Tag Archives: low-Earth orbit

The U.S. Army kicked off discussions with the Space Development Agency to help provide ground forces access to satellites in the low-Earth orbit, SpaceNews reported Sunday. Ferrari, who most recently served as director of program analysis and evaluation at the Army, said that the SDA will play a lead role in serving as a space systems architect and establishing standards to facilitate the delivery of broadband communications and other LEO-based services to all service branches. 

Gen. Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a Brookings Institute event that the efforts to miniaturize satellites are helping to reduce costs in constructing and deploying large constellations, C4ISRnet reported Thursday. Selva noted that this may result in broadband services hosted by low-Earth orbit satellites that are cheaper compared to fiber-optic networks.

The Space Development Agency looks to use rapid acquisition authorities for satellite communications capabilities to establish a low-Earth orbit constellation, Space News reported Tuesday. Gen. Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a breakfast meeting that the armed forces need “ubiquitous communications” that an LEO constellation can provide.

The U.S. Army is seeking new ways to utilize near-Earth orbit and medium-Earth orbit satellite communications technology to establish a tactical satcom network, C4ISRNET reported Friday. The Army has launched initiatives like the Expeditionary Signal Battalion-Enhanced pilot program, which involves the deployment of small to medium-sized terminals to support satellite constellations in closer orbits.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration anticipates obtaining data from various government satellites and commercial sensors as it plans for its future satellite observing architecture, SpaceNews reported Monday. Karen St. Germain, director of NOAA’s office of systems architecture and advanced planning for satellite and information service, said the Joint Polar Satellite System in low-Earth orbit could feed data to the agency in the mid-2030s. 

The Department of Defense’s recently established Space Development Agency is slated to release a request for information on low Earth orbit small satellite capabilities by summer of this year, Space News reported Wednesday. Fred Kennedy, director of the SDA, told reporters that he intends to launch SDA satellites into orbit by 2022. 

An interagency effort led by NASA submitted a report to the National Space Council detailing the opportunities and challenges for human spaceflight in low-Earth orbit and how it could help boost economy and space exploration. The agency said Saturday, it issued the report in partnership with the departments of State and Commerce. In February, The National Space Council called on NASA to work with other federal agencies to create a national strategy for human spaceflight in LEO. 

NASA has recently published a roadmap detailing space exploration objectives, Space Policy Online reported Monday.

 

The Senate Armed Services Committee has proposed adding $110 million to the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act in a push to accelerate a satellite development program under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, SpaceNews reported Thursday. The Blackjack program aims to develop a constellation of small military satellites in low-earth orbit, which, …

President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2019 budget proposal would allocate approximately $20 billion for NASA and cancel the space agency’s funding of the International Space Station in 2025, Nextgov reported Monday. The proposal also includes funding for partnerships with private firms to send robots to the moon and advances a plan …