Military Space Quarterly
GPS 3 Competitors Tout Fully Digital Navigation Payload Work
Contractors in the hunt to build the GPS satellites the U.S. Air Force will launch next decade are already touting their work on a fully digital navigation payload, an upgrade lawmakers want the Air Force to include when it finally places a follow-on order for the GPS 3 satellites now being built.
CHIRP Reactivation Idea Is Getting Attention
A U.S. Air Force official said it is “questionable” whether an idled experimental missile-warning sensor hosted aboard a commercial telecommunications satellite could be reactivated for civilian use, as has been proposed.
U.S. Air Force SBIRS Data Sharing Program in Full Swing
The U.S. Air Force is sharing what service officials have described as “eye-watering” data from its missile warning satellites with the intelligence community as part of a wider effort to maximize exploitation of the system.
Movement Toward Common Satellite Ground System Gains Momentum
The U.S. Air Force is studying the feasibility of a common ground system that would be available in the early 2020s to track and communicate with national security satellites, a move service leaders see as a way to save money, increase capability and improve responsiveness.
SpaceNews Military Space Quarterly
The latest on Operationally Responsive Space, a new Air Force missile-warning demo, DARPA's budget request, and other military space developments.
5 New Space Programs on DARPA’s Agenda, But Funding Down
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency hopes to start as many as five new space development programs next year in areas including space threat awareness and satellite propulsion technology.
U.S. Air Force Planning New Missile Warning Sensor Demonstration
The U.S. Air Force, which is developing an experimental tactical missile warning sensor slated for launch late next year, has unveiled tentative plans to follow that up with a strategic sensor demo that would launch in 2019 or 2020.
U.S. Air Force Hedging Against Further GPS 3 Ground Segment Delays
The U.S. Air Force is growing increasingly concerned that the $1.6 billion ground system for its next-generation GPS satellites will not be ready when needed and is putting a backup plan in motion.
U.S. Air Force Considers Expanded Role for Resilient ORS Office
The U.S. Air Force is contemplating an expanded role for the rapid-response space development shop it proposed shuttering as recently as last year, but the service has yet to identify how it plans to fund the office beyond next year.
Germany To Invest in French Recon Satellite for Access to Full Constellation
France’s long search for a European partner and co-investor in a next-generation optical reconnaissance satellite system has paid off with the agreement by Germany to help finance a third satellite in return for access to the full three-satellite system.
