Courtney Albon

Courtney Albon was senior editor for aviation and space at Inside Defense until December 2021. She covered the Air Force since 2012, reporting largely on space programs and fighter aircraft acquisition, development and budget from inside Capitol Hill, the Pentagon, and from military installations around the United States. Courtney previously worked as a general assignment reporter at The Ashland Times-Gazette in Ashland, OH, covering education and local government. She graduated from American University in 2008, where she studied journalism and sociology.

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Archived Articles
Daily News | December 2, 2021

The Pentagon still has not approved a new F-35 baseline and is awaiting a submission from the joint program office following an interim program review in October. 

Daily News | December 1, 2021

The Biden administration's new space priorities framework calls for the Defense Department to move quickly to develop a resilient space architecture as a means of deterring adversary aggression and a tool for better characterizing hostile action.

The Insider | November 29, 2021

The Space Force is considering its options for acquiring Space-Based Space Surveillance capabilities as a service and is reaching out to industry for input.

Space Briefing | November 24, 2021

Welcome to today’s space briefing -- a biweekly roundup of national security space news.

The Insider | November 23, 2021

The Space Force has signed off on a critical design review for Block 0 of the Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared geosynchronous Earth orbit program, prime contractor Lockheed Martin announced today.

Daily News | November 23, 2021

As the Space Force’s Evolved Strategic Satellite Communications program moves through the prototyping phase of its space segment and finalizes the ground segment acquisition strategy, Space Systems Command officials say they are leaning forward in their use of competition to drive innovation and reduce cost.

Daily News | November 23, 2021

The Space Force's new analysis and force design center last month gave industry an early look at its draft recommendation for the service's future missile warning and tracking architecture, revealing possible near-term shifts across the portfolio and seeking feedback from companies on how to best address current and anticipated threats.

Daily News | November 18, 2021

Following Russia’s test of an anti-satellite weapon earlier this week that created more than 1,500 pieces of trackable space debris, officials from the Space Force and U.S. Space Command say space domain awareness capabilities are crucial to understanding the impact of the debris field and predicting and attributing future hostile actions.

The Insider | November 18, 2021

Northrop Grumman today announced Tom Wilson will serve as corporate vice president and president of the company’s space systems business.

The Insider | November 17, 2021

The Air Force Research Laboratory and SpaceWERX issued a solicitation today for the first phase of Orbital Prime, an effort to leverage and invest in available commercial on-orbit servicing technology for possible future military use.

Daily News | November 16, 2021

The Space Force is making plans for a program aimed at developing a satellite purpose-built for on-orbit refueling -- a first step for the service in understanding how to leverage on-orbit servicing and logistics capabilities.

Daily News | November 16, 2021

An Air Force Research Laboratory experiment aimed at demonstrating managed low-Earth orbit satellite communications services in the Arctic region achieved initial operational capability last month and is eyeing full operational capability by January.

The Insider | November 15, 2021

The Commander of U.S. Space Command has confirmed that Russia conducted an anti-satellite test earlier today, striking one of its own satellites and creating a debris field in low-Earth orbit that will “continue to pose a threat to activities in outer space for years to come.”

Daily News | November 15, 2021

A new report from the Hudson Institute proposes that as the Defense Department seeks to modernize its aerial refueling architecture to meet growing demands and posture for future conflicts in China and Russia, it should broaden its investment to not only include the aerial tanker force, but also ground infrastructure and command, control and communication capabilities.

Space Briefing | November 11, 2021

Welcome to today’s Space Briefing -- a biweekly roundup of the latest national security space news.

The Insider | November 11, 2021

The Air Force Research Laboratory on Wednesday awarded Utah State University's Space Dynamics Laboratory a contract worth up to $1 billion to provide research and development support for a range of space and nuclear advanced prototype efforts.

Daily News | November 10, 2021

The Air Force and the Navy "will evaluate the possibility" of a joint program to field an advanced tactical trainer as both services review industry responses to recent requests for information.

Daily News | November 10, 2021

JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, NJ -- The Air Force’s only active-duty air refueling base in the Northeast corridor received its first two KC-46 tankers on Tuesday.

Daily News | November 9, 2021

The Space Force is launching a new effort aimed at taking advantage of commercial on-orbit servicing technology to develop a use case and demonstrate the viability of a future space-based mobility and logistics capability.

The Insider | November 9, 2021

Capella Space today announced it will demonstrate optical inter-satellite link compatibility with the Space Development Agency's national defense space architecture.

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