SpaceNews.com
• Andrew Parsonson
European governments are preparing to invest as much as €24 billion ($27 billion) in a joint military space project spanning satellite communications, surveillance and missile warning. The initiative would also establish shared tracking data, deepening cooperation across Europe’s defense-space capabilities.
Space Defense & Militarization
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The U.S. Space Force has retired a Cold War-era missile-warning satellite constellation following its final maneuver exercise. The move closes the operational chapter for a legacy space-based warning capability and marks a significant transition in the systems supporting strategic missile detection.
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European governments are preparing to invest as much as €24 billion ($27 billion) in a joint military space project spanning satellite communications, surveillance and missile warning. The initiative would also establish shared tracking data, deepening cooperation across Europe’s defense-space capabilities.
As spacecraft maneuver near one another, operators must assess not only trajectory and collision risk but also whether the other vehicle could be a weapon. The presence of undisclosed U.S. space systems is complicating attribution and increasing the potential for miscalculation during close approaches.
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SpaceX plans to use Falcon 9 launch facilities in California and Florida, alongside a Florida Falcon Heavy pad, for three missions in the same general time period: the Transporter-18 rideshare, Crew-13 to the ISS and the classified NROL-97 reconnaissance launch. Crew-13 follows repairs to its Crew Dragon spacecraft.
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The Space Force selected Northrop Grumman and True Anomaly to build “space-to-space” ISR satellites by 2028, while L3Harris secured a $461.9 million executive-aircraft satcom contract. Separately, Nokia and ICEYE are developing sovereign low-Earth-orbit communications systems for governments, defense contractors and emergency services.
Ukraine is asking Washington to sanction several Russian entities it says are helping develop Rassvet, a domestic satellite network intended as an alternative to SpaceX’s Starlink. The appeal underscores the network’s strategic significance and Kyiv’s effort to constrain Russia’s access to space-based communications capabilities.
A Space Force general has disclosed limited details about the Trump administration’s Golden Dome missile-defense program as its funding remains stalled in Congress ahead of the midterm elections. The impasse introduces uncertainty around the initiative’s scope, schedule and near-term execution.
The White House nominated Space Force Lt. Gen. David N. Miller Jr. to succeed Gen. Stephen Whiting as commander of U.S. Space Command. Miller would oversee the command as it prepares for its move to Huntsville, shortly after the military disclosed it has deployed “on-orbit space control weapons.”
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