TYB
Raytheon wins $51.7 million contract for military satcom antennas
August 29, 2024
The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory awarded Raytheon Technologies (RTX) a $51.7 million contract to develop satellite communications antennas for military aircraft, the Department of Defense announced Aug. 29.
The three-year contract falls under the Defense Experimentation Using Commercial Space Internet (DEUCSI) program, which aims to create advanced satcom networks leveraging commercial space internet constellations like Starlink, OneWeb, SES’s O3b and others.
Under the contract, Raytheon will develop multi-band, high-throughput satellite communications antennas that can be integrated onto various military aircraft.
The DEUCSI program is part of a broader initiative to enhance the U.S. military’s ability to share information seamlessly across land, sea, and air forces.
Raytheon and other defense contractors, including L3Harris Technologies, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems, are developing antennas and supporting technologies to give military users access to commercial internet services in low, medium, and geostationary orbits using a common set of user terminal hardware.
https://spacenews.com/raytheon-wins-51-7-million-contract-for-military-satcom-antennas/
Probably just a coincidence
https://www.statista.com/statistics/268136/top-15-countries-based-on-number-of-facebook-users/
Verizon to bring satellite connectivity to Android phones this fall
August 29, 2024
Verizon is launching satellite-enabled emergency text and location services this fall for compatible Android smartphones in the United States at no extra cost for customers.
The telecoms giant announced a partnership Aug. 28 to deliver the service with Skylo, which has developed ground infrastructure enabling L-band geostationary satellites to reach devices using the latest standards-based chipsets.
Google’s family of Pixel Pro devices and the Samsung Galaxy S25 are set to be among the first to get access to Skylo’s partner satellites, enabling emergency narrowband connectivity when cell towers are out of reach.
“There will be no cost to customers and any capable device can take advantage of this irrespective of price plan,” Verizon spokesperson Karen Schulz told SpaceNews.
Starting next year, Schulz said Verizon customers with a compatible device can also send general text messages via space, even to those not compatible with Skylo’s network.
Verizon is the first mobile carrier to announce plans to launch supplemental smartphone connectivity with Silicon Valley-based Skylo commercially.
The companies did not release financial or technical details about their partnership, which comes two years after Apple enabled space-based SOS services on its latest iPhones with Globalstar’s L-band satellites.
Skylo has previously said compatible devices could send and receive texts via geostationary satellites on its network with a five-to-15-second latency.
Verizon is also an investor in AST SpaceMobile, which is developing direct-to-smartphone satellites that would use cellular frequencies from the telco and other partners, instead of L-band radiowaves already approved for use from space.
Connectivity from AST SpaceMobile satellites in low Earth orbit would also come with lower latency and reach standard smartphones already on the market.
“We are very excited not only to work with AST, but to be a long-term investor in the success of their satellite services,” Schulz said.
“Until their satellite array is launched and functional, we wanted to make sure all of our customers with capable devices have the same basic satellite messaging connectivity.”
Verizon’s terrestrial telecoms rival AT&T is also one of AST SpaceMobile’s partners.
SpaceX is due to fly AST SpaceMobile’s first batch of five operational satellites in the first half of September.
However, like the rival direct-to-smartphone service SpaceX is developing, AST SpaceMobile needs to overcome interference concerns to get the regulatory nod it requires to provide commercial services.
https://spacenews.com/verizon-to-bring-satellite-connectivity-to-android-phones-this-fall/
SecAF concludes relationship-building trip with 7 nations across EUCOM
Published Aug. 29, 2024
Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall conducted a trip to strengthen international partnerships and visit Airmen and Guardians supporting NATO objectives in the U.S. European Command area of responsibility from Aug. 19 – 25, 2024.
The trip consisted of engagements with senior leaders in Belgium, Sweden, Lithuania, Latvia, Finland, Estonia and Poland to reinforce the indispensable alliances that ensure security in the region.
At his first stop in Belgium, Secretary Kendall focused on DAF priorities for the NATO alliance, including capitalizing on space as an operational domain, integrated air and missile defense, and the future of interoperable command and control.
These discussions were had with the Belgian Chief of Defense, NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Operations, US Military Representatives to NATO, the Secretary of Defense Representative in NATO, and the Defense Advisor for the U.S. Mission.
This initial stop set the stage for the rest of the trip. Kendall arrived in Sweden, which recently became a member of NATO in March 2024, and met with Lt. Gen. Michael Claesson, the incoming Sweden Chief of Defense, and Maj. Gen. Jonas Wikman, Commander of the Swedish Air Force.
“Sweden is a very sophisticated country with a lot of technical capability [and a] very professional military,” said Kendall.
“It was great to meet with Swedish Defense leaders and further strengthen our ties with our newest NATO Ally.
This relationship allows us to become more united, capable and ready to prevail over any military challenge that we may face in this era of Great Power Competition.”
Kendall’s third stop was to Lithuania, where he met with Minister of National Defense Laurynas Kasčiūnas, Commander of the Lithuanian Armed Forces Gen. Raimundas Vaikšnoras, and Commander of the Air Force Col. Antanas Matutis.
“The NATO alliance is the rock-solid cornerstone to security, not only in Lithuania, but also the Baltics and across all of NATO,” Kendall said.
"It is crucial to peace and stability that we continue to work together to deter our adversaries in the region.”
Next, Kendall arrived in Lativia to speak with U.S. and Latvian military members at Lielvārde Air Base alongside Ministry of Defense State Secretary Aivars Puriņš and Commander of the Latvian Air Force Col. Viesturs Masulis.
“Alongside our Latvian Allies, we consistently and convincingly demonstrate NATO’s value as an enduring deterrent to potential aggressors in the Baltics.
Visiting Lielvārde Air Base and seeing our partners working together there was a terrific experience,” Kendall stated.
The fifth stop was to Finland, which recently became a NATO member in April 2023.
Kendall met with Finland Minister of Defence Antii Häkkänen, followed by the Finnish Air Force Chief of Staff Maj. Gen Juha-Pekka Keränen at the Tikkakoski Air Force Headquarters.
“As we continue to build this alliance, it will allow our forces to build capabilities necessary to defense against our adversaries,” said Kendall.
Kendall then travelled to Estonia where he discussed bilateral and regional defense cooperation and toured Ämari Air Base.
“The Baltic Air Policing mission is an essential activity to maintain peace and security not only for Estonia, but throughout NATO,” said Kendall.
“I appreciate the continued commitment of Estonia’s leadership to host this mission, and we will continue to work together to deter our adversaries.”
Kendall’s final stop was to the 52nd Operations Group, Detachment 1 at Łask Air Base in Poland to gain a deeper understanding of the unit’s mission and capabilities with the Polish air force.
There, he received mission briefs and spoke with leadership from both the U.S. and Polish air forces. Kendall also held an all-call during his visit to recognize Det.
1 Airmen for their efforts in facilitating the first operational deployment for the 495th FS in support of U.S. European Command’s no-fail Quick Reaction Alert mission.
“My mantra as Secretary of the Air Force has been one team, one fight,” Kendall stated. “You’ve come together as a team from different units, working together, building camaraderie, great trust and capability.
You have demonstrated the importance of the alliance that we have with our Polish allied partners. It is meaningful work, and I am delighted to be able to say thank you for doing it so well.”
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3890758/secaf-concludes-relationship-building-trip-with-7-nations-across-eucom/
‘Postured for success:’ USSPACECOM leaders reflect on five years of spacepower
Published Aug. 29, 2024
U.S. Space Command celebrated its fifth anniversary Aug. 29 and commemorated the milestone with discussions of the 11th combatant command’s achievements and goals for the future.
In a special edition of the Mitchell Institute’s Schriever Spacepower Series held in Colorado Springs, Aug. 28, USSPACECOM senior leaders participated in a panel on the organization’s growth since its establishment in 2019.
To kick off the live webinar, Gen. Stephen Whiting, USSPACECOM commander, remarked on the organization’s transformation into a fully operationally capable headquarters.
“While there’s a lot left to do – and part of the last five years was really figuring out what we all have to do collectively to defend our interests in space – we are so much better postured today than we were five years ago,” Whiting said.
In addition to meeting the requirements necessary to achieve full operational capability, part of the command’s maturation was articulating and gaining understanding for both its supporting and supported roles. Not only the need to provide combatant commanders with military spacepower and protect the joint force from space-enabled attack, but to be ready to receive support in its growingly congested and contested area of responsibility.
“In space, we are the supported command, and we have to have the right relationships with other combatant commands so that we can leverage them,” Whiting explained.
“We can’t achieve all that we need to do without their capabilities, as well as our international partners, interagency partners, and others.”
USSPACECOM’s chief of staff, Rear Adm. William Pennington, and Royal Air Force Air Commodore Darren Whitely, the command’s deputy director of strategy, plans and policy, joined Whiting on the panel and echoed the importance of leveraging unique perspectives and diverse expertise.
When the command first stood up in 2019, Pennington noted that there were no components assigned to it. Five years later, each military branch presents warfighting forces to USSPACECOM for operational employment.
“What the services have invested in is the development of their force to have a greater understanding of space … to enable true multi-domain joint force and coalition-force warfare,” Pennington said.
He added that the fusion of those with space backgrounds and those maneuver backgrounds delivers a “total joint force solution.”
Whitley integrates a similar multi-domain, combined focus into his role as deputy director of the Policy and Plans Directorate. Recently, he said, greater emphasis has been placed on incorporating language that any joint warfighter could understand.
“Before, the [planning] annexes … didn’t really talk about effects, but to do globally integrated operations, you need globally integrated planning,” he said.
“We worked hard to have the conversations with the other combatant commanders (Plans and Policy Directorates) of here’s our plan, here’s how it impacts you, here are the risks and the opportunities.”
1/2
In addition to synchronizing operational plans with the other combatant commands, Whitley cited Operation Olympic Defender, a U.S.-led initiative to optimize combined space operations, as a success story for international collaboration.
“When you join into a named operation, that makes a huge difference, and it acts as a forcing function then to try and align or ask for policy changes,” he said.
“These policy changes have to be driven by a why … it’s not just a case of ‘we need to share more,’ but rather ‘we need to share more, because …”
Opened to allies and partners in 2019, OOD now includes the U.S., Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and earlier this year extended membership offers to France, Germany and New Zealand.
The forum seeks to strengthen the collective abilities of like-minded nations to deter conflict in space.
Today, the command seeks to expand its warfighting advantage even further, which Whiting says is dependent upon intelligence-driven operations to understand the threats in the domain.
To accomplish this, the command looks for opportunities to refine its unified operational picture through information-sharing with like-minded nations, commercial organizations, and intergovernmental agencies.
While these threats certainly include competitor counterspace capabilities, they also include space debris. As part of USSPACECOM’s commitment to responsible behaviors in space, the command continuously monitors the domain for possible conjunctions and communicates to owners and operators of potential risks to their satellites.
As the command celebrates five years, it also recognizes the incredible consequence of ensuring a conflict does not extend into space.
Whiting remains confident though that, as long as spacefaring nations engage in safe and sustainable activities, humanity will remain free to continue the same exploration and discovery of space that has inspired him throughout his life.
“I was only just under two years old when Neil Armstrong walked out on the lunar surface … and I think in my lifetime, I’m going to see somebody walk out onto the Mars surface,” he said.
“We want to make sure that no bad actors prevent that from happening, we want this exciting space future to be there for all mankind.”
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3890622/postured-for-success-usspacecom-leaders-reflect-on-five-years-of-spacepower/
https://mitchellaerospacepower.org/event/usspacecom-5th-anniversary/
2/2
Serco wins $323M contract for Space Force base construction
August 28, 2024
Herndon-based technology and management contractor Serco Inc., a subsidiary of United Kingdom-based Serco PLC, has won a contract worth an estimated $323 million for construction work at the U.S. Space Force’s Pituffik Space Base in Greenland.
Under the four-year U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contract, which Serco announced last week, the company will manage facility repairs and upgrades to the backup electrical plant at the base.
Formerly known as Thule Air Base, Pituffik Space Base is locked by ice nine months out of the year, although the airfield is operated year-round.
Serco will have a tight schedule to build a temporary backup power plant while a team of experts renovates the current backup plant.
The Pituffik base supports missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance missions.
The Defense Department’s northernmost base, it exists because of mutual defense agreements between the U.S. and the Kingdom of Denmark.
“This contract award builds on Serco’s strong capabilities in systems design and installation, as well as our exemplary past performance on defense construction projects,” Tom Watson, Serco’s CEO in North America, said in a statement.
“Serco is proud to have the opportunity to support this mission-critical large-scale system upgrade project for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Space Force.”
Serco has subcontracted with Aarsleff, a Danish construction engineering company.
The new alternate power plant will provide greater and more stable electrical capacity to the base, according to a news release.
Serco has more than 50,000 employees in 35 countries, about 9,000 of whom are employed in the Americas.
https://www.virginiabusiness.com/article/serco-wins-323m-contract-for-space-force-base-construction/
The FAA is investigating SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket landing failure, launch delays possible
Aug 28, 2024
SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9 rocket has been grounded, at least for a little while.
A Falcon 9 successfully launched 21 of SpaceX's Starlink satellites this morning (Aug. 28), sending them to orbit on the record-breaking 23rd mission for the rocket's first stage.
That booster encountered a problem during its return to Earth, however, toppling over shortly after landing at sea on a SpaceX droneship.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced today that it's requiring an investigation into the failed touchdown — and that the Falcon 9 won't fly again until that inquiry has wrapped up.
SpaceX will conduct the investigation, but the FAA will oversee the work and assess its findings.
"A return to flight of the Falcon 9 booster rocket is based on the FAA determining that any system, process or procedure related to the anomaly does not affect public safety," FAA officials said in an emailed statement.
"In addition, SpaceX may need to request and receive approval from the FAA to modify its license that incorporates any corrective actions and meet all other licensing requirements," they added.
It's unclear how long this process will take. But a relatively quick resolution is likely; SpaceX works fast, after all.
The company returned the Falcon 9 to flight last month just 15 days after the rocket's second stage suffered an anomaly, which resulted in the loss of 23 Starlink satellites.
This morning's mishap was not as serious as that one, affecting only the rocket's landing; the Falcon 9's upper stage deployed the Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit as planned.
A grounding of even a few days, however, could affect a very high-profile launch that SpaceX is prepping for — that of Polaris Dawn, which will launch four people to orbit on a pioneering five-day mission that will feature the first-ever private spacewalk.
SpaceX had aimed to launch Polaris Dawn early this morning but called the attempt off due to projected bad weather.
The company also ruled out an attempt on Thursday morning (Aug. 29) but has yet to set a new target date.
https://www.space.com/faa-investigation-spacex-rocket-landing-failure
Brown, Southcom Commander Call for Harnessing AI, Developing Space Domain to Meet Future Challenges
Aug. 28, 2024
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. CQ Brown, Jr., and Army Gen. Laura J. Richardson, commander of U.S. Southern Command, today emphasized the need for allied and partner nations and their militaries to harness artificial intelligence and further develop the space domain to meet complex security challenges of the future.
The two leaders addressed those topics while delivering remarks at the opening ceremony of the South American Defense Conference, or Southdec 2024, in Santiago, Chile.
The theme of this year's conference is "How We Can Leverage New Technologies for the Defense of Hemispheric Sovereignty."
"As we look back on the strong foundations we've built through collaboration and trust, it's clear our ability to address security challenges has also relied on our ability to evolve and adapt to the ever-changing world landscape," Brown told those in attendance, as he then began discussing the future of AI.
"Every organization is looking at ways to improve their capability with this new technology," Brown said. "[But] it's not enough to just sprinkle 'AI dust' on everything and expect transformation."
Brown then listed what he labels as the seven challenges to take AI from a mere promising idea into a tangible capability that can address the national security needs of allied and partner nations.
The seven challenges are: infrastructure, architecture, data, focus, resourcing, talent and culture.
"These seven challenges … are challenges we all face," Brown said.
"But by working together, we can share knowledge, experience and solutions [that enable] us to unlock the full potential of this new technology within our network of allies and partners."
During her remarks, Richardson, the Southcom commander, discussed the concepts of Enhanced Domain Awareness and the adoption of a Common Space Operating Picture — the former being an initiative Southcom has undertaken that, in part, includes setting the conditions for responsible AI and machine learning to improve synchronization of whole-of-government operations; the latter being an initiative that uses EDA to gain a more profound and holistic insight into the space operational environment.
"As allies and partners, we will continue our efforts to enable our collective space domain awareness; and improve our readiness, resiliency and capability to overcome threats," Richardson told conference attendees.
While giving the space-focused portion of his remarks, Brown pointed out that "when new domains emerge, power can tilt towards those who master them."
Brown said that, although advancements in space have brought economic advancement and development around the globe, space — like any other new domain — has the ability to shift the dynamics of global power.
"We must work together to develop norms of behaviors that respect all nations' rights," Brown said, "creating a space network where everyone can benefit from its unique capabilities — all for the common good."
Both Brown and Richardson wound down their remarks with an optimistic tone, each expressing confidence in allied and partner nations to be able to unite in working across all boundaries and domains to ensure a positive future for the Western Hemisphere.
"This is the work of 'Team Democracy,' and we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those who seek to bolster economic resilience, democratic stability and citizen security throughout the region and world," Richardson exclaimed.
"Let's roll up our sleeves and get to work."
"Our strength lies in our unity, our shared commitment to democracy and our ability to work together for a better future for all," Brown said, "because we are stronger together."
As in the 15 years previous, this year's event is held by U.S. Southern Command.
Southdec 2024 hosts 10 South American nations, representatives from North America, Europe and the Inter-American Defense Board, as well as partner programs operating in South America, Central America, and the Caribbean.
https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3888420/brown-southcom-commander-call-for-harnessing-ai-developing-space-domain-to-meet/
Newly Unveiled Police Patch Celebrates New Hampshire Community's Place in UFO Lore
Aug 28, 2024
For the third year in a row, a New Hampshire police department is celebrating their community's place in UFO lore by way of a special alien-themed patch.
The cool creation was unveiled on Wednesday by the Exeter Police Department ahead of the town's annual UFO festival to be held this coming Labor Day weekend.
The gathering, which began 15 years ago, commemorates a legendary 1965 UFO sighting that has come to be known as the Incident at Exeter thanks to a New York Times bestseller about the case.
Following a trial run in 2023 and a wildly successful wide release last year, the Exeter Police Department is once again getting in on the fun with a new 'otherworldly' patch to be sold at this weekend's festivities.
In unveiling the 2024 installment of the collectible, the department noted that it "features an alien with its arm around our comfort dog, Maple."
The inclusion of the popular pooch came about because proceeds from the patches will go towards Exeter PD's comfort dog program.
Those hoping to get their hands on the collective will have to make their way to New Hampshire this weekend as they will only be sold at the UFO festival starting Saturday morning.
Based on the popularity of the patches in previous years, the department advised prospective attendees to "plan accordingly," since the collectible is likely to be as fleeting as a UFO.
https://www.coasttocoastam.com/article/newly-unveiled-police-patch-celebrates-new-hampshire-communitys-place-in-ufo-lore/