Via Satellite
• Rachel Jewett
Satellite operators are repositioning around sovereign space strategies, integrating capabilities across multiple domains and collaborating more closely with the technology ecosystem. The shift highlights how defense requirements and artificial intelligence are reshaping satellite operators’ roles beyond traditional space-based services.
Air & Space Forces Mag
Space Defense & Militarization
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Satellite operators are repositioning around sovereign space strategies, integrating capabilities across multiple domains and collaborating more closely with the technology ecosystem. The shift highlights how defense requirements and artificial intelligence are reshaping satellite operators’ roles beyond traditional space-based services.
Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said the U.S. Space Force has deployed “space control weapons” in orbit capable of attacking adversary systems, marking a Pentagon first. He also disclosed new milestones for space-based moving target indication, missile-defense satellites and long-range targeting programs.
Satellogic has agreed with Innovative Defense Technologies to launch six additional Earth-observation satellites for the U.S. Office of Naval Research’s Slingshot III program. The agreement expands the satellite contribution to a U.S. defense-linked program focused on space-based Earth observation.
Satellite imagery is giving America’s adversaries persistent visibility into U.S. military bases, underscoring the need to adapt defense planning and operational security to an environment in which movements and infrastructure can be observed from orbit.
The Department of the Air Force has awarded nuclear microreactor startup Antares a $161 million contract to develop and demonstrate a nuclear reactor for spacecraft. The award advances U.S. efforts to mature space-based nuclear power for future missions.
The Pentagon is seeking an artificial intelligence system that can rapidly fuse space, missile and intelligence data into operational threat assessments. The effort would place commercial AI closer to the military decision-making loop, with speed and reliability central to converting large volumes of data into actionable assessments.
High activity
Companies and agencies announced new capabilities and partnerships in Paris, including HEO’s close-range inspection of a Long March 2C, BlackSky’s first Gen-3 imagery within 20 hours of launch, Space42-Viasat’s Equatys connectivity platform, and a European lunar polar rover mission.
President Donald Trump dismissed a report that Chinese entities provided Iran with satellite imagery of a U.S. military base in Jordan before and after an Iranian strike that killed three American troops in July. Trump said China spies on the United States, adding that the U.S. conducts similar activity against China.
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