DefenceTalkSatellite images suggest North Korea may have doubled uranium enrichment capacity at its main Yongbyon nuclear complex, a US think-tank that tracks the North’s nuclear weapons program said Thursday The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) said the images showed the building housing the gas centrifuge plant at Yongbyon had been expanded to twice […]https://www.defencetalk.com/north-korea-maybe-doubled-uranium-enrichment-capacity-isis-48688/

DefenceTalkJapan is planning to launch satellites to monitor the world’s oceans, a report said Sunday, as Chinese government ships plied waters around islands controlled by Tokyo and claimed by Beijing. The Cabinet office plans to launch nine satellites in the next five years to counter piracy and monitor the movements of foreign ships intruding into […]https://www.defencetalk.com/japan-to-launch-satellites-to-monitor-oceans-48296/

DefenceTalkSatellite imagery has revealed new tunneling work at North Korea’s nuclear test site, but nothing that points to an imminent detonation, a US research institute said Wednesday. The activity appears to have begun in late April — at the height of a recent surge in inter-Korean tensions — and gathered momentum over the next few […]https://www.defencetalk.com/satellite-images-show-tunnelling-at-north-korea-test-site-48264/

DefenceTalkTaking advantage of lessons learned through several Network Integration Evaluation cycles, the Army is fielding to its first unit a new, smaller ground satellite terminal designed to provide high-capacity, beyond-line-of-sight communications to newly digitized command posts at the company level. “One of the main goals the Army had in creating the Company Command Post was […]https://www.defencetalk.com/smaller-satellite-terminal-solution-network-integration-evaluations-48136/

DefenceTalkAn Air Force program at Hanscom Air Force Base that continually provides critical imagery to warfighters and first responders, is also reducing costs. Eagle Vision consists of five deployable satellite downlink stations that collect, process and distribute commercial satellite imagery in nearly real time. The data not only can be used to highlight areas of […]https://www.defencetalk.com/satellite-program-finds-savings-while-providing-critical-imagery-48091/

DefenceTalkChina successfully launched its fifth manned spacecraft on Tuesday afternoon, announced Zhang Youxia, chief commander of China’s manned space program. Shenzhou-10, atop an upgraded Long March-2F carrier rocket, blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China late Tuesday afternoon and entered its designated orbit minutes later. Three astronauts, two male and one […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-successfully-launches-shenzhou-10-spacecraft-48087/

DefenceTalkThe Russian military will launch a new reconnaissance satellite from the Plesetsk space center in northern Russia on June 8, a space industry source said. “A Russian military satellite will be launched on board a Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket from the Plesetsk launch site on June 8,” the source, who asked to remain anonymous, told RIA […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-to-launch-new-spy-satellite-in-june-48018/

DefenceTalkBoeing has received the first on-orbit signals from the fifth Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) satellite it is delivering to the U.S. Air Force to give warfighters greater access to fast, secure communications that help them complete their missions more safely and effectively. After reaching final orbit, WGS-5 will complete several maneuvers and tests before beginning […]https://www.defencetalk.com/boeing-built-wgs-5-satellite-enhances-tactical-communications-for-warfighters-47922/

DefenceTalkThe U.S. government believes a Chinese missile launch this week was the first test of a new interceptor that could be used to destroy a satellite in orbit, a U.S. defense official told Reuters on Wednesday. China launched a rocket into space on Monday, but no objects were placed into orbit, the Pentagon said on […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-sees-china-missile-launch-as-test-of-muscle-47808/

DefenceTalkThe U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin have delivered the second Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) spacecraft to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., where it will be prepared for a July liftoff aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. MUOS vastly improves current secure mobile satellite communications. It links mobile users for the first […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-navy-and-lockheed-deliver-newest-secure-communications-satellite-for-mobile-users-47776/