Military Satellite News (January & February 2020)Visit
www.satnews.com/military for today's military satellite news
February 28, 2020
New Space Race ... U.S. Working on Nuclear Satellites that Can DRIVE Around in Space... But So is China
The new technology, however, is different — it includes a small nuclear reactor mounted on a rocket.
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February 27, 2020
AFRL, Masten Space Systems Inc., NASA, Collaborate on Successful Testing of Methane Engine
The hot fire campaign started in July 2019 with four hot fire tests before the final test of 10 seconds of combustion.
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Successful Static Fire Test by Northrop Grumman of the OmegA Rocket's Second Stage Motor
During this test, the second stage motor fired for full-duration...
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February 26, 2020
SpaceBridge Provides MILSATCOM Solution to South American Defense Entity
The delivered network incorporates SpaceBridge’s ASAT™ VSAT platform for Satellite Broadband Multi-service applications, including WaveSwitch™...
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February 25, 2020
L3Harris Receives NAVWAR Contract Mod for ULV Hardware Units
This modification provides for the exercise of firm-fixed-price options for Commercial Broadband Satellite Program Unit Level Variant (ULV)...
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Space: New Japanese Spy Satellites
In the late 1990s Japan, alarmed at the threat of attack by North Korea, began developing and launching military satellites.
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February 24, 2020
SpaceX's Next Military Launch Cleared for Historic Rocket Landing Attempt
...high-stakes make-work designed to help the USAF fully certify SpaceX’s brand new Falcon Heavy rocket to launch expensive, verging on irreplaceable military satellites.
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More MILSATCOM Installations for Comtech Xicom TWTA Systems
The versatility of Comtech Xicom Technology’s touch-screen amplifiers can be seen in this multi-amp system...
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Full, Mobile ISR Realized via Spacecom and Get SAT SATCOM Tech
Enabled by AMOS-17’s powerful Ka-band HTS beams and extremely small terminals at both ends, the team created a small footprint, high capacity...
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Protected Tactical SATCOM Prototype to be Developed by Northrop Grumman for U.S. Space Force
Space and Missile Systems Center’s acquisition approach emphasized collaboration with Northrop Grumman to define and accelerate a program...
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February 23, 2020
Space Force Wants $5B For Anti-Jam Satcoms
PTS is not a satellite per se, instead it is envisioned as a payload that uses a highly jam-resistant signal called the Protected Tactical Waveform (PTW).
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Laser Comms a Reality from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems
GA-ASI tested the ALCoS from an optical observatory located on Tenerife in the Canary Islands and closed link with Tesat’s LCT 135 terminal...
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February 20, 2020
Defense Contractors are Hiring for the Space Force: Here Are the Jobs!
... the release of the president’s budget request which finally delivers unto the Space Force big dollars to do big things. And by big, I mean big: $15.4 billion.
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General Raymond, Chief of Space Ops, Signs Vision for SATCOM Enterprise
The Enterprise SATCOM Vision outlines the new Service’s vision to evolve SATCOM into a single enterprise that can continue to deliver effects to...
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Russia Launches MILSATCOM Satellite
All of the rocket’s pre-launch operations and its liftoff proceeded in the normal mode. The ground-based equipment of the Russian orbital ...
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After 118,052 Orbits, the USAF's DMSP Flight 14 is Now Decommissioned
End of Life (EOL) procedures were accomplished by operators at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Satellite...
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February 17, 2020
A Russian Satellite is Probably Stalking a U.S. Spy Satellite in Orbit
Back in 2017 Russia said its “inspection satellites” were for checking up on Russian satellites to closely examine damage or equipment failure with the intention of using ...
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Is Iran Using Space Launches To Develop Long-Range Missiles?
Michael Elleman ... at the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank in London, agrees that technologies and components of satellite launchers are similar to long-range ballistic missiles.
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Israel Homeland Security ... Expect More Powerful GPS Signals
GPS IIIF satellites will boast regional military protection capabilities, which allow them to deliver regionally-limited high-power M-Code signals.
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February 16, 2020
Iran’s Satellite Carriers Have No Military Aspect ... Reports Defense Minister
“The satellite carriers have nothing to do with the subject of missiles, and constitute a completely non-defensive and non-military issue,”c
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February 13, 2020
SMC's $253+ Million to Northrop Grumman for Anti-jam Communications to Warfighters and More
A payload development award has been assigned to Northrop Grumman and AEHF-5 to Space Operations Command...
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Lockheed Martin's AEHF-6 to Launch in March via United Launch Alliance Atlas V 551
AEHF satellites provide global, survivable, protected communications capabilities for strategic command and tactical warfighters operating on...
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L3Harris Awarded Millions for AI Tool Development by the USAF
The L3Harris tool creates sample images used to train search algorithms to identify hard-to-find objects in the data, which will help make it easier for the...
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February 11, 2020
Florida... Air Force: Space Coast Bases Will Change Names to Reflect Space Force
Names of these bases will be changed to reflect their connections to the military's newly minted Space Force branch...
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February 10, 2020
Orbit Logic Dealt Into DARPA's Blackjack Team
Orbit Logic is contributing software and engineering services for both ground software and flight software portions of SSCI’s Pit Boss solution...
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Japan Launches Government Satellite
The H2A rocket, operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (MHI) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), lifted off from the...
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Lockheed Martin Delivers GPS III to Cape Canaveral for April Launch
On February 5, the third Lockheed Martin-built GPS III space vehicle (GPS III SV03) was shipped to Cape Canaveral from the company's GPS III...
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Building the U.S. Space Force
In broad terms, the Space Force must ensure the U.S. continues its superiority in space. Getting there, however, demands that the Space Force...
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February 6, 2020
Space and Missile Systems Commander Shares His Perspectives at the SmallSat Symposium 2020
General Thompson gave the industry insight into the Department of Defense (DoD) goals for working with the commercial space industry...
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February 5, 2020
Preliminary Design Review Successfully Passed by L3Harris for USAF Experimental Satellite Navigation Program
NTS-3 is an experimental program examining ways to improve the resiliency of the military’s positioning, navigation and timing capabilities...
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February 4, 2020
BAE Systems Receives $212 Million Award from NAWCAD for C5ISR Systems
The company will design, acquire, integrate, and test radio systems for newly constructed Guided Missile Destroyers (DDG) and other U.S. Navy ...
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Viasat Working Diligently to Top Their Record Breaking 2019 Performance
Having achieved a series of key milestones over the course of the last year, 2020 may prove to be another record-breaking period for Viasat as the...
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The Satcoms Innovation Group's Newest Member ... ViaLite Communications
... a varied, global user base that uses its products over a diverse range of applications. Their RF products are used in industries such as satcom, broadcast and government and defense.
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SMC's Successful Mission Deploys Aerospace Rogue CubeSats from ISS
The plan involves the two satellites using their short-wave infrared sensors to create a baseline for processing cloud backgrounds and inform future low Earth orbit satellites.
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February 3, 2020
U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and Blue Origin Establishing New Rocket Engine Test Facility
AFRL and Blue Origin signed a 15-year Cooperative Research and Development Agreement on December 11, 2019, to develop a test facility...
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Viasat's Battlefield Awareness Targeting System Receives USAF Contract
BATS-D is the world’s first and only handheld Link 16 radio and bridges a critical gap between air and ground forces by providing warfighters at the...
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February 1, 2020
Momentus Awarded SBIR Contract by U.S. Air Force
Momentus raised $40 Million of equity funding, including a $25.5 Million Series A in 2019. Momentus has created new patent-pending and proprietary...
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Vice Commander for USAF Space Operations Command Named + Promoted
Space Operations Command is responsible for the organization, training, equipping, command and control, and employment of space forces to...
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