Last night, United Launch Alliance (ULA) conducted the first Vulcan National Security Space Launch for the Space Force — officially adding a new rocket to the roster for U.S. national security missions. With Vulcan now in service, ULA is working to ramp-up its launch cadence to as many as 30 missions a year by 2027. That’s a big increase — last year ULA launched just five times. 

The lead story this week for Focus on Defense looks at how global increases in defense spending are driving investment in space startups, both in the U.S. and abroad. Freelancer Anne Wainscott Sargent spoke with leading space fund managers and analysts who said that despite economic uncertainty, they’re optimistic for the global space economy’s growth trajectory with ramp-ups in defense spending.

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