Government/Military

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency has awarded L3Harris Technologies a $121 million contract to build space flight hardware to demonstrate the company’s solution for the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) program. The HBTSS is one of several proposed missions within the U.S. Department of Defense’s next-generation proliferated Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) space architecture. L3Harris...

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating SpaceX over whether the company discriminates against non-U.S. citizens in its hiring practices and said Elon Musk’s company is stonewalling a subpoena for information, court documents revealed Thursday. The DOJ’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section received a complaint of employment discrimination from a non-U.S. citizen claiming that the company discriminated against...

HawkEye 360 is at an inflection point in its work to bring commercial Radio Frequency (RF) geolocation data to market, as its second-generation cluster is now in-orbit and being prepared for service. The second cluster of three RF tracking satellites launched on SpaceX’s Transporter-1 rideshare mission over the weekend, and will expand the company’s ability...

The FCC will start the assignment phase of the 5G auction of C-band spectrum on Feb. 8, the commission announced Tuesday. In this phase, bidders that won generic spectrum blocks in the first phase can bid on their preferred combinations of frequency-specific license assignments.  The first phase of the C-band auction grossed a record $80.9...

On Dec. 31, the U.S. Air Force ended its Launch Services Agreements (LSAs) with Northrop Grumman and Blue Origin and paid out $787.2 million to the companies – $531.7 million to Northrop Grumman and $255.5 million to Blue Origin, the Air Force said on Jan. 22. The service said that the termination letters to the companies “are...

Satellite operator Inmarsat will provide connectivity services to a United Kingdom government initiative, Project HEART, which aims to build the U.K.’s first automated, zero-carbon regional air transportation network by 2025. Project HEART, which stands for “Hydrogen, Electric, and Automated Regional Transportation,” will develop hydrogen-powered, automated and remote piloting solutions for small aircraft carrying between 9...

U.S. President Joe Biden named Steve Jurczyk to the post of acting NASA administrator on Thursday, replacing the agency’s former administrator Jim Bridenstine. Jurczyk previously served as NASA’s associate administrator, a role he has held since May 2018. He will lead the agency’s operations until a permanent replacement is named and approved by the U.S....

Editor’s Note: This story was updated on Friday, Jan. 22.  U.S. President Joe Biden named Jessica Rosenworcel acting chairwoman of the FCC on Thursday. She succeeds Ajit Pai, who stepped down on Jan. 20 at the end of President Trump’s term. Biden has not yet named a nominee for FCC chair.  Rosenworcel has been an...

The European Commission (EC) awarded 1.47 billion euros ($1.77 billion) to Thales Alenia Space and Airbus Defence & Space on Tuesday to build and launch Europe’s second-generation Galileo satellite positioning system. Thales and Airbus beat out German manufacturer OHB for the contract, and will each produce six satellites for the 12-satellite constellation. OHB is building...

Myriota will take part in a new project by the Australian government involving satellite, the company announced Wednesday. It will be involved in the SASAT1 Space Services Mission to deliver space services to South Australia. The $6.5 million project was announced by South Australian Government Premier Steven Marshall, and marks a new partnership between the...