US Space Force

The US Space Force has a contract worth up to US$60 million to develop and fly a kind-of aircraft carrier in space. No, it's not the result of a major typo. It's intended as a way to station space vehicles to quickly counter orbital threats.

The US Space Force's secret-but-not-really-secret spaceplane will carry out a novel maneuver called aerobraking to change its orbit. Instead of using thrusters, the robotic spacecraft will dip into the Earth's atmosphere to change its trajectory.

A spacecraft about the size of a gas pump is being developed for the US Space Force program to refuel orbiting satellites. The goal is to extend the lifespan of craft that have run out of juice instead of simply decommissioning them.

SpaceX's flagship new rocket is an absolute monster of a space vehicle. It blasted its launchpad to pieces on its maiden test flight – and Kennedy is now scrambling to prepare for a launch schedule that's unprecedented in mass and sheer frequency.

Northrop Grumman's Passive Refueling Module (PRM) has been tapped by the US Space Force as the preferred model to set the standard for Space Force's Space Systems Command (SSC) to refuel satellites in orbit to extend their mission life.

The US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has completed a major test (FTG-12) of a stage-selectable Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI) missile system that destroyed an air-launched Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) target vehicle.

As part of a fast-track program to protect military satellite communications (SATCOM), Boeing recently demonstrated its new system at White Sands, New Mexico, that can autonomously detect and counter jamming efforts at the source in real-time.

The US Space Force has awarded Northrop Grumman and Ball Aerospace a US$2.37-billion contract to design and build two sensor payloads for a pair of polar-orbiting satellites intended to warn of ballistic and hypersonic missile launches.

The US Space Force has launched a tactical satellite developed in only four months with only 21 days notice, demonstrating the ability to adapt and respond to changes in space or on the ground by quickly adding or replacing assets in orbit.

The United States Air Force and Space Force are looking at rockets as a way to send supplies to inaccessible war zones and disaster areas. Led by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Rocket Cargo Vanguard will look at ways that commercial rockets can be adapted for logistical missions.

Boeing and the US Space Force have completed the first major engineering design review of a new generation of military communication satellites.

The Global Position System (GPS) has turned 25 years old. Operated by the US Space Force, the constellation of navigational satellites went fully operational on April 27, 1995, though US Space Command made the formal announcement in July of that year.