U.S. Space Force

Gravitics to develop ‘tactically responsive’ orbital platforms for the Space Force

The contract is part of a larger push from the Force to procure space capabilities from private industry on timelines that have been previously unheard of.

Goodbye mysterious military space plane, and good luck – wherever you’re going

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket launched a secretive military spaceplane to orbit last night after weeks of delays, though scant details about the mission have been released to the public. The Falcon H

Firefly and Millennium Space’s Victus Nox mission sets a new record for responsive launch

Firefly Aerospace successfully launched a satellite for the U.S. Space Force last night with just 24 hours’ notice, in a record-setting demonstration of rapid launch capabilities for national securi

Firefly and Millennium enter ‘hot standby phase’ for high-stakes Space Force mission

The clock is ticking for Firefly Aerospace and Millennium Space Systems, with the two companies announcing today that they have entered the “hot standby phase” for an orbital mission for the U.S.

It’s time to accelerate integration of commercial space tech into the US Department of Defense

The U.S. should accelerate the incorporation of commercial space capabilities into national defense plans and operations.

True Anomaly wants to train space warfighters with spy satellites

As tensions between the United States and China continue to escalate, a new startup has emerged from stealth with millions raised and a plan to send intelligence-gathering pursuit satellites to orbit

Max Q: Thank you

Before we get to the news, I wanted to give a heartfelt thank you to all Max Q subscribers.

Florida’s Space Coast braces for Hurricane Ian

Florida’s Space Coast continues to make preparations for the extremely powerful and slow-moving Hurricane Ian, with officials rolling rockets back to the safety of hangars and delaying launches unti

Rocket Lab, Sierra Space sign agreements under US military’s rocket cargo project

Rocket Lab and Sierra Space have signed separate agreements with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to explore how their respective flight systems — Rocket Lab’s Electron and Neutron roc

Watch Virgin Orbit’s ‘Straight Up’ launch of Space Force satellites live tonight

Update: The launch was delayed due to a slight problem with propellant temperature, but Virgin Orbit has confirmed it will make its next attempt tonight (July 1st) no earlier than 10:20 PM PDT. Update

AWS sent a Snowcone to space

At its re:Mars conference, Amazon today announced that it quietly sent one of its AWS Snowcone edge computing and storage devices into space on the Axiom mission to the International Space Station. Fo

Slingshot Aerospace scores $25M Space Force contract to build ‘digital twin’ space simulator

Space simulation and analytics company Slingshot Aerospace has been awarded a $25.2 million, 39-month contract by the U.S. Space Force (USSF) to further develop and deliver two of its products: Digita

US Space Force partners with VC firm Embedded Ventures under new R&D agreement

The space industry used to be dominated by a single player: the U.S. government, which contracted out services to a handful of very large aerospace primes and put their tech to use in long-term, centr

US Space Force awards $87.5M to Rocket Lab, SpaceX, Blue Origin, ULA for next-gen rocket testing

The U.S. Space Force, the military branch spun out of the Air Force in December 2019, has announced its next batch of awards for projects related to next-gen rocket engine testing and upper-stage impr

Astra given regulatory green light for its first commercial orbital launch at the end of the month

Rocket launch startup Astra has received a key license from the Federal Aviation Administration, giving the green light for the company’s first commercial orbital launch at the end of the month. Ast

Astra targets first commercial orbital launch for August 27

Astra’s last test launch went better than expected, nearly achieving orbit — kind of a stretch goal for that specific mission. The company at the time said that it would only need to tweak sof

Rocket Lab returns to flight after failed May mission with successful launch for US Space Force

The launch, which took off from the company's Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand, was an important one to get right: It delivered a satellite for the U.S. Space Force to low Earth orbit.

Space Force commander explains how the new military service operates like a startup

The latest branch of the U.S. military was founded just a year ago and will celebrate its first birthday on December 20. General John W. “Jay” Raymond spoke at TC Sessions: Space and expla

Watch Space Force’s Lt. Gen. John Thompson speak on sourcing tech to secure space

Lt. Gen. John Thompson of the United States Space Force spoke at TC Sessions: Space earlier this week on the importance of working with startups. The general is the Commander of the Space and Missiles

Lt. Gen. John Thompson explains how startups can interact with the Space Force

Space Force’s Lt. Gen. John Thompson spoke at TC Sessions: Space earlier this week. Throughout the wide-ranging interview, General Thompson explained the various ways and means for how private c
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