The US Space Force

[Forest Green]

Time for Space Force to ‘clearly say’ it needs ‘weapons in space’: SPACECOM head​

SDA opens contest for 54 ‘Tranche 3’ missile tracking satellites​

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/defense-against-hypersonic-glide-vehicles.31281/post-776501

Space Command using experimentation to field high-need capabilities

The command recently produced its first-ever strategies for experimentation and AI and machine learning, Gen. Stephen Whiting said Tuesday.

www.defensenews.com

Space Force Satellite Refueling Demos Coming in 2026 and 2028

The Space Force will have its first satellite refueling demo ever in 2026 and another in 2028, but after that remains unclear.

www.airandspaceforces.com

Space Force Went Fast for Last GPS Launch. Now It Plans to Go Faster

The Space Force is switching up rockets for its next GPS mission—and trying to go faster than ever in preparing the satellite for launch.

www.airandspaceforces.com

How to Win a War in Space: SPACECOM’s 5 Keys

U.S. Space Command has defined five keys to victory should it ever need to fight a full-fledged war in space, Gen. Stephen N. Whiting said.

www.airandspaceforces.com

Space Force picks up pace of on-orbit refueling experiments - Breaking Defense

Space Systems Command is moving out with a trio of projects — contracting with Northrop Grumman for two separate experiments, and with Astroscale US for the first on-orbit refueling operation involving a military satellite.

breakingdefense.com

 

[Forest Green]

Greenland Space Force Base Boss Fired over Vance Comments

The head of the U.S. Space Force base in Greenland was fired after distancing herself from Vice President Vance’s comments on the island.

www.airandspaceforces.com

 

[Dilandu]

Time for Space Force to ‘clearly say’ it needs ‘weapons in space’: SPACECOM head

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)

 

[Orionblamblam]

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)

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.

 

[Forest Green]

Space Force commercial office eyes pilot for quick-reaction launches

The Commercial Space Office plans to start a pilot by this fall with a tabletop exercise.

www.defensenews.com

Latest DoD IG report clears a hurdle for SPACECOM move to Alabama - Breaking Defense

Following the release of the report today, Alabama politicians began touting the new OIG report as justifying a Trump move to reverse Biden's basing decision.

breakingdefense.com

Space Force ramps up UK partnership with civilian exchange program

The program will enable civilian professionals to learn new skills through hands-on experience at each ally organization, the U.S. Space Force said.

www.defensenews.com

Space Force ‘Meadowlands’ jammer ready for formal testing

The system uses radio signals to jam enemy communications and Meadowlands brings an expanded frequency range, which improves its ability to interfere.

www.defensenews.com

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.

 

[Forest Green]

Space Force's rapid-launch Victus sats to push both acquisition and operational boundaries - Breaking Defense

While the current focus on the TacRS program is space domain awareness, Col. Bryon McClain, SSC's head of Space Domain Awareness and Combat Power, said other sorts of operational missions might be undertaken in the future.

breakingdefense.com

New Space Force ‘warfighting framework’ sharpens weaponization plans

The framework’s primary function is to define key terms, concepts and processes so that guardians have a common lexicon.

www.defensenews.com

 

[bobbymike]

U.S. Space Force lays out battle plan for space in new ‘warfighting’ guide

The document, titled “Space Warfighting: A Framework for Planners,” outlines how U.S. forces might assert control of the orbital high ground

spacenews.com

 

[Forest Green]

NGA field testing new processor to speed imagery to US regional commands - Breaking Defense

"COCOMs reported after these tests that J-REN and SlimGIMS not only met the capability gap, but also reduced the time to create a collection request from an hour to 5 minutes," an NGA spokesperson told Breaking Defense.

breakingdefense.com

"COCOMs reported after these tests that J-REN and SlimGIMS not only met the capability gap, but also reduced the time to create a collection request from an hour to 5 minutes," an NGA spokesperson told Breaking Defense.

 

[Forest Green]

Space Systems Command and NRO launch Phase 3 mission under new contract

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 23, 2025 - The U.S. Space Force's Space Systems Command (SSC), in collaboration with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), has successfully completed the launch of the NROL-145 mission aboard a SpaceX Falc

www.spacewar.com

HRL and Boeing advance quantum satellite communications milestone

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 22, 2025 - HRL Laboratories, in collaboration with Boeing, has reached a critical achievement in the Q4S satellite mission by finalizing and validating a quantum communications payload designed for space deplo

www.spacewar.com

New Doc Spells Out How USSF Will Use Space Control to Gain Space Superiority | Air & Space Forces Magazine

A new document released by the Space Force gives a framework for how to fight in space in terms familiar to military planners.

www.airandspaceforces.com

 

[Josh_TN]

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.

 

[Forest Green]

SDA Hires an Integrator to Keep Its Next Satellite Tranche on Schedule

The Space Development Agency awarded a $55 million contract to SAIC to help SDA coordinate and review development on Tranche 3.

www.airandspaceforces.com

Space Force Accepts New Weather Satellite, to Add Commercial

The Space Force is ready to start using its newest weather satellite after finishing testing and achieving initial operational capability.

www.airandspaceforces.com

Space Force weather satellite deemed ready for forecasts

The service is crafting a plan to replace its legacy weather capability, and WSF-M and its companion EWS program are a bridge to that architecture.

www.defensenews.com

 

[TomcatViP]

Do I read right?!

• Standoff strike, or space- or terrestrial-based long-range fires that can attack without needing to get close to the target

Terrestrial being off-world based counter fire?!!

Source (as linked above by @Forest Green ):

New Doc Spells Out How USSF Will Use Space Control to Gain Space Superiority | Air & Space Forces Magazine

A new document released by the Space Force gives a framework for how to fight in space in terms familiar to military planners.

www.airandspaceforces.com

I am surprised however to see that space beamed energy or rocket cargo supply is not one of their listed priority.

 

[Forest Green]

Do I read right?!



Terrestrial being off-world based counter fire?!!

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

 

[Sferrin]

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.

Just throw a couple of these on it.

 

[Orionblamblam]

Just throw a couple of these on it. View attachment 768135

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.

 

[Josh_TN]

If you can get close enough to an opponent satellite, anything from a paint can to a shot gun to a rubber chicken can be disabling.

 

[TomcatViP]

Rubber chicken?!