SpaceNews.com
• Sandra Erwin
The Space Development Agency is funding companies developing spacecraft that can approach, capture and move satellites out of orbit. The effort will test whether commercial providers can deliver an on-orbit servicing capability that the Pentagon may need routinely, while helping establish whether satellite removal can support a sustainable business.
Space Defense & Militarization
Latest source-backed stories
The Space Development Agency is funding companies developing spacecraft that can approach, capture and move satellites out of orbit. The effort will test whether commercial providers can deliver an on-orbit servicing capability that the Pentagon may need routinely, while helping establish whether satellite removal can support a sustainable business.
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has secured multiple contracts worth more than $100 million combined to provide space intelligence data and cyber capabilities. The work will use its KnownSpace Network, an infrastructure of radio-frequency collection assets.
York Space Systems will integrate a government space domain awareness payload into a spacecraft bound for geostationary orbit, supporting the Space Force’s Tetra 3 and 4 missions. The work marks the company’s first integration of a satellite for GEO.
Former MDA Director Lt. Gen. (ret.) Trey Obering says on-orbit servicing could enhance orbital resilience. His argument puts logistics and sustainment in space alongside the capabilities needed to make Golden Dome succeed, highlighting the role of maintaining and supporting assets in orbit.
Voyager Technologies has received a $22.4 million Pentagon award to develop flight-ready systems for deploying small satellites. The work advances deployment hardware intended to support U.S. satellite operations, though the available report does not specify a schedule or mission application.
High activity
Launch coverage points to flights from SpaceX, South Korea and China, including a South Korean Earth-observation payload and a Chinese Long March 12 mission. Separately, SpaceX’s Transporter-18 carried Star Catcher’s orbital power-beaming prototype, while NASA and SpaceX targeted Crew-12’s return and NASA named the Crew-14 astronauts for a spring 2027 mission.
Two small satellites built by York Space Systems for the U.S. Space Force have been cleared for a mission in geosynchronous orbit. They will detect and track other objects there and maneuver near them, extending the service’s ability to operate in the crowded orbital regime.
On Oct. 1, more than 600 soldiers moved into the Army’s new 40D Tactical Space Operations Specialist military occupational specialty. The change establishes a dedicated enlisted career field for Army space operations, formalizing roles previously held under other specialties.
Create a free account to see more recent Space Defense & Militarization stories and keep bookmarks in one place.
