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“U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory”
U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory to Support Stratolaunch Talon-A Hypersonic Flight Test
Stratolaunch’s Roc aircraft carries the first Talon-A separation test vehicle during its eighth flight test on October 28, 2022. (Credit: Stratolaunch)

MOJAVE, Calif., Nov. 14, 2022 (Stratolaunch PR) — Stratolaunch, LLC is pleased to announce a contract with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to support the flight test of the company’s first expendable Talon-A hypersonic test vehicle, TA-1. Stratolaunch anticipates flying TA-1 in the first quarter of 2023.

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  • November 15, 2022
SCOUT Wins Phase II AFWERX SBIR to Advance Space Domain Awareness
Real-time position and orientation analysis of a CubeSat using a SCOUT fly-by digital twin. (Credit: SCOUT Space)

FRL/RIE and Space Force Delta 2 will work with SCOUT to advance SDA metric observation tasking and catalog augmentation using space-based sensing

ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 22, 2022 (SCOUT Space PR) — SCOUT Space Inc., a spaceflight hardware, software, and data provider developing solutions for improved safety and transparency in space today announced they have been granted a Phase II SBIR contract through AFWERX, the Technology Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the innovation arm of the Department Air Force. SCOUT will work with AFRL/RIE (Intelligence Systems Division) and the Space Operations Command (SpOC) Delta 2 to advance classical space domain awareness (SDA) metric observation tasking and catalog augmentation using space-based sensing.

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  • July 27, 2022
Air Force Research Laboratory Recurve Satellite Launched on Virgin Orbit Mission
Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate’s spacecraft Recurve was launched into low Earth orbit July 2, 2022, from the Mojave Air and Space Port, Rutan Field, Mojave, California, on a Virgin Orbit U.S. Space Force Space Test Program mission. (Credit: U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory)

by Jeanne Dailey
Air Force Research Laboratory Public Affairs

KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AFRL) — The Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate spaceflight experiment Recurve was launched July 2, 2022, from the Mojave Air and Space Port on the Virgin Orbit space system in California. The launch supported the U.S. Space Force’s STP-S28A mission and carried six additional payloads for the Department of Defense Space Test Program (STP).

Recurve is the latest in several low-cost CubeSats designed, built and operated entirely in house at the Space Vehicles Directorate located on Kirtland AFB.

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  • July 11, 2022
Reaction Engines Begins Testing of Breakthrough High-mach Propulsion Technology Under Contract with U.S. Department of Defense
Engine on the test stand. (Credit: Reaction Engines)

ABINDON, UK (Reaction Engines PR) — Reaction Engines today revealed the start of a new testing campaign to expand the performance envelope of their high-Mach enabling technology through the Foreign Comparative Testing (FCT) Program at the Department of Defense and supported by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).

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  • July 8, 2022
Virgin Orbit Set to Launch 7 Satellites Tonight

UPDATE: Virgin Orbit says the launch was scrubbed because the LauncherOne “propellant temperature was slightly out of bounds.” The company has not announced a new launch date. Virgin Orbit Launch Launch Vehicles: LauncherOne/Boeing 747 Cosmic GirlPayloads: 7 small satellitesCustomer: U.S. Space ForceLaunch Site: Pacific Ocean off CaliforniaLaunch Origination: Mojave Air and Space Port | Mojave, Calif.Launch Window: 10 p.m. PDT on June 29 | 1 a.m. EDT/0500 UTC on June […]

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  • June 29, 2022
LEO Network Brings High-Speed, Low Latency Connectivity to Remote Thule Air Base
At the snowy outpost, 2 Intellian terminals dot the landscape connecting with the OneWeb satellites that orbit overhead. (Credit: Hughes)

GERMANTOWN, Md. (Hughes PR) — It was just one year ago that Hughes announced its selection by the U.S. Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) to design and deploy a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) network at Thule Air Base, Greenland.

Thule is the northernmost U.S. military installation, situated a little less than 1,000 miles from the North Pole. Built in the 1950s, the strategic base is used today for force projection, space superiority, and scientific research. The remote outpost at 76.32’ North latitude is situated well outside the footprint of a typical geostationary satellite, which orbits the earth above the Equator. Coupled with limited terrestrial connectivity, it was a veritable desert when it comes to connectivity…until now.

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  • June 27, 2022
NASA Marshall Team Delivers Tiny, Powerful ‘Lunar Flashlight’ Propulsion System
Lunar Flashlight is a low-cost, innovative CubeSat set to investigate the shadowy surface of the Moon’s South Pole. The Lunar Flashlight mission was developed and managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. (Credits: NASA)

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (NASA PR) — Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, have built some of the largest rocket engines ever to light up the icy reaches of space. Now Marshall and its commercial partners have delivered one of the smallest propulsion systems in its history, designed to help propel an upcoming NASA mission to shed new light on the Moon’s South Pole – in search of a much more useful type of ice.

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  • June 25, 2022
BlueHalo Awarded $11M Air Force Research Laboratory Contract for Optical Laser Communications Flight Terminals and Ground Station
BlueHalo Laser Communications Concept (Image Credit: BlueHalo)

ARLINGTON, Va. (BlueHalo PR) — BlueHalo has been awarded a contract to deliver a pair of optical laser communications proto-flight terminals and a ground station to demonstrate on-orbit processing of satellite positioning and timing for the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base.  Work will be performed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is expected to be completed by February 2025.  The contract will support the development and demonstration of key technologies: GEO-to-LEO Optical Uplinks and Downlinks, Space-to-Ground Links, Positioning and Timing Accuracies over Optical Communication Links, and interoperability with multiple optical communications standards.

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  • June 14, 2022
Space Industrial Base Workshop Finds U.S. Falling Behind China in Key Areas
Credit: State of the Space Industrial Base Workshop

ALBUQUERQUE, NM (SSIB Conference PR) — Industry and government thought leaders gathered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for the fourth annual State of the Space Industrial Base (SSIB) Workshop between May 31-June 3, 2022 to assess the health of, and provide recommendations to sustain, the United States’ leadership and advantage in space. Previous SSIB reports provided in-depth assessments and actionable recommendations for U.S. leadership. This year’s theme was “Prosperity & Sustainability: Winning the New Space Race.”  

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  • June 11, 2022
AFRL Sponsorship Recipient Wins NASA Space Manufacturing Contract
United Semiconductors, LLC facility in Los Alamitos, Calif. (Credit: United Semiconductors)

WRIGHT PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, OH. (AFRL PR) — Air Force Research Laboratory research sponsorship recipient, United Semiconductors, LLC (USLLC), is one of eight companies selected to work on a three-year, $21 million NASA contract to manufacture tools in space.

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  • June 4, 2022