analysis of satellite imagery. The multi-year research […]

The U.S. Air Force on Jan. 4 awarded Lockheed Martin a modification worth up to $4.9 billion on the company’s existing contract for the Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Reconnaissance (Next-Gen OPIR) satellite […]

A division of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has received an $11 million development contract related to a planned next-generation satellite program, the company announced Monday.  The award was given […]

Viasat has taken issue with SpaceX’s request to lower the orbital altitude of its Starlink satellite constellation, and requested the FCC to prepare an environmental impact statement on Starlink.  In […]

“Why would astronauts on Earth have access to 5G at home, but not have the same access to the same technologies when they are on the Moon?”  Thierry Klein, head […]

The European Commission has selected a group of companies in the satellite industry including Airbus, Arianespace, and SES, to study the build of a satellite-based connectivity system for the European […]

Atlas Space Operations phased array antenna system has recently completed late-stage testing, solidifying it as a new Multi-Band/Multi-Mission (MBMM) antenna system, the company reported Dec. 17. Atlas has been developing […]

SpaceX successfully launched the NROL-108 mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). On Saturday, Dec. 19, a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at 9:00 […]

Blue Canyon Technologies (BCT) has completed its Critical Design Review (CDR) validating its X-SAT Saturn-class bus design to support the Blackjack Program, the company announced Dec. 14. Blackjack is a […]

HawkEye 360 is supporting a commercial Radio Frequency (RF) Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) pilot program for the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), the company revealed Wednesday. HawkEye 360 will use its […]

Blue Origin is now able to compete to launch future NASA missions on its New Glenn rocket in development. On Thursday, the agency announced that it has awarded Blue Origin […]

The White House released Space Policy Directive-6 (SPD-6) on Wednesday regarding a U.S. national strategy for space nuclear power and propulsion (SNPP), technology that the White House said will be […]

President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team has spoken with Chief of Space Operations Gen. John “Jay” Raymond, as the incoming Biden administration faces important questions about a future path for military […]

The U.S. Army has given Orbcomm a single-award, Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract worth up to $45.6 million for its Next Generation Tag (NGT) program. The multi-year NGT contract […]

In a new feature, we round up and put into context the most recent news involving the major satellite operators. The week of Dec. 7 was a relatively quiet one […]

L3Harris announced Dec. 9 it has received a $57 million order from the U.S. Army to continue delivering its Falcon IV AN/PRC-163 two-channel handheld radios. This is the company’s third […]

On the heels of opening a new U.S. office and joining Telesat’s team for a U.S. defense contract, Mynaric is looking to make its laser terminals mainstream on megaconstellations and […]

The National Space Council held its eighth and final meeting under the current administration on Wednesday, as President-elect Joe Biden prepares to assume office in January. Biden and his advisers […]

Electro Optic Systems (EOS) has formed a new U.S.-based subsidiary SpaceLink, focusing on satellite data relay. David Bettinger, an industry veteran from OneWeb, iDirect and Hughes Network Systems will serve […]