Last Delta 4 Medium launches GPS-3 satellite
WASHINGTON — United Launch Alliance completed the last launch of a Delta 4 Medium Aug. 22, sending a GPS-3 satellite into a medium Earth orbit for the U.S. Air Force. The Delta 4 Medium rocket lifted off at 9:06 a.m. from Space Launch Complex-37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The GPS-3 satellite, nicknamed Magellan, separated from the [...]
Gilday Relieves Richardson as CNO
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Adm. Mike Gilday relieved Adm. John Richardson as the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) in a ceremony, Aug. 22, at the Washington Navy Yard. Gilday became the 32nd CNO, the U.S. Navy's most senior officer. As a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the CNO acts as an advisor to the President of the United States, [...]
BESPIN-AFIMSC alliance improves mission support capabilities
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas (AFNS) --An alliance between the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center and the Business and Enterprise Systems Product Innovation office is improving mission support capabilities.BESPIN and AFIMSC are partnering to develop two mobile applications: an app connecting the military community to base events and an app to improve contractor accountability. The apps were two [...]
Europa Clipper passes key review
WASHINGTON — A NASA mission to a potentially habitable moon of Jupiter has cleared a major review despite uncertainty about when, or how, it will launch. NASA announced Aug. 19 that it had formally confirmed the Europa Clipper mission to proceed into its next phase of development, known as Phase C. That will cover final design of the spacecraft, followed [...]
ULA’s Delta 4 Heavy down to final five missions
WASHINGTON — As United Launch Alliance prepares for the last launch of its Delta 4 Medium rocket Thursday, the company is also counting down its final five missions with the Delta 4 Heavy. Gary Wentz, ULA’s vice president of government and commercial programs, said the last Delta 4 heavy mission is currently slated for the second half of 2023. “We’ve [...]
GHGSat, Canadian Foundation plan emissions monitoring campaign
PHOENIX – GHGSat, a Montreal company preparing to operate a constellation of greenhouse gas and air quality monitoring satellites, forged an agreement with a Canadian government foundation to monitor emissions in a region of British Columbia. Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), a foundation that supports environmental technologies, will contribute $3.3 million Canadian dollars ($2.48 million) and GHGSat will contribute $6.5 [...]
AMC C-130 rainbow fitting inspections complete
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (AFNS) --In less than two weeks, all 113 Total Force C-130 Hercules aircraft have been inspected and 112 cleared to return to worldwide operational duty, following a temporary removal from service Aug. 7 designed to address atypical cracks found on an aircraft.Thanks to early detection by Air Force Materiel Command aircraft maintenance and engineering professionals [...]
Search continues for new NASA human spaceflight leader
WASHINGTON — More than a month after he reassigned the longtime head of its human spaceflight division, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said Aug. 21 it may be several weeks before he appoints a successor. Speaking at a press conference at the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Bridenstine said the agency was still carrying out a broad search for a new [...]
NASA awards Aerospace Corp. contract worth up to $621 million
PHOENIX – The Aerospace Corp. won one of its largest NASA contracts to date, an engineering, evaluation and testing support contract with a maximum potential value of $621 million over nine years. Under the sole source contract for the NASA-wide Specialized Engineering, Evaluation and Test Services (NSEETS) program, Aerospace Corp. will lend support, which may include staff, for focused science [...]
Air Force advances innovation at “Spark Collider”
ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) --The Air Force’s near obsession with innovation is well known and deeply rooted. The service’s vision statement, after all, says, “Powered by Airmen, fueled by innovation.”Yet finding and nurturing novel ideas and turning them into real world, everyday products and policies that benefit the Air Force is no easy matter in a global organization with 685,000 Total [...]
No near-term satellite orders for ABS • Amazon joins SIA • Speedcast, Australian Space Agency team up
To receive FIRST UP Satcom, a weekly SpaceNews newsletter for satellite and telecom professionals, sign up here. TOP STORIES Fleet operator ABS expects to wait until 2021 before planning additional satellites. Jim Frownfelter, ABS’s new chief executive, said the company’s current focus is gaining customers for its newest satellites. ABS launched three satellites since 2014 — ABS-2, ABS-2A, and ABS-3A — and canceled a fourth, [...]
Navy Releases More Public—Private Housing Survey Results, Continues Corrective Plans
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Navy has released more details from its 2019 Summary of the Navy Public Private Venture (PPV) Housing ‘Out of Cycle’ Survey, conducted earlier this year based on concerns with privatized family housing. The results of the survey, conducted April 2-May 9 by CEL & Associates for Commander, Navy Installations Command, are available here. In July, the [...]
Space Council recommendations address exploration and management concerns
CHANTILLY, Va. — Despite a strong public endorsement of NASA’s efforts to return humans to the moon as a step towards Mars, a series of recommendations approved by the National Space Council Aug. 20 highlight concerns about the agency’s plans to do so. The council, at its sixth public meeting since being reconstituted two years ago, did not discuss the [...]
Space Council says NASA’s exploration programs “on track”
CHANTILLY, Va. — Nearly five months after directing NASA to accelerate its plans to return humans to the surface of the moon, Vice President Mike Pence said Aug. 20 that the agency’s efforts since then were “on track.” Pence, chairing the sixth meeting of the National Space Council since its reestablishment two years ago, didn’t make any sweeping changes in [...]
U.S. Space Command and National Reconnaissance Office will join forces to defend space
WASHINGTON — The newly established U.S. Space Command and the National Reconnaissance Office will form a joint command structure for space operations, the acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire announced on Tuesday. For the first time, intelligence community assets would be under the operational and tactical control of the military during a conflict if U.S. satellites came under attack. [...]