SpaceShipTwo flies to the edge of space again
WASHINGTON — SpaceShipTwo successfully flew to the edge of space for the second time Feb. 22, carrying three people for the first time as the company moved closer to beginning commercial operations of the suborbital spaceplane. VSS Unity, as the second SpaceShipTwo vehicle is named, was released from its WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft at 11:53 a.m. Eastern, about 45 minutes after [...]
U.S.-Belgian Partnership Helps Underpin Security, Shanahan Says
WASHINGTON -- The U.S.-Belgian alliance underpins security, and working together with the other NATO nations, they offer reliability in an unpredictable world, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan said yesterday as he welcomed Belgian Defense Minister Didier Reynders to the Pentagon. This was the minister’s first official meeting in the Pentagon in five years, but the two nations have close [...]
Survey Says: Majority of Spouses Satisfied With Military Life
WASHINGTON -- The latest survey of active-duty and reserve-component service members’ spouses shows the spouses are, by and large, happy with the military lifestyles they lead. Defense Department officials briefed reporters at the Pentagon yesterday on the results of the surveys, which were conducted in 2017. The survey of active-duty spouses and a similar survey of National Guard and Reserve [...]
U.S.-Belgian Partnership Helps Underpin Security, Shanahan Says
WASHINGTON -- The U.S.-Belgian alliance underpins security, and working together with the other NATO nations, they offer reliability in an unpredictable world, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan said yesterday as he welcomed Belgian Defense Minister Didier Reynders to the Pentagon. This was the minister’s first official meeting in the Pentagon in five years, but the two nations have close [...]
Companies skeptical commercial lunar landers can fly NASA payloads this year
WASHINGTON — As NASA selects payloads it plans to fly on commercial lunar landers, companies developing those spacecraft are skeptical any landers will be ready to fly this year, as the agency desires. NASA announced Feb. 21 that it has identified a dozen science and technology demonstration payloads from within the agency that will be eligible to fly on missions [...]
Defense Department Awards $10 Million in Funding to Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute
IMMEDIATE RELEASE The Department of Defense has awarded $10 million in funding to the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute (DMDII), with an option of $20 million more over the upcoming five years to lead the digital future of manufacturing Feb. 21. This award is part of a new multi-year follow-on agreement with a ceiling of $60 million of government [...]
Acting Secretary Shanahan Hosts Enhanced Honor Cordon and Meeting Welcoming Belgian Minister of Defense Didier Reynders to the Pentagon
Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan ACTING SECRETARY OF DEFENSE PATRICK SHANAHAN: Well, welcome. Long time no see. (Laughter.)I think officially this is the first visit in five years, but I think this is our third visit in one week. So I think we're off to a very good start. And I just wanted to give you a very [...]
SpaceX launches satellites, moon mission on Falcon 9
WASHINGTON — A SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying an Indonesian communications satellite, an Israeli lunar lander and a U.S. Air Force smallsat launched Feb. 21 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Falcon 9 lifted off at 8:45 p.m. Eastern, deploying the Beresheet lunar lander 33 minutes later, and the Nusantara Satu telecom satellite with the S5 experimental smallsat nearly 45 minutes after [...]
Pentagon to pitch Space Force plan to skeptical lawmakers
WASHINGTON — Starting as early as next week, Pentagon officials will sit down with members of Congress and staff to go over the details of how the Pentagon would organize the U.S. Space Force within the Department of the Air Force To turn President Trump’s Space Force idea into reality, the Pentagon will need strong bipartisan support from both chambers. [...]
DoD Space Force proposal seeks special authorities to transfer people and programs from other services
WASHINGTON — In a draft proposal to establish a United States Space Force inside the Department of the Air Force, the Pentagon would ask Congress to approve “special temporary authorities” for the secretary of defense to transfer personnel, programs and other resources from other services to the new branch. The special authorities would extend over a five-year transition period, starting [...]
Readout of Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan’s Meeting With Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Didier Reynders
IMMEDIATE RELEASE Acting Pentagon Chief Spokesperson Charles E. Summers Jr. provided the following readout: Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan met with Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defense Didier Reynders today at the Pentagon to reaffirm the defense relationship between the United States and Belgium. The leaders discussed a broad range of defense issues, [...]
DEFENSE THREAT REDUCTION AGENCY Booz Allen Hamilton, McLean, Virginia (HDTRA1-19-D-0002); General Dynamics Information Technology, Fairfax, Virginia (HDTRA1-19-D-0003); Leidos Inc. Reston, Virginia (HDTRA1-19-D-0004); Next Tier Concepts Inc. Vienna Virginia (HDTRA1-19-D-0005); and Science Applications International Corp., Reston, Virginia (HDTRA1-19-D-0006), are each awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) contracts. These contracts provide Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA)-wide information technology support services for IT service design. The [...]
Echostar’s take on high-throughput satellites: best bought one at a time
WASHINGTON — EchoStar wishes it ordered its latest satellite, Jupiter-3, sooner than it did, but won’t seek to play catch up by buying another copy of the satellite in order to meet surging demand for broadband connectivity, executives said Feb. 21. Jupiter-2, EchoStar’s newest broadband satellite on orbit, is already filling up with customers just two years after launch. Englewood, [...]
Navy Returns to Flying Union Jack
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Navy on Feb. 21 released a NAVADMIN 039/19 directing the display of the union jack instead of the first Navy jack aboard Navy ships and craft. U.S. Navy ships and craft will return to flying the union jack effective June 4, 2019. The date for reintroduction of the union jack commemorates the greatest naval battle in history: the [...]
A ‘New Chapter’ in Government Procurement of Satellite Solutions
At the end of 2018, division chief Clare Grason and her entire satellite communications team at the Defense Information Systems Agency moved over to work in the same capacity under Gen. John (“Jay”) Raymond at the Air Force Space Command (AFSPC). SpaceNews.com