DARPA
DARPA selects Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin to develop spacecraft for nuclear propulsion demo
DARPA selected Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin to develop competing spacecraft concepts for a demonstration of nuclear thermal propulsion.
General Atomics wins DARPA contract to develop nuclear reactor to power missions to the moon
DARPA awarded a $22 million contract to General Atomics to design a small nuclear reactor for space propulsion.
Veteran scientist Stefanie Tompkins takes the helm at DARPA
Stefanie Tompkins on March 15 assumed the top post at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
SEAKR wins $60 million DARPA contract to demonstrate autonomous satellite operations
DARPA awarded SEAKR Engineering a $60.4 million contract to develop a data processing system for satellites to operate autonomously.
DARPA orders six satellites from Blue Canyon Technologies for Blackjack program
Blue Canyon has received a contract option worth $26.5 million to produce six satellites for DARPA's Blackjack program.
DoD space agency launching experiments in preparation for 2022 satellite deployments
SDA and DARPA small spacecraft equipped with optical crosslinks will fly to orbit in SpaceX's next rideshare mission Transporter-2.
DARPA to survey private sector capabilities to build factories on the moon
DARPA is looking to develop materials, processes and designs needed for in-space manufacturing of large structures.
DARPA satellites damaged at processing facility ahead of SpaceX launch
Two satellites from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency that were part of a SpaceX rideshare mission were damaged Jan. 4 at the payload processing facility.
DARPA okays Blue Canyon’s satellites for Blackjack program
The satellites Blue Canyon developed for DARPA's Blackjack program — based on the company's commercial X-SAT bus — passed a critical design review.
New initiative to promote satellite servicing and in-space assembly technologies
A new “national initiative” wants to promote the development of satellite servicing and in-space assembly technologies among U.S. government agencies that have differing views on the value of such capabilities.
Telesat wins DARPA contract to manufacture satellite buses for Blackjack program
Telesat won a $18.3 million DARPA contract to produce two satellite buses for the Blackjack low-Earth orbit constellation.
Blue Canyon selects Orbion electric thrusters for DARPA’s Blackjack satellites
Orbion is a four-year-old startup in Houghton, Michigan, that specializes in Hall-effect plasma thrusters for small satellites.
Tech executive Victoria Coleman named director of DARPA
Coleman is a member of the Defense Science Board and has held several senior posts in the private sector and academia.
DARPA’s Stephen Forbes named Blackjack program manager
Forbes has been Blackjack’s deputy program manager since 2018.
DARPA has no plans for another space launch prize competition
DARPA acting director Highnam said the agency sees no need to demonstrate launch capabilities that are now available from commercial providers.
