The US Space Force

 
Last edited:
Forest Green said:
Time for Space Force to ‘clearly say’ it needs ‘weapons in space’: SPACECOM head
Click to expand...
I suspect that it would be a rather long period, when space-to-space missiles would be claimed to be "maneuverable sattelite inspectors" (and it would generally be the truth... because inspector vehicle capable of precisely closing with other satellite would also be able to ram it)
 
Dilandu said:
I suspect that it would be a rather long period, when space-to-space missiles would be claimed to be "maneuverable sattelite inspectors" (and it would generally be the truth... because inspector vehicle capable of precisely closing with other satellite would also be able to ram it)
Click to expand...
If a spacecraft is capable of closely examining another, "ramming" wouldn't even be needed. A can of black spray paint will do the job.
 
https://www.defensenews.com/space/2...twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=tw_dfn
https://breakingdefense.com/2025/04...clears-a-hurdle-for-spacecom-move-to-alabama/
https://www.defensenews.com/space/2...twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=tw_dfn
https://www.defensenews.com/space/2...twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=tw_dfn
The Space Force is ready to start government testing of a ground-based satellite jammer upgrade that it hopes will make the system more mobile, user friendly and effective as an electronic warfare platform.

L3Harris, which built the baseline Counter Communications System, or CCS, announced April 8 that the upgraded capability passed a recent verification review, which means it is ready to transition to the Space Force for developmental and operational testing.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
It’s interesting that not only was Phase 3 used for the April 20th launch, that was the second NRO proliferated architecture launch for that month and the 9th dedicated launch overall since last May. By my tally, that is 178 satellites - dedicated launches of 21 (4), 22 (3), 17, and 11. Two more apparently went up with a batch of Starlink sats last November (possibly experimental) for a total of 180 known objects inside a one year period.

That is a rather stunning increase in recon density. We do not know payloads and exact orbits, but there must be a dramatic decrease in revisit times coming (not all sats are in final orbits) associated with that many platforms. And we have no idea when this launch cadence will pause either - this could be the new normal.
 
Last edited:
TomcatViP said:
Do I read right?!



Terrestrial being off-world based counter fire?!! :D
Click to expand...
Terrestrial is Earth-based, but the fact it is preceded with 'space- or' seems to indicate orbitally-based counter-fire.

The Space Force does not yet have the ability to perform all the operations it lists—the framework mentions hitting terrestrial targets with space-based fires
Click to expand...
 
Sferrin said:
Just throw a couple of these on it. View attachment 768135
Click to expand...
A load with one large tungsten ball and a bit of tungsten birdshot would seem to cover the bases. Alternating with high explosive bolter rounds, perhaps...

The satellite could include the upper torso of an evolved Optimus android to both aim and reload.
 
bg,f8f8f8-flat,750x,075,f-pad,750x1000,f8f8f8.jpg


Rubber chicken?!
 
Axient joins Space Force STEP 20 initiative to drive next generation orbital tech techhttps://www.spacewar.com/reports/Axient_joins_Space_Force_STEP_20_initiative_to_drive_next_generation_orbital_tech_999.html

STEP 2.0 is a multi-award, Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract managed by the Department of Defense's Space Test Program under Space Systems Command. The program will facilitate rapid integration of experimental payloads into modular satellite platforms, enabling low-cost, agile testing of new space technologies in orbit.
Click to expand...
 
A Department of Defense weather satellite program that collects vital information for hurricane forecasts will stop distributing data products to users Monday.

The termination of data products from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program could lead to dangerous declines in the quality of hurricane forecasts, meteorologists say. That’s especially worrying, they say, as the termination comes in the middle of this year’s hurricane season.

“There is no sugar-coating it: hurricane forecasts will undoubtedly be worse after this loss,” said Brian McNoldy, a hurricane expert at the University of Miami, in an email to POLITICO’s E&E News. “For anyone near a hurricane-prone area, this is alarmingly bad news.”
Click to expand...
Now, experts are worried that the loss of DMSP data will hamstring their models this hurricane season. DMSP accounts for as much as half of the microwave scans that help forecasters build their predictions.

“There is critical information that we can get from these satellites that we cannot get from more traditional visible or infrared satellites,” said scientist Philip Klotzbach, who leads Colorado State University’s annual Atlantic hurricane forecasts, adding that the announcement was “certainly a surprise to me.”

McNoldy, of the University of Miami, said that his “gut reaction was disbelief” when he heard the news.

“Microwave data are already relatively sparse, so any loss — even gradual as satellites or instruments fail — is a big deal; but to abruptly end three active functioning satellites is insanity,” he added in an email.
Click to expand...
Other scientists expressed fears about the dangers to human life.

Posting on Bluesky early Thursday morning, hurricane researcher Jimmy Yunge shared a message he wrote to NOAA’s Office of Satellite and Product Operations expressing his alarm.

“This decision will kill people,” he wrote. “I seriously urge all of those involved to reverse this policy, and call on those who have any amount of leverage in the upper administration to push back at any and every level under moral and practical grounds.”
Click to expand...
https://www.eenews.net/articles/tru...data-considered-crucial-to-storm-forecasting/
 
See what I mean about this sense of 'parting out for fire sale to private equity' in the NASA budget cuts thread?
 
dannydale said:
See what I mean about this sense of 'parting out for fire sale to private equity' in the NASA budget cuts thread?
Click to expand...
No.
A. Has nothing to do with NASA.
b. the satellites are being turned off and not being sold or handed over to anybody.
 
So are there replacement satellites in the pipeline?

I also never said anything about the satellite data being terminated having anything to do with NASA budget cuts. However I applaud your astute inference that there could be *something* of a common cause. ;)
 

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom