While the Falcon 9 continues to smash launch cadence records with already 9 flights this year, its bigger sibling the Falcon Heavy still hasn’t been seen since 2019. SpaceX plans to launch 1 maybe even 2 this year if schedules can hold, the first of which is getting closer to being ready for flight.
The United States Space Force made a rather significant announcement today, stating that its members will officially be called Guardians. The naming consensus was reached after a year-long process involving hundreds of submissions.
On November 15, at 7:27 p.m. EST, an international crew of astronauts launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission was called Crew-1, and onboard was Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and Soichi Noguchi, all headed to the International Space Station.
Every gamer knows that the hunt for next-gen consoles has been an extremely difficult one this year. It’s been so difficult, in fact, that some people are even willing to put their job at risk to get their hands on one, as a member of the Space Force was recently demoted for doing.
The newly-formed U.S. Space Force is in the market for a new headquarters, and they’re closer to making a choice of where it should be located. The team in charge of making the decision is touring the small list of existing installations and doing evaluations both in-person and virtually.
Vice President Mike Pence has officially announced that both Patrick Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station will be renamed to include the “Space Force” name.
Space Force has had the goal of building up a branch that is different than the rest of the military. A branch that is more agile and faster than the rest, something needed to be successful in the space domain. Space Force is continuing with that ideology with the new acquisitions command, bringing a fresh look to how contracts are awarded.
Today is the final day of the ASCEND conference, and one of the starting sessions was with General Jay Raymond, Chief of Space Operations, US Space Force. Raymond was joined by Lt. General John Thompson from the Space and Missile Systems Center and Mike Roberts from the Space Rapid Capabilities Office to talk about what they are doing to increase the US’ national security in space.
US Space Force Chief of Space Operations General Jay Raymond has selected General Stephen N. Whiting to serve as Space Operations Command. General Whiting previously served as Deputy Commander, Headquarters United States Space Force.
In a widely anticipated announcement, U.S. Space Force and Air Force officials awarded Phase II of U.S. national security missions launch contracts to ULA and SpaceX as the primary launch providers through 2027. The NSSL (National Security Space Launch) Contract is a firm-fixed-price that will support launches planned from fiscal 2022 – fiscal 2027.
These contracts include early integration studies, launch service support, fleet surveillance, launch vehicle production, mission integration, mission launch operations, mission assurance, spaceflight worthiness, and mission unique activities for each mission.
