Virgin Galactic aircraft returns to flight

By Jeff Foust, Published by SpaceNews, 16 February 2023 WASHINGTON — The carrier aircraft for Virgin Galactic’s suborbital spaceplane made its first flight in more than a year Feb. 15 as the company moves one step closer to beginning commercial service. The airplane, VMS Eve, took off from the Mojave

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16 Allies, Finland and Sweden launch largest space project in NATO’s history

Published by NATO News, 15 February 2023 On Wednesday (15 February 2023), 16 Allies (Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Turkiye, United Kingdom, United States), together with invitees Finland and Sweden, launched a new initiative that will transform the way NATO gathers and

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Pentagon working with Congress on unclassified space strategy

By Sandra Erwin, Published by SpaceNews, 15 February 2023 Congress directed DoD and the director of national intelligence to “make publicly available a strategy regarding defending and protecting on-orbit satellites” WASHINGTON — The Defense Department’s space policy office is drafting a congressionally mandated report explaining how the U.S. will defend

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Spurred by Ukraine war, 18 Western countries plan to share remote sensing data

By Theresa Hitchens, Published by Breaking Defense, 15 February 2023 "Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the importance of a persistent space surveillance capability," said the United Kingdom, as European nations (and Canada) band together. WASHINGTON — A group of 17 European nations, plus the US and Canada, today

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Astranis wins Space Force contract to integrate military satcom on commercial payload

By Sandra Erwin, Published by SpaceNews, 14 February 2023 The $4.5 million SBIR Phase 3 contract has $6 million option for an on-orbit demonstration WASHINGTON – Astranis Space Technologies won a $4.5 million contract to integrate a U.S. military communications waveform on one of the company’s satellite communications payloads, the

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Maxar signs agreement with Umbra for direct access to radar imaging satellites

By Sandra Erwin, Published by SpaceNews, 14 February 2023 Maxar will be able to task Umbra’s satellites and integrate synthetic aperture radar data into its portfolio of Earth Intelligence products WASHINGTON — Maxar has signed a contract with satellite imagery startup Umbra to get dedicated access to the company’s radar

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Astranis wins Space Force contract to integrate military satcom on commercial payload

By Sandra Erwin, Published by SpaceNews, 14 February 2023 The $4.5 million SBIR Phase 3 contract has $6 million option for an on-orbit demonstration WASHINGTON – Astranis Space Technologies won a $4.5 million contract to integrate a U.S. military communications waveform on one of the company’s satellite communications payloads, the

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