Sunday, May 19, 2024
Key Issues GAO on F-35 SLCM-N program office PrSM funding
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO -- Lockheed Martin launched two satellites to demonstrate an autonomous mission testing system intended to fit into the Defense Department's Joint All-Domain Command and Control effort, the company told reporters yesterday.
A legislative proposal from the Air Force to shift National Guard space operations directly into the Space Force would create a significant strategic and tactical gap in national security, top National Guard officials told reporters Monday.
The Defense Department today released its Commercial Space Integration Strategy that gives a roadmap of how the U.S. military can leverage commercial space in each of its space mission areas.
John Plumb, the first assistant defense secretary for space policy, plans to leave the Defense Department next month, a department spokesperson confirmed today.
The Space Development Agency posted the solicitation for the next stage of its Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture yesterday, less than one week after Congress finally passed its fiscal year 2024 appropriations bill.
The Space Development Agency is looking for information on services to pull down Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture satellites as needed.
The Space Force has sent Congress a $1.15 billion unfunded priorities list for fiscal year 2025 highlighting unmet needs for mostly classified programs, according to a document obtained by Inside Defense.
U.S. Space Command wants more than $300 million for programs relating to space domain awareness, according to its mostly classified unfunded priorities list topping $1.2 billion.
Congress plans to block the Air Force's restructuring plans unless the service can adequately justify the need, according to documents released today with the fiscal year 2024 appropriations conference bill.
Space Futures Command's first order of business should be determining the military worth of on-orbit refueling capabilities and cislunar operations, Lt. Gen. Shawn Bratton, deputy chief of space operations for strategy, plans, programs and requirements, said today.
The Space Development Agency isn't interested in on-orbit refueling for its satellites, but it could drive down costs if it plans to contract with deorbiting services to mitigate risks on satellites at the end of their service lives, SDA Director Derek Tournear said today.
The Space Force is requesting $248 million for an assured satellite communications new start Protected Tactical SATCOM-Global, which the service calls a "key and enabling capability" of its force design, according to fiscal year 2025 budget request documents released this week.
The Air Force awarded BlackSky Geospatial Solutions up to $23.7 million for work on Global Moving Target Engagement -- one of service Secretary Frank Kendall's seven Operational Imperatives -- according to a Defense Department notice.
The Air Force plans to cut in half its purchase of MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopters as a way to meet budget caps for its fiscal year 2025 request.
The Space Force is planning to begin funding on-orbit servicing to increase the potential life and maneuverability of military satellites, Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman said today.
While the fiscal year 2025 budget request includes what Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall called "tough decisions" to balance procurement and research, development, test and evaluation funds, the service's real budgetary challenges will come in future years.
The Space Force did not request an increase in funding for fiscal year 2025 and instead reduced its budget by 2%, even as Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said he thinks the service needs to move faster.
The Air Force's fiscal year 2025 budget request that will be announced Monday will be "unsatisfying," Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said today, as the service looks to modernize for what it calls "great power competition" amid congressional calls for fiscal moderation.
The Air Force is waiting on the last test of the all-but-killed Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon, and data from the program will help inform the mix of hypersonic capabilities the service looks for, acquisition chief Andrew Hunter said today.
Army and Navy offices along with some combatant commands signed agreements to use the Space Development Agency's constellations of missile tracking and data transport satellites once the system is operational, SDA Director Derek Tournear said today.