Appropriations, Procurement, and Acquisitions
Air Force, Space Force priorities largely supported in funding bill (Air Force Times) The Air Force is set to receive more than $216 billion in the fiscal 2023 federal spending bill released Monday.
Space Business and Market Trends
How SpaceX Alumni Are Building the Next Generation of Space Startups (The Information) Elon Musk rose to prominence as a member of the “PayPal mafia,” a nickname for alumni of the digital payments provider who went on to create or work at other important tech startups. Now one of Musk’s companies—rocket maker SpaceX—is also pumping out alumni who are taking on key roles at a ...
Aerojet Rocketdyne Has a New Suitor. Will the Biden Administration Approve? (Defense One) L3Harris Technologies has entered a $4.7 billion deal to acquire the rocket manufacturer.
L3Harris to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne for $4.7 billion (SpaceNews) L3Harris Technologies on Dec. 18 announced an agreement to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne for $4.7 billion.
UPDATE 1-Defense firm L3Harris to buy Aerojet for $4.7 bln with eye on missile demand (Yahoo) U.S. defense contractor L3Harris Technologies Inc said on Sunday it would buy Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc in a $4.7 billion all-cash transaction, as it looks to tap into rising demand for missiles amid the Ukraine conflict. Reuetrs had first reported on Saturday that L3Harris was nearing the deal to acquire U.S. rocket maker Aerojet. The offer price of $58 per share represents a premium of 6.5% to Aerojet's close on Friday.
Experts forecast smooth path for L3Harris-Aerojet acquisition (Defense News) How will regulators approach L3Harris's bid to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne?
Regulators Bless L3Harris Deal for Viasat's Data Link Line, Moving Up Closure (Via Satellite) L3Harris Technologies on Tuesday said it has received all U.S. and international regulatory approvals for its pending acquisition of the tactical data
WSJ News Exclusive | Advent to Buy Maxar Technologies for About $4 Billion (Wall Street Journal) Advent International agreed to buy Maxar Technologies in a deal that values the satellite owner and operator at about $4 billion.
Satellite imaging giant Maxar to be acquired by private equity firm for $6.4 billion (Breaking Defense) Advent International to acquire Maxar in mid-2023. The satellite firm is a major provider of space-based imaging for the National Reconnaissance Office.
Satellite operator Maxar Technologies secures deal to go private (Axios) Advent International's deal is valued at $6.4 billion.
Maxar Gets a Premium in Private Equity Deal and Firepower to Boot (Via Satellite) Maxar Technologies on Friday said it has agreed to be acquired by the private equity firm Advent International for about $4 billion in cash, a $53 per
NV5 to Acquire Geospatial Data Software Business from L3Harris (Geospatial World) NV5 Global announced that it has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire L3Harris Technologies’ Visual Information Solutions.
Planet Boots Revenue 57% in Q3, Announces Deal to Acquire Salo Sciences (Via Satellite) Planet Labs closed out its third quarter of fiscal year 2023 with $49.7 million in revenue, up 57% year-over-year. Planet, which sells satellite imagery
Astroscale Signs Partnerships to Market ADRAS-J Missions (Via Satellite) Astroscale Japan has signed a new marketing partnership deal with three companies in Japan. The MoU with Yusen Logistics, Mizuho Bank, and Kids Station,
Prime Movers Lab Invests $15M in Quantum Space (Via Satellite) Prime Movers Lab is investing $15 million into Quantum Space (Quantum), the two companies announced Dec. 13. The investment enables Quantum to begin
Arqit Quantum Ditches Plan for Quantum Satellites (Via Satellite) Arqit Quantum is canceling its plans to build quantum satellites, announcing Wednesday its software technology has progressed and it no longer needed its
Telesat Appoints Philip Harlow to Lead Government Solutions Business (Via Satellite) Telesat has appointed Philip Harlow as president of Telesat Government Solutions, the company’s subsidiary that provides satellite solutions to the U.S.
Launch Services
Arianespace Suffers a Launch Failure on the Second Vega C Mission (Via Satellite) Arianespace’s Vega C launch on Tuesday night failed, losing two Pléiades Neo satellites for customer Airbus. This was just the second launch for Vega C,
Rocket Lab Pushes its First Mission from Virginia to January (Via Satellite) Rocket Lab had to push its first mission from U.S. soil to 2023 after weather issues and regulatory delays, causing millions in revenue to slip from 2022
Rocket Lab aims for rapid launch capability at new Virginia complex, with a Friday first (Breaking Defense) "Those of us who follow the space industry closely understand the autonomous flight termination is a key component of the range of the future. In fact, for DoD missions, autonomous flight termination is a mandate by 2025," said NASA's David Pierce.
US Space Force
US Space Force practices 'space combat tactics' to win a European conflict (Space.com) The service's training for a European conflict comes while a real conflict unfolds in Eastern Europe.
New Space Force team to streamline 'onboarding' new tech for operational use (Breaking Defense) SpRCO head Kelly Hammett told Breaking Defense in an interview that the "operational integration" process involves "tens of force generation elements with POAMS [plans of action and milestones] that take years to close everything out."
EXCLUSIVE: With new 'scorecard,' Space Force's acquisition chief talks changing culture (Breaking Defense) In addition to providing new "tenets" for Space Force officials, "I'm really messaging three things to industry — that I really want them to give me credible proposals, and I really want them to execute, and I'm not going to tolerate poor performance," Frank Calvelli told Breaking Defense.
Three Years of Space Force- Reflections and the Future for Bilateral Space Operations in Japan (U.S. Indo-Pacific Command) YOKOTA AIR BASE, TOKYO, Japan -- In 1921, Italian General Giulio Douhet claimed that “he who controls the air controls everything,” speaking to the importance of air superiority in armed conflict.
Space Force’s 3rd birthday wish: Keep growing (Air Force Times) To year four — and beyond!
'Payload Deployment': Space Force Launches Flashy New Recruiting Website (Military.com) The Space Force has redesigned its recruiting website, offering an interactive video game-like experience where visitors can initiate launch and deploy a satellite.
Dozens of U.S. Space Force Guardians finish basic, graduate in style at Lackland (WOAI) It was a banner day for some of the military's more unique trainees today as 80 U.S. Space Force Guardians graduated from basic training.
Military Space Operations
STARCOM Hosts Largest Ever Space Flag Exercise, Focusing on Europe (Air & Space Forces Magazine) Space Training and Readiness Command held the latest edition of its Space Flag training exercise, with a scenario aimed at Europe.
France to provide Airbus satellites, receiving station to Poland (C4ISRNet) The Polish Armament Agency put the total value of the deal at 575 million euros.
Formal Establishment of Commander, Space Command (DVIDS) Effective Jan. 1, 2023, Commander, Navy Space Command (NAVSPACECOM), Fort Meade, Maryland is formally established.
Products, Services, and Solutions
SpaceX Starlink Internet Service Surpasses 1M Subscribers (Via Satellite) SpaceX announced on Monday that Starlink satellite internet service surpassed 1 million subscribers. “Starlink now has more than 1,000,000 active
Ukraine to Get Thousands More Starlink Antennas, Minister Says (Bloomberg) Influx comes as Russia strikes threaten to cut off internet. Nation preparing aid stations to help people survive outages.
Saturn Satellite Networks Taps CesiumAstro for Phased Array Payload for SBN-1 Satellite Constellation (Via Satellite) Saturn Satellite Networks signed a deal to use CesiumAstro’s active phased array payload for its recently announced Space Broadband Networks satellite
SES launches advanced broadband satellites as military demand grows (C4ISRNet) The network will offer more broadband capacity to meet growing demand for secure communications services in hard-to-reach locations.
How Pacific Dataport is Using Satellite to Bridge the Digital Divide in Alaska (Via Satellite) Alaska is a challenging environment for broadband connectivity. The state is by far the largest in the U.S., more than two times the size of Texas, and
MetTel Labs Details Deploying SD-WAN Over Starlink Satellite Network (Via Satellite) MetTel shared details on Wednesday of deploying its software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) service using the VMware SD-WAN solution over SpaceX's
Viasat and Microsoft Partner to Expand Global Internet Access (Via Satellite) Viasat is partnering with Microsoft through the Microsoft Airband Initiative to expand internet access in Africa and around the world. Microsoft’s Airband
Iridium Debuts New Satellite IoT Messaging Transport (Via Satellite) Iridium Communications debuted a new satellite IoT messaging service on Wednesday, Iridium Messaging Transport (IMT). It’s a two-way cloud-native
Policy, Strategy, and Regulation
FCC Seeks Comment on Streamlining the Satellite Licensing Process (Via Satellite) The FCC is working to improve the licensing procedures for commercial satellites. On Wednesday, the FCC decided to seek comments on changes to its
FCC to Consider Changes to Satellite Rulemaking This Week (Via Satellite) The FCC is considering making changes to satellite rulemaking at its open meeting this week. Ahead of the December meeting, the Commission released a
Lawmakers Highlight Cyber, New Tech and Space in Proposed Spending Bill (Nextgov.com) The $1.7 trillion omnibus introduced by lawmakers on Tuesday would spur on investments in cutting-edge technologies, cyber defense and space during the 2023 fiscal year.
House Committee Introduces Legislation to Clarify Federal Space Situational Awareness Roles (Via Satellite) The U.S. House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics introduced legislation on Wednesday that would establish a civil space situational awareness (SSA)
'Huge, huge problem': DoD space policy chief says over-classification harming allied advantage (Breaking Defense) John Plumb noted that his office now is working directly with the IC "on reducing some of those classification issues to the point where we can share" information with allies and partners to enable collaborative operations.
Germany Offers Model for Space-Industry Cybersecurity Standards (Wall Street Journal) Cyber threats to the space sector are growing as the industry expands. European companies and officials want global standards to improve cybersecurity.
US Senate Confirms Terrence Edwards as NRO Inspector General (Executive Gov) Looking for the latest Government Contracting News? Read about US Senate Confirms Terrence Edwards as NRO Inspector General.
Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation
DARPA's Mandrake 2 satellites: communicating at the speed of light - Breaking Defense (Breaking Defense) Mandrake 2's next trick, after demonstrating optical intersatellite links, will be using lasers for space-to-ground communications.
Spacecom Reports Low Latency Demonstrations in Tests on Telesat LEO Satellite (Via Satellite) Satellite operator Spacecom completed its testing campaign on Telesat’s demonstration LEO satellite, reporting an average latency below 30 milliseconds
Space Technology
Why the U.S. is enlisting a spy agency during hurricanes (Washington Post) The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency usually monitors Iranian protests and North Korean missiles. It’s now helping find hurricane victims, too.
Geospatial-intelligence agency to expand capacity amid ‘data deluge’ (Defense News) The added resiliency and higher bandwidth will allow the agency to share intelligence more quickly, particularly in disconnected regions.
The Coming Era of Satellite Direct-to-Handset Connectivity (Via Satellite) There is not a single regulatory framework that addresses mobile cellular devices with satellite capabilities – this unaddressed dichotomy belongs to the past.
NASA considers SpaceX to rescue ISS leak astronauts (Register) And Elon's still distracted by Twitter, yes? OK, that's probably for the best
Northrop Grumman Space Navigation Systems Achieve Galactic Threshold – and Keep on Going (Northrop Grumman Newsroom) When considering that a full calendar year has 8,760 hours and a commercial airliner can be in service for about 30 years (or around 165,000...
Space Science
Spaceflight Companies Promised to Do Science—So How’s It Going? (WIRED) Research has taken a back seat on the industry’s initial space jaunts, but it could become significant as the trips rack up.
A New NASA Satellite Will Map Earth’s Rising Seas (WIRED) A spacecraft called SWOT will image most of the planet every 21 days to track flooding, drought, and many other water woes.
Threats and Risks to Space Systems
CISA researchers: Russia's Fancy Bear infiltrated US satellite network (CyberScoop) The agency said it discovered the Russian hacking group in a satellite communications provider with critical infrastructure customers.
Will China knock out America’s satellites? (The Washington Times) The biggest strategic and tactical advantages we have over our adversaries are probably the enormous capabilities that our hundreds of military and intelligence satellites provide.
NASA infosec again falls short of required standard (Register) Good thing space agency doesn’t have any state secrets … oh, hang on
Miscellanea
Aliens haven't contacted Earth because there's no sign of intelligence here, new answer to the Fermi paradox suggests (Live Science) A new paper claims that intelligent aliens would only be interested in contacting the most technologically advanced planets, and Earth doesn't make the cut.
Pentagon has received 'several hundreds' of new UFO reports (AP NEWS) A new Pentagon office set up to track reports of unidentified flying objects has received “several hundreds” of new reports, but no evidence so far of alien life, the agency's leadership told reporters Friday.