The U.S. Air Force has submitted to the Department of Defense its acquisition strategy for the Space Command and Control program for review, SpaceNews reported Thursday.
Read More »Lt. Gen. John Thompson on Phase 2 National Security Space Launch Competition
Lt. Gen. John Thompson, commander of the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, said the service branch is in the process of assessing plans that were submitted in response to a solicitation for the second phase of the National Security Space Launch program, Bloomberg reported Monday.
Read More »Space Development Agency Seeks to Change Space Acquisition Process
Fred Kennedy, director of the Space Development Agency, told SpaceNews in an interview published Monday about the agency's plans to transform how the military builds and procures space systems.
Read More »Report: Military Space Programs Prioritize Ground Segment Production
Military space programs are prioritizing the construction of spacecraft ground segment systems to avoid instances wherein a satellite cannot perform at its optimum capacity because of insufficient ground segment capability, Space News reported Thursday.
Tom Becht: Industry Satcom Providers Should Form Consortium to Offer Services to DoD
Tom Becht, interim director of the military satellite communications directorate at the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, has said he believes commercial satcom providers should offer their services to the Defense Department as a group, SpaceNews reported Wednesday. “We would be looking for a consortium view on how to supply DoD more commercial capability,” he said Wednesday at the 2018 Global MilSatcom conference in London.
Read More »Space and Missile Systems Center Chief Wants Agile, Resilient Space Architecture
Lt. Gen. John Thompson, commander of the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, recently said that U.S. assets in space are now more vulnerable than at any other time in the past, National Defense Magazine reported Monday. Speaking at the MILCOM conference held in Los Angeles on Oct. 29, Thompson described the space domain as congested and contested, and proposed that the U.S. deploy space architecture that is more secure, agile and resilient.
Read More »David Davis: Air Force Needs Technical Practices That Align With Space Resilience Focus
David Davis, chief systems engineer for the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, has said the service branch’s focus on resilience to counter emerging space threats has implications for spacecraft production and testing, SpaceNews reported Wednesday. “The technical practices we employ today will continue to drive high costs,” Davis said at …
Read More »Air Force Wideband Global Satcom Set for Dec. 17 Launch; Thomas Becht Comments
The U.S. Air Force is ready to launch the military branch’s first upgraded Wideband Global Satcom satellite on Dec. 7 onboard a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket, Space News reported Wednesday. Phillip Swarts writes the Boeing-built WGS-8 satellite is part of the military’s communication constellation that kicked space flight …
Read More »Report: Congress Seeks Consolidation of DoD Satcom Acquisition
Lawmakers are planning to consolidate the U.S. military’s communications acquisition, which could drop the Defense Information Systems Agency in favor of the U.S. Air Force‘s Space and Missile Systems Center, Breaking Defense reported Friday. Sydney Freedberg Jr. writes that Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.) indicated a provision in the House draft of the 2016 …
Read More »Air Force Announces Program Leadership Reorganization
The U.S. Air Force is reorganizing the management of its acquisition, missile systems, tanker planes and air mobility programs, Defense News reported Monday. Aaron Mehta writes that Lt. Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski has been nominated as military deputy for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition and Maj. Gen. …
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