SDA Awards Contracts for 36 Golden Dome Missile Tracking Satellites

An artist's depiction of the Pentagon's Golden Dome concept. (Boeing) By Courtney Albon, Published by Air and Space Forces, 13 July 2026 The Space Development Agency announced contracts worth $1.75 billion to build 36 satellites in support of the Pentagon’s Golden Dome missile defense shield. The satellites will be part

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Space junk debris cloud discovered in high-traffic orbit ‘is a potential minefield’ for the costliest satellites

By Tereza Pultarova, Published by Space.com, 13 July 2026 "The debris in geosynchronous orbit is a potential minefield." Tiny pieces of space junk only 2 inches (5 centimeters) in size are cluttering a valuable orbital region where some of the costliest satellites reside, a new study has found. Researchers from

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The Iranian use of space operations during Epic Fury

Iran’s Khayyam satellite, the countryÆs only high-resolution imaging satellite, took this image of the Vogtle nuclear power plant in US state of Georgia.[4] By Matthew Mowthorpe, Markos Trichas and Damian Terrill, Published by The Space Review, 13 July 2026 This article analyzes how Iran used access to both commercial satellite

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SpaceX vaporizes 260 Starlink satellites in six months using Earth’s atmosphere — new environmental concerns emerge over burning 2,700-pound orbital data centers, FCC seeks to exempt satellites from regulations

An illustration of a satellite breaking up in Earth orbit. (Image credit: Getty Images) By Etiido Uko, Published by tom's Hardware, 5 July 2026 Starlink burns multiple retired satellites daily from its over 10,000-strong constellation SpaceX has confirmed in a semi-annual report submitted to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) earlier

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Orbital files plans for 100,000 orbital data centers

Multiple companies are planning to develop space-based data centers, which would greatly increase the number of satellites in Earth orbit. (Image credit: ESA) By Jason Rainbow, Published by Space News, 30 June 2026 TAMPA, Fla. — Five-month-old startup Orbital has asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to deploy up

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The Tragedy of the New Space Race

By Samanth Subramanian, Published by New Republic, 29 June 2026 Space exploration is a rapidly growing industry. But its goal is dominance, not discovery. Two versions of history began when, one fall night in 1957, a two-stage rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and deposited a Soviet satellite called

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Rocket Lab to acquire Iridium

Iridium low-Earth orbit commercial satellite constellation: Iridium By Jeff Foust, Published by Space News, 29 June 2026 WASHINGTON — Rocket Lab is acquiring satellite telecommunications company Iridium for $8 billion as part of its effort to become an end-to-end space company. The companies announced an agreement June 29 under which

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House Appropriations Committee approves $55.5 billion for U.S. Space Force

Illustration of Tracking Layer Tranche 3 spacecraft. Credit: Northrop Grumman By Sandra Erwin, Published by Space News, 25 June 2026 Committee urges more competition in satellite communications and criticizes reliance on reconciliation to fund Golden Dome WASHINGTON — The House Appropriations Committee on June 24 advanced a fiscal 2027 defense

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