Military

General Dynamics wins ground systems contract for Space Development Agency’s megaconstellation
General Dynamics Mission Systems won a $324.5 million contract to operate the ground systems and manage network operations of the Space Development Agency’s low Earth orbit constellation.

Space Force rolls out cybersecurity standards for commercial providers of satellite services
The Space Systems Command announced May 26 the official rollout of a new process to assess the cybersecurity of commercial satellite operators that do business with the Defense Department.

BlackSky, Maxar, Planet win 10-year NRO contracts for satellite imagery
The National Reconnaissance Office announced May 25 it awarded BlackSky, Maxar Technologies and Planet Labs 10-year contracts to provide satellite imagery for U.S. intelligence, defense and federal civil agencies.

Space Systems Command refines front-door concept
The U.S. Space Systems Command is continuing to refine its concept for establishing a single point of contact for commercial innovators called the front door.

BlueHalo wins $1.4 billion contract to upgrade U.S. satellite control network
The Space Rapid Capabilities Office awarded BlueHalo a $1.4 billion contract to add satellite communications capacity to the ground network used by the U.S. military to command and control satellites .

Japan Air Self Defense Force awards contract to LeoLabs
Space mapping startup LeoLabs announced a multimillion-dollar contract May 24 to provide space domain awareness data, services and training to the Japan Air Self Dense Force.

Lockheed Martin, Filecoin Foundation plan demonstration of decentralized data storage in space
Lockheed Martin is working with the Filecoin Foundation to demonstrate an open-source blockchain network in space.

Op-ed | Protecting Space Assets Above to Assert Geopolitical Dominance Below
The conflict in Ukraine has shown us that we must now protect and make both our government and commercial space assets more resilient.

Military looking for new ways to acquire and use commercial satellite data
Space Systems Command is trying to figure out how to exploit traditional and new types of commercial space data

On National Security | Drawing lessons from the first ‘commercial space war’
Throughout Russia’s invasion and offensive in Ukraine, some of the most compelling images of the war have come from satellites in space operated by private companies.

U.S. Space Force to step up protection of satellite ground systems in the wake of Russia’s cyber attacks
Lt. Gen. Saltzman said one lesson from the cyber attacks in Ukraine is that the main targets are not the satellites but the ground systems and user equipment

Military buyers challenged to stay up on the latest commercial space innovations
Space Force Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein said commercial innovation today is "outpacing the demand signal from the government."

Kongsberg orders satellites for Norwegian maritime surveillance
Norway’s Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace has ordered three microsatellites to keep tabs on vessels operating clandestinely in the North Sea.

Space Development Agency’s satellite contractors team up to deal with supply shortages
The Space Development Agency and its contractors have had to scramble to deal with parts shortages and other supply chain problems that have affected the entire space industry.

Military experiment demonstrates intersatellite laser communications in low Earth orbit
Two small satellites launched last summer by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency successfully established an optical link during a nearly 40-minute test.

DIU selects nuclear-powered spacecraft designs for 2027 demonstrations
The Defense Innovation Unit announced May 17 it selected Ultra Safe Nuclear Corp. and Avalanche to develop small nuclear-powered spacecraft for in-space demonstrations planned for 2027.