Category: Space Force

According to the Chief of Space Training and Readiness Command, the Space Force will premiere a new training exercise this year targeted at boosting the service’s command and control skills. During an AFA Air and Space Warfighters in Action virtual lecture, Brig. Gen. Shawn N. Bratton revealed the event, dubbed Polaris Hammer, will take place this autumn. STARCOM was established in August of this year, making it the newest of the Space Force’s three field commands. With only a few months under its belt, the new command still has a lot of work ahead of it in terms of developing the training doctrines and exercises that will form the new military branch. 

Source: https://www.airforcemag.com/space-force-plans-two-new-exercises-polaris-hammer-and-black-skies/ 

The Space Force’s 2018 budget proposal will be “bold,” according to the service’s senior general, and will further the Pentagon’s pursuit of a better satellite infrastructure that is more impervious to enemy strikes or other interruptions. The unveiling of President Joe Biden’s fiscal year 2023 budget proposal is keenly anticipated by defense experts. Annual presidential budget presentations to Congress are usually made in February, but according to sources, the next one might be postponed until March. Meanwhile, Congress has failed to pass a full-year funding bill for the fiscal year 2022, and federal agencies are functioning under a continuing resolution that will run until February 18. The Space Force has proposed $17.4 billion in spending for 2022, up 13.1 percent from 2021. 

Source: https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2022/1/18/space-force-submitting-bold-budget-request 

The United States Space Force has yet to deploy all of its GPS III satellites, but construction on new, more sophisticated models is already beginning. The new GPS III Follow-on satellites, or GPS IIIF for short, will increase the constellation’s precision and interference resistance. Five of the intended GPS III satellites have been deployed, while three more have been deemed “ready for launch” but are being stored by prime contractor Lockheed Martin. The other two are still being tested. Lockheed Martin has a deal with the Space Force for up to 22 GPS IIIF satellites. 

Source: https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2022/01/09/what-will-the-us-space-force-be-able-to-do-with-its-new-gps-iii-variant/ 

The launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the firm’s second set of Starlink internet satellites this week, which will be the Space Coast’s first flight of the year, should be mainly positive. The 230-foot rocket should fly into 80 percent “go” weather surrounding Kennedy Space Center’s pad 39A around 4:49 p.m. ET Thursday if schedules and circumstances hold. Until 6:47 p.m., the window will remain open. Conditions are projected to drop significantly to 70% “go” during a comparable window on Friday if there is a delay or scrub. The key distinction is the probability of stronger winds at liftoff. 

Source: https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/space-force-weather-looks-good-181357633.html 

The Space Force, a branch of the US military, has granted GEOST, an Arizona-based company, a contract for prototype space-based sensors worth US$32 million (NT$883.84 million). The Space Force is attempting to increase the number of eyes “above the skies” by installing low-cost mini-sensors on a variety of satellites, both US-owned and those of international partners, in order to better understand what is going on in space. The force has already made agreements for sensors to be hosted in Japan and Norway. 

Source: https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4389682