Payload
• Douglas Gorman, Victoria Woodburn
PAVE Space plans to launch a demonstration mission of IBEX, a highly maneuverable spacecraft platform designed to carry commercial and defense payloads. The mission will provide an in-space demonstration of the platform; the announcement did not specify a launch date or payload details.
Space Defense & Militarization
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PAVE Space plans to launch a demonstration mission of IBEX, a highly maneuverable spacecraft platform designed to carry commercial and defense payloads. The mission will provide an in-space demonstration of the platform; the announcement did not specify a launch date or payload details.
Democrat Jessica Killin has ousted a Republican in Colorado Springs, a city identified as a military space hub. The result changes the district’s representation in Congress, though the available report does not specify how the election may affect defense or space policy.
A senior Defense Department official says the Pentagon and its contractors must embrace autonomous cyber defenses on orbit to keep U.S. military space capabilities functioning during enemy cyberattacks. The warning, delivered at CyberSat, cites the growing threat of AI-powered hacking.
Kyiv is pressing to begin talks on a replacement U.S. government contract for SpaceX’s Starshield network before its current access expires next year, with a new deal eyed by mid-2027. Separately, a Ukrainian diplomat says Patriot interceptors are needed faster than a recently announced $2.1 billion deal can deliver them, putting winter air defenses at risk.
A senior Ukrainian diplomat says Kyiv’s contract with the U.S. government for access to SpaceX’s Starshield satellite network expires next year, and Ukraine is urgently seeking talks on a new agreement. The report gives no details on the contract’s terms or the scope of access.
A Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg on the evening of Oct. 15 carrying a classified payload for the U.S. Space Force. The launch adds to a pattern described as 18 launches without program names, prompting calls for more disclosure.
A Russian military satellite that approached a Western commercial spacecraft last month may have been rehearsing an attack, a military space specialist said. Two related Russian craft are now heading toward another Western satellite, renewing concern over the potential threat to commercial spacecraft in orbit.
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