DefenceTalkThe Department of the Air Force, along with the security research community, publicly announced the 2021 winners of its second annual Hack-A-Sat 2 space security challenge final event December 12. Brig. Gen. John M. Olson, call sign “Sprocket,” is the mobilization assistant to the chief of space operations for the Space Force and gave keynote […]https://www.defencetalk.com/reduce-daf-declares-hack-a-sat-challenge-winners-aims-to-reduce-space-vulnerability-77585/

DefenceTalkRussia on Thursday successfully placed into orbit a military satellite believed to be part of the Kremlin’s early warning anti-missile system. A Soyuz rocket carrying a classified payload blasted off from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia in the early hours of Thursday morning, the defence ministry said. At 0109 GMT a rocket was launched […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-launches-classified-military-satellite-77500/

DefenceTalkSkykraft will launch a 300kg satellite on SpaceX’s upcoming Transporter-5 mission according to a recently signed launch contract. The 300kg satellite is a carrier for multiple early-phase Skykraft Air Traffic Management satellites that will form a global constellation of 210 satellites. Skykraft is building a Space-based Air Traffic Management constellation to improve the safety and […]

DefenceTalkFrance has begun its first military exercises in space to test its ability to defend its satellites, in a sign of the growing competition between world powers in Earth’s orbit. Michel Friedling, the head of France’s newly created Space Command, called the exercises a “stress test of our systems” and said they “were a first […]

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkThe United States on Tuesday voiced concern about Iran’s launch of a satellite-carrying rocket, saying the test could boost missile work at a moment when the two nations are inching back to diplomacy. “The United States remains concerned with Iran’s efforts to development space launch vehicles (SLVs), given these programs’ ability to advance Iran’s ballistic […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-voices-concern-on-iran-satellite-rocket-launch-76740/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkIt’s 4 October 1957, and the Soviet Union has just lofted humanity’s first satellite -Sputnik 1 -into the pristine orbital environment around Earth, marking the start of the Space Age. Throughout 1960s and 70s, launches quickly increase, as the USA, Soviet Union and other countries race for space, discovering and utilizing the immense value of […]https://www.defencetalk.com/artificial-intelligence-behind-21st-century-spaceflight-76720/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkMicrosoft on Tuesday said its Azure cloud computing service is taking to outer space, and will deliver datacenter power to remote spots on Earth in the process. The US technology titan announced partnerships with satellite operators including SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, as part an “ecosystem” to serve networking needs in orbit as well as […]https://www.defencetalk.com/microsoft-cloud-computing-looks-to-the-stars-76490/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkFor the first time, the Combined Force Space Component Command’s 18th Space Control Squadron began publically sharing data for debris-on-debris conjunction predictions via www.Space-Track.org, Sept. 24. Previously, the 18 SPCS only released debris-on-active satellite conjunction prediction data publically due to limited conjunction screening and reporting capacity. Through a project titled Reduction of Conjunction Assessment Processing […]https://www.defencetalk.com/18-spcs-now-predicts-debris-on-debris-collisions-in-space-enhancing-space-domain-awareness-for-all-76401/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkThe Space Development Agency (SDA) awarded a Tranche 0 contract of the Space Transport Layer to Lockheed Martin to demonstrate a mesh network of 10 small satellites that links terrestrial warfighting domains to space sensors – all launching in just two years. The $187.5-million contract for Transport Layer’s Tranche 0 is an initial test and […]https://www.defencetalk.com/lockheed-to-build-mesh-network-of-10-smallsats-76249/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkThe 2020 State of the Space Industrial Base Workshop held in May brought together more than 120 space leaders from across the federal government, industry, and academia to assess the current health of the space industry and to provide recommendations for strengthening that industrial base. The State of the Space Industrial Base 2020 report was […]https://www.defencetalk.com/state-of-the-space-industrial-base-2020-report-76085/