Secretive ‘SILENTBARKER’ sats to launch late summer as space monitoring demands grow

By Theresa Hitchens, Published by Breaking Defense, 25 April 2023 SPACE SYMPOSIUM — The National Reconnaissance Office and the Space Force now plan to launch the first satellites in their highly classified joint SILENTBARKER program to improve monitoring of the heavens this summer, according to NRO Director Chris Scolese. The

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Space Force, SPACECOM pushing to speed ‘sustained’ maneuverability on orbit

By Theresa Hitschens, Published by Breaking Defense, 19 April, 2023 The Space Force is rushing to meet SPACECOM's demand, developing a new acquisition plan for space "mobility and logistics" — including on-orbit servicing and repair, satellite refueling and space junk cleanup — a plan that will lean heavily on use

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Northrop Grumman clears key design hurdle for military satellites in record time

By Chris Young, Published by Interesting Engineering, 19 April 2023 "Our T1TL solution builds on our decades of end-to-end mission expertise." Northrop Grumman completed a critical design review of a Space Development Agency (SDA) communications satellite in only 13 months. As SpaceNews points out, that is a fraction of the

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The atmospheric reentry process generates extreme heat and mechanical loads, which lead to the satellite's disintegration at the altitude of about 45 miles. (Image credit: ESA)

Space debris problem spurs a bold change in US government regulations

By Elizabeth Howell, Publishd by Space.com, 12 April 2023 The Federal Communications Commission plans to streamline its space activities to meet fast-growing space safety needs. The fast-growing space debris issue is top of mind at a new space-focused division of the U.S. government. "Satellite and orbital debris rules" will be one of

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SPACECOM ops head ‘tired of the the excuses’ about satellite tracking gaps

By Theresa Hitchens, Published by Breaking Defense, 8 April 2023 Not happy with America's ability to precisely track adversarial satellites, Maj. Gen. David Miller fumed, "Somebody's got to figure this out. The American people have paid for this. Somebody's got to deliver." WASHINGTON — US Space Command’s urgent requirement for

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