Government/Military

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 […]

On Tuesday, the Senate voted to confirm the controversial nomination of Republican Nathan Simington to the Federal Communications Commission, despite pleas from Democrats and advocacy groups to hold off on […]

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is serious about its partnership with the satellite industry, investing in the industry, and attracting the best in commercial satellite technology, Katie Arrington, chief […]

The FCC began its 5G spectrum auction of the C-band on Dec. 8, auctioning off C-band spectrum that satellite operators are working to vacate. Up for grabs is spectrum in […]

The final Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) military satellite, which was launched in March, is now under the control of Space Operations Command. The U.S. Space Force Space and Missile […]

Several Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) companies revealed Dec. 3 the formation of a coalition called the Open PNT Industry Alliance, which includes Iridium Communications, infiniDome, Jackson Labs Technologies, NAVSYS […]

A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft autonomously docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday afternoon at about 1:40 p.m. ET. Dragon carried with it the first commercially owned and operated […]