Theresa Hitchens is the Space and Air Force reporter at Breaking Defense. The former Defense News editor was a senior research associate at the University of Maryland’s Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM). Before that, she spent six years in Geneva, Switzerland as director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR).
A sci-fi geek, voracious reader, enthusiastic cook, dabbler in poetry, Theresa is also the proud mom of a wonderful young man by the name of Nicholas.
thitchens@breakingmedia.com
“The Space Force is not growing in priority as it had been in previous years. The priority is shifting more towards the the Air Force and the Navy in the budget,” said Todd Harrison, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
While the Space Development Agency initially intended to make awards to more than one vendor, the agency determined that a sole-source contract with the Boeing-owned firm was “best value.”
Space industry analyst Todd Harrison said the $3.1 billion purchase is latest in a “shakeup” in the satellite communications landscape following the proliferation of LEO birds.
Increased congestion in both LEO and, somewhat surprisingly GEO, is a factor in rising space insurance premiums, said Melissa Quinn, managing director of California-based startup Slingshot’s UK arm.
Despite Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall’s reassurances, the governors are outraged at what they see as a Defense Department end-run around their authorities that they say could set a negative precedent.
“Although Russia would not be expected to vote for a resolution aimed at its own conduct, its response that it is ‘against’ putting nuclear weapons in space is just vague enough to not quite be reassuring,” said Jessica West of Canada’s Project Ploughshares.
The Space Force’s Delta 3 is responsible for organizing, training and equipping Guardians for electronic warfare missions involving satellite communications, as well as sustaining related offensive and defensive EW systems.
“The LRDR completed a Space Domain Awareness (SDA) data collect event in January 2024 that proved the SDA capability, and the U.S. Space Force and MDA are in the process of formally declaring LRDR ready for SDA early use in April 2024,” according to MDA Director Lt. Gen. Heath Collins.
The new, tripartite Space Force Generation readiness model will create “a more experienced, capable, and threat-focused crew force,” according to an internal memo obtained by Breaking Defense.
NGA chief Frank Whitworth defended his agency’s role in Ground Moving Target Indicator operations to Breaking Defense, as sources say there’s tension behind the scenes.
If a a new department or, alternatively, a “National Space Agency,” were to be established, the DIU-supported report recommends that it be modeled on the Department of Energy (DoE), rather than the Department of Homeland Security that still suffers from an abundance of red tape.
The strategy notes that contracts with commercial space providers could, if deemed necessary, “enable prioritization of Department requirements and capability needs over other commercial clients in specific situations.”
The SPACECOM list includes almost $704 million for three unnamed classified programs, as well as $90 million to fund a trio of classified Navy electronic warfare-based “counterspace” capabilities.
