Government/Military

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. Department of Defense (DoD) on Dec. 31, is for standalone launch services for two launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, with the first...

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 program, called Space-based Machine Automated Recognition Technique (SMART), was announced Wednesday.  Under the contract, BlackSky will expand on its Spectra AI platform to develop open...

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 system for work associated with the manufacturing, assembly, integration, test, and delivery of three Next-Gen OPIR satellites and delivery of ground mission unique software and...

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 to Kratos Microwave Electronics Product Division (KMED), which provides microwave products, subsystems and components for missile, radar, and space and satellite communications. Work will be...

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 an FCC filing on Dec. 22, Viasat outlined its environmental concerns with Starlink and with SpaceX’s request to relocate the satellites to lower orbital altitudes,...

“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 of Enterprise and Industrial Automation Research Lab at Nokia Bell Labs, is addressing the gap between communication technology on the Moon and technology astronauts have...

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 Union, the commission announced Dec. 23. Airbus, Arianespace, Eutelsat, Hispasat, OHB, Orange, SES, Telespazio, and Thales Alenia Space will work on a year-long feasibility study...

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 the antenna system under a contract through the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) and in partnership with the Defense Innovation Unit...

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 a.m. ET from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, marking SpaceX’s 26th and final mission of 2020. This is SpaceX’s second launch with the NRO, as the...

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 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program to leverage commercial Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) technology for a global high-speed network for the U.S. Department of Defense...