The U.S. Air Force is developing two digitally engineered satellites — so-called “eSats,” Dr. Will Roper, service acquisition chief, told the Air Force Association virtual Air, Space, and Cyber (vASC) conference on Tuesday. “Within the [U.S.] Space Force, we’re already working on the first two eSats, hoping to bring this technology into space,” he said.…

President Donald Trump has nominated longtime telecom lawyer Nathan Simington to be the Federal Communications Commission’s next commissioner, as reported by Law360. Last week, The Verge first reported that Simington had emerged as a leading candidate to replace current Republican Commissioner Mike O’Rielly. Simington, a senior adviser at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), played a significant role…

Raytheon Intelligence & Space has been awarded a $13.1 million contract for a U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory program aimed at connecting military jets to emerging commercial satellite internet constellations in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO). The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) announced the contract Sept. 10.  Under the contract, Raytheon Intelligence & Space, a Raytheon Technologies…

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has released a draft order to make the 3.45-3.55 GHz band available for commercial 5G use throughout the contiguous United States. The mid-band spectrum is primarily military use, and the U.S. Department of Defense operates high-powered defense radar systems on fixed, mobile, shipborne, and airborne platforms in this band. The…