One space expert, with no skin in the NSSL game, opined that for the most part Blue Origin’s protest is “simply whining,” and characterized SpaceX’s lawsuit as “sour grapes.”

“Of all people, it’s the ‘space warmongers’ doing the most to try to sustain the (space) environment,” one DoD official said.

Successful OmegaA test keeps the program on the path towards a 2021 first launch and a crack at the Air Force’s hotly contested national security launch program. 

The Air Force has no choice but to pursue the current Launch Services Agreement. The plan is to have the three current launch partners — United Launch Alliance, Northrop Grumman and Blue Origin — work on a $2.3 billion effort to design three space launch variations. The first contract was awarded in October 2018. In 2020,… Keep reading →

Venture capital funds are pouring money into space start-ups — including a number of firms being eyed by DoD –with investment in 2018 hitting a record high of $3.2 billion.

WASHINGTON: No lives were on the line. It wasn’t lofting a billion dollar spy satellite. But the SpaceX Falcon Heavy test launch demonstrated today that the world’s largest rocket system worked largely as planned. And, as one observer noted, the entire system was built for commercial reasons alone; no government agency crafted a requirement saying… Keep reading →

CLARIFIED: Adds SMC Comment On Launch Providers WASHINGTON: Last night the Air Force released the final Request For Proposals for five launch contracts for NRO and Air Force Space Command. The most intriguing payload is a code-word program, shared by the NRO and Air Force Space Command, known as SILENTBARKER, which has been described as… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Before we go any further, this story is based on direct observations of what was believed to be the so-called Zuma satellite, as well as a lot of spookily sourced information, most of it from a single source who shall not be identified. First, nobody who doesn’t have extremely high clearance really knows if… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: In the vast swirling enterprise of global security space, the United States must come to terms with the tectonic shifts occurring as commercial companies come to dominate launch, the building of satellites and the sensors and software on which they depend, and figure out how to lead the way. That’s the conclusion of what… Keep reading →

  If SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s can adapt his reusable rockets for international passenger travel, his company could soon send people and cargo around the world much faster than can the U.S. Air Force. Musk has realized that the same reusable rockets he is building for missions beyond Earth orbit can also be used to do… Keep reading →