Expedition Space: Space Launch, Events, News

by Sandra Erwin WASHINGTON — Voyager Space Holdings said May 10 it has closed a deal announced in December to acquire a majority stake in XO Markets, the parent company of commercial space services provider Nanoracks.   The value of the transaction was not disclosed. “We acquired the company at a substantial number,” Dylan Taylor, Voyager’s chairman and CEO, told SpaceNews. Nanoracks is Voyager’s fourth deal since October 2019. Voyager also has acquired a space robotics firm , a space mining company and a space launch logistics services providers. Taylor said the Nanoracks investment takes Voyager a step closer to its goal of becoming a vertically integrated space exploration company. He said Voyager continues to eye more acquisitions. “We’re very focused on the LEO [low Earth orbit] economy,” said Taylor.   Nanoracks is a significant acquisition, has said, because of its growing portfolio of commercial technologies on the International Space Station.  The comp...

by Sandra Erwin WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force has moved quickly to organize its operational units since it was established 16 months ago. But Congress would also like to see the service make headway in acquisition programs, the chair of the House Appropriations Committee’s defense subcommittee said May 7. “Progress in addressing longstanding acquisition issues has been disappointing so far,” Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) told the leaders of the Department of the Air Force during a posture hearing.   Her comments were addressed at John Roth, acting secretary of the Air Force and Gen. John Raymond, Space Force chief of space operations, who testified alongside Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Brown. “We have serious problems” that the Government Accountability Office has documented over many years, McCollum said.   “Our committee staff has bookshelves of such reports,” she said. McCollum mentioned the Global Positioning System ground system and user equipment ; an...

by Sandra Erwin WASHINGTON — The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency awarded Northrop Grumman a $13.3 million contract to provide positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) payloads for the Blackjack program. Blackjack is a DARPA project to demonstrate the military utility of small satellites in low Earth orbit to provide communications, missile warning and PNT. Northrop Grumman’s contract was awarded April 28, according to sam.gov. The company will supply two payloads that broadcast a new signal that is not dependent on the Global Positioning System.   “Northrop Grumman’s software-defined PNT technology will offer military users an agile new signal from low Earth orbit that is not dependent on existing satellite navigation systems,” Nicholas Paraskevopoulos, the company’s chief technology officer and sector vice president of emerging capabilities development, said May 6 in a statement. The company develops PNT systems at facilities in Linthicum Heights, Maryland, and Wo...

by Sandra Erwin WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force on May 6 released a vision document that calls on its military and civilian workforce to embrace a “digital culture.” The Space Force’s “Vision for a Digital Service” says the service will need people who are digitally minded and technology savvy. This is important to make sure the Space Force can defend satellites from high-tech weapons such as electronic jammers and lasers, Gen. John Raymond, chief of space operations of the U.S. Space Force, told reporters May 6. “Being a digital service will help us address many of these threats as they materialize,” Raymond said. A high-tech force also is needed to innovate weapons systems and business processes, he said. Given the relatively small size of the Space Force, people have to be “digitally fluent, efficient, and agile,” said Raymond. The Space Force was established in December 2019 as an independent military branch and expects to have about 16,000 members, half military and half...

by Sandra Erwin WASHINGTON — An unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile test launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, experienced a ground abort during the terminal countdown, the Air Force Global Strike Command said May 5. The cause of the ground abort is under investigation. An Air Force official told SpaceNews that the mission will not be rescheduled at this time.   As per standard practice when there are launch failures or anomalies, the Air Force will form a “launch analysis group” with officials from Global Strike Command, the 576th Flight Test Squadron, the 30th Space Wing and the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center. The launch had been scheduled to take place Wednesday between 12:15 a.m. to 6:15 a.m. Pacific. Test launches of Minuteman 3 missiles are done three to four times a year to “validate and verify the effectiveness, readiness and accuracy of the weapon system,” said Col. Omar Colbert, 576th Flight Test Squadron commander.   An ars...

by Sandra Erwin WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force this month will complete a design review of a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster that flew a military GPS satellite to orbit last summer. The booster is expected to fly another GPS satellite sometime in June. The upcoming launch of the fifth GPS 3 satellite known as SV05 will be the first mission under the national security space launch program to use a refurbished Falcon 9 booster. The satellite, made by Lockheed Martin, arrived at Cape Canaveral, Florida, last month.   The booster that will fly GPS 3 SV05 has flown once before. It launched GPS 3 SV03 on June 30 and landed on a drone ship. That was the first time SpaceX recovered a booster following a national security space launch mission. SpaceX launched a GPS 3 satellite in December 2018 but the first stage was expended due to government requirements that did not make it possible to bring the booster back to Earth.   Col. Rob Bongiovi, director of the Space and Missile Systems C...

by Sandra Erwin WASHINGTON — Loft Orbital announced May 5 it won a small business innovation research (SBIR) contract from the U.S. Space Force to support the development of an edge computer that can analyze data in space. The contract is a Phase 2 SBIR sponsored by the Space and Missile Systems Center. The company will get $1.5 million to help fund the development of an edge computer processor that will function as a “brain” on Loft Orbital spacecraft. Loft Orbital is a San Francisco-based startup that buys satellite buses to host payloads provided by customers who pay a fee to ride to space. The company wants to offer edge computing aboard its satellites as part of its service. Onboard computing allows satellites to process data they collect and perform autonomous decision-making and tasks faster than if the data had to be transported to a server on the ground.   Loft Orbital’s edge computing technology is similar to the “ Pit Boss ” that the Defense Advanced Research Proj...

by Sandra Erwin WASHINGTON — The Center for the Study of the Presidency & Congress released a new report May 4 calling on the U.S. government to accelerate the procurement of commercial space technologies and manage growing congestion in low-Earth orbit. CSPC is a nonpartisan think tank led by former members of Congress Mike Rogers, of Michigan; and Glenn Nye, of Virginia. In a 2019 report the group called out DoD for not opening up opportunities for emerging commercial space companies, and was especially critical of the national security space launch program.   Many of the same points were made in the 2021 report.   “If the Space Force does not address the underlying issue of acquisition reform, America will lose its competitive edge in space,” said the study. “The commercial space sector has radically reshaped the way countries and companies access space, yet the old model of block-buys, multi-year contracts, and nearly bespoke vehicles remains,” said CSPC. ...

by Sandra Erwin WASHINGTON — The small launch sector is crowded , and getting more so . But Will Roper believes there is still room in the market for suppliers of rocket engines that innovate fast and adapt to changing demands. Roper, former assistant secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics for the U.S. Air Force, is now an advisor to Ursa Major Technologies, a Colorado-based startup that makes liquid engines for small rockets and is looking to move into the medium-vehicle market. The company’s business model is based on the idea that while many launch providers make their own propulsion systems, others will choose outsourcing so they don’t have to invest money and time in risky engine development.   “If a propulsion company has a leg up in terms of price or reliability, it’s too much of a capital expenditure for a launch company or an integration company a vertically integrated company to try to go compete against that,” Roper told SpaceNews.   Digital eng...

by Sandra Erwin WASHINGTON — The U.S. nuclear command, control and communications system that serves as the link between U.S. nuclear forces and presidential authority could be vulnerable to cyber attacks and needs upgrades, Sen. Angus King told reporters May 1. King (I-Maine) is the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on strategic forces, which oversees the Pentagon’s space, nuclear and strategic deterrence programs. King and a bipartisan group of senators on Saturday were briefed on U.S. nuclear modernization efforts at Offutt Air Force, Nebraska, where U.S. Strategic Command is headquartered. The senators on Friday also toured U.S. nuclear operations at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota. During a call with reporters after the Saturday briefing, King said the nuclear command, control and communications system known as NC3 was a “major point of discussion” and a “significant part of the briefing” senators received at Offutt. NC3 is a Cold War-era sy...

by Sandra Erwin WASHINGTON — Raytheon received a $228 million contract to continue development of a ground system for Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites, the Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center announced April 30. The contract is for work on the operational control system for the newest version of GPS 3 satellites made by Lockheed Martin . The estimated $6 billion ground system known as OCX has been in development since 2012. The Space Force extended Raytheon’s contract until 2025. This next phase of the program is for the OCX follow-on, or OCX 3F, which requires Raytheon to integrate the newest version of GPS satellites called GPS 3F.   These satellites provide positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) for military and civilian users. Raytheon currently is working on OCX upgrades expected to be delivered in 2022, including hardened cybersecurity, anti-jam capabilities, and new software compatible with the military’s M-code secure signals and with Europe’s ...

by Sandra Erwin Does it make sense for the Pentagon to spend billions of dollars buying and maintaining satellites when there are now private companies that can provide space-based capabilities as a service? That’s the question at the heart of an ongoing debate about the role of private space enterprise in national security. Lower launch costs and advances in small satellites have fueled growth in space-as-a-service, a business model where customers can buy access to data or broadband from satellites without having to invest in spacecraft or launch vehicles. In a November report, the Aerospace Corp. said it’s time for U.S. national security agencies to consider space services as alternatives to the traditional model of hiring contractors to develop bespoke capabilities. Space-as-a-service is a booming sector of the industry, offering remote sensing imagery, radio-frequency signal collection, communications, navigation, space situational awareness and weather data, among other pr...

by Sandra Erwin WASHINGTON — The Air Force Research Laboratory is planning a 2023 launch of the NTS-3 experimental satellite the U.S. military will use for positioning, navigation and timing. AFRL previously announced the launch would be in 2022 but the mission will slip into 2023, AFRL Commander Brig. Gen. Heather Pringle told reporters April 28. NTS-3 is scheduled to fly to a geosynchronous orbit as a secondary payload on USSF-106 , a classified mission awarded last year to United Launch Alliance under the National Security Space Launch program run by the Space and Missile Systems Center. Pringle said the delay is a launch scheduling issue not related to NTS-3. “It’s a rideshare with other United States Space Force customers,” she said. “We’re not driving the schedule.” Pringle said the production and testing of NTS-3 are moving forward as planned. She said a lot of work is going into the ground system so the launch delay will give AFRL additional time “so when it goes int...

by Sandra Erwin WASHINGTON — Space industry startup Ursa Major Technologies has named former Air Force procurement official Will Roper to its the board of directors, the company’s CEO said April 28. Ursa Major is a venture-funded maker of rocket engines for small and medium launch vehicles. The company was founded in 2015 and is based in Lafayette, Colorado. Joe Laurienti, founder and CEO of Ursa Major, told SpaceNews the company chose Roper for his “vision and leadership within the Air Force to establish on-ramps for innovative companies.” He said Roper “made it easier for startups to work with the U.S. government.” Roper served as assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics from February 2018 until January 2021 and previously ran the Pentagon’s Strategic Capabilities Office. As head of Air Force acquisitions, Roper was a proponent of the use of commercial technology in government systems and championed efforts like AFWERX , a technolog...

by Sandra Erwin WASHINGTON — President Biden has nominated former top Pentagon acquisition official Frank Kendall to be secretary of the Air Force, the White House announced April 27. If confirmed, he will be the highest ranked civilian leader of both the Air Force and the Space Force.   Kendall’s selection was first reported by DefenseNews. Currently an independent consultant, Kendall is a former U.S. Army officer and defense industry executive who served as undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics during the Obama administration from 2012 until 2017.   Kendall led Pentagon acquisitions during a time of transition in the space industry as private-sector players like SpaceX disrupted the military launch market and satellite operators pushed DoD to buy commercial satcom services instead of buying customized satellites.   One of Kendall’s challenges with regard to space was figuring out how to replace the Russian RD-180 rocket engine used ...

by Sandra Erwin WASHINGTON — United Launch Alliance successfully launched a classified National Reconnaissance Office spy satellite on a Delta 4 Heavy rocket April 26 at 1:47 p.m. Pacific from Space Launch Complex-6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The flight of NROL-82, a classified national security mission, marked ULA’s first launch of the year The outer boosters of the three-core Delta 4 Heavy separated about four minutes into flight, followed by staging and ignition of the second stage two minutes later. Per government request, ULA ended the webcast about seven minutes into the flight.   The original liftoff time for NROL-82 of 1:46 p.m. Pacific was delayed by one minute due to a collision avoidance warning. That one-minute window was determined not safe to launch because the trajectory of the ascending rocket and payload would pass too close to another object already in space. NROL-82 is the first of four remaining Delta 4 Heavy missions that the Space Force ...

by Sandra Erwin WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force is not too worried at this point that the growth of commercial space activity is creating safety issues. But things could change if space traffic and debris are not managed, said Gen. David Thompson, vice chief of space operations of the U.S. Space Force. Commercial ventures such as space internet constellations and civil activities in low Earth orbit are positive developments, Thompson said in an interview with SpaceNews . The military supports this growth, he said, but would like to see a civilian agency in charge of managing traffic and regulating unsafe activities.   “I would be loathe to limit activity because I think there’s power in the commercial and civil aspects of space that improve our lives and will continue to improve our lives,” said Thompson.   Air Force and Space Force operators at Vandenberg Air Force, California, serve as the nation’s de facto space traffic cops, keeping track of objects in space and wa...

by Sandra Erwin WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army last week announced plans to explore new uses of satellites and other space technology in support of soldiers on the ground. This is a clear sign that the demand for space-based capabilities is growing across the U.S. military, said Gen. David Thompson, vice chief of space operations of the U.S. Space Force. All the military services are looking at ways to use space to their advantage, Thompson said in an interview with SpaceNews. “Part of this is a recognition of how critical space capabilities and information from space is going to be to the fight,” he said of the Army’s announcement that it plans to invest in space systems. The Space Force was spun out the Air Force in 2019 to give the military a dedicated branch focused on space. It is responsible for defending U.S. satellites that foreign adversaries could target in a future conflict, and the Space Force supports the U.S. military at large with technologies like GPS navigation, s...

by Sandra Erwin WASHINGTON — The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency increased Lockheed Martin’s contract for satellite integration work for the Blackjack program by $27.3 million, the agency announced April 22. DARPA a year ago selected Lockheed Martin as the satellite integrator for Blackjack, a project to demonstrate a network of   small satellites in low Earth orbit for military communications, missile warning and navigation.   The company had previously received a $13.1 million contract for Blackjack satellite integration work. The $27.3 million modification for Phase 2 of the program brings the total value of the contract to $40.4   million. DARPA has ordered 10 buses so far from Blue Canyon Technologies. Raytheon Technologies is providing missile warning infrared sensors. The agency last month awarded SEAKR Engineering a $60.4 million contract to develop the Pit Boss data processing system for satellites to operate autonomously.   Lockheed Mart...

by Sandra Erwin WASHINGTON — Boeing and Northrop Grumman have been selected to develop jam-resistant communications payloads for the U.S. Space Force’s Protected Tactical Satcom program. The Space and Missile Systems Center in February 2020 and March 2020 awarded Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman contracts for $191 million, $240 million and $253 million, respectively, to design prototype payloads for the Protected Tactical Satcom program known as PTS.   Only Boeing and Northrop Grumman got the nod to advance into the next phase of the program, the Space and Missile Systems Center confirmed April 22 in a statement to SpaceNews. Boeing’s and Northrop Grumman’s payloads will be launched to space in 2024 on a military or commercial satellite for an on-orbit demonstration.   The PTS prototypes will be evaluated by the Space Force as possible solutions for its next-generation secure communications satellites that over the next decade could supplement or replace ex...