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United Launch Alliance (ULA) launched the USSF-51 national security mission for the U.S. Space Force on Tuesday — marking the final national security mission on an Atlas V rocket as ULA transitions to the Vulcan rocket.  The Atlas V rocket first launched in March of 2007 and has launched 53 National Security Space (NSS) missions....

Astroscale Japan’s ADRAS-J mission recently completed a controlled fly-around of a rocket upper stage in orbit, taking pictures of the object. Astroscale reports this is the world’s first attempt to safely approach and survey an existing piece of large debris through rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO). This is a critical milestone in the commercial debris...

Global launch services company Rocket Lab USA confirmed Monday that it completed integration and testing of two spacecraft it built for The University of California Berkeley’s Space Science Laboratory and NASA. The “Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE)” mission spacecraft will be shipped to Cape Canaveral in August, where they will be integrated...

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) issued a pilot project award to geospatial analytics company SynMax and its Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) platform, Theia. SynMax announced Monday that the pilot program will involve testing and evaluation of Theia’s capabilities, focusing on its ability to detect, track, and analyze maritime activities in near real-time. The company will...

Five Rivers Analytics has won a major new U.S. Space Force contract worth up to nearly half a billion dollars. The company, a subsidiary of Akima, has won the Satellite Control Network Tracking Station Operations, Remote Site and Mission Partner Support (STORMS) contract to support the U.S. Space Force. The indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ)...

L3Harris Space segment saw flat sales in the second quarter of 2024, while the Aerojet Rocketdyne acquisition contributed to revenue growth company-wide. L3Harris reported its second quarter results on July 26.  Company-wide, revenue was up 13% year-over-year, primarily due to the Aerojet Rocketdyne acquisition. L3 Harris reported revenue of $5.3 billion during the second quarter. ...

The 3GPP mobile standards organization has approved an Intelsat-led Ku-band project for standardization. Intelsat led the effort with support from 35 companies and 3GPP community members, including other satellite operators, terrestrial vendors, and mobile network operators (MNOs). The approval of the “Ku-band Work Package” means that Intelsat and other satellite providers will now begin the...

Aalto HAPS has received a key regulatory approval in the U.K. The company which designs, manufactures and operates the stratospheric, solar-powered Zephyr high altitude platform station (HAPS), has secured its Design Organisation Approval (DOA) from the United Kingdom’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Aalto says this is the first DOA to be issued to a HAPS...

Poland’s flagship air carrier LOT Polish Airlines awarded Viasat a contract to provide in-flight connectivity for 15 Boeing aircraft in its fleet. This marks the first time LOT will offer in-flight Wi-Fi.  Viasat will equip 15 aircraft in LOT’s wide-body Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 Dreamliner fleet with Ka-band IFC as part of a major upgrade...

SmallSat Alliance, an industry group of companies in the smallsat ecosystem, appointed Dr. Angel Smith as its new executive director.  Smith is a general manager at Microsoft Corp. leading Strategic Global Enablement and is a combat veteran and retired Marine Corps C-130 pilot. Smith is also a former House Intelligence Committee staffer, where she oversaw...