The best way for military forces to prepare for combat is through live training exercises on suitable battlefields. When you’re the US Space Force (USSF), that means space is the logical place to train your troops. This is why the USSF’s Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM) is “actively developing on-orbit exercises to enhance our readiness and capabilities,” a STARCOM spokesperson told Parabolic Arc.

Astra Space (NAS: ASTR) will provide five Spacecraft Propulsion Kits for Apex Technology’s Aries satellite bus platform beginning later this year.

Space Launch Delta (SLD) 45 (United States Space Force) has announced the allocation of launch pads at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida to four startups developing small boosters.

Rocket Lab is scheduled to launch its Electron rocket from U.S. soil for the first time on Tuesday. The window for the launch three signal collection satellites for HawkEye 360 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) in Virginia runs from 6-8 pm EST (23:00-01:00 UTC). The company will webcast the launch on YouTube.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (Millennium Space Systems PR) — The United States Space Force Space Systems Command’s Geosynchronous Earth Orbit Wide Field of View Testbed is online and the bus checkout is complete.

Team of mostly small aerospace companies wins USSF mission development contract 

LOUISVILLE, Colo. (Orion Space Solutions PR) — U.S. Space Force (USSF) has awarded Orion Space Solutions a contract to develop three spacecraft in support of USSF’s mission to advance and launch new technologies in space.

Working with partners Hera Systems, Inc. Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., and SCOUT Space Inc., Orion Space Solutions (OSS) brings together a diversified, highly capable team to build and deploy new satellites to geostationary orbit (GEO). Satellites in GEO orbits fly at a height where the satellite’s orbital period equals the Earth’s rotational speed. This allows a satellite to “sit” in space, viewing a single location on the Earth over time.

• Completed fourth consecutive successful launch in 18 months on July 1, 2022; delivered satellites for the Department of Defense Space Test Program (STP)
• Signed binding launch contract with iQPS for launch of synthetic aperture radar satellites
• Announced NRO, U.S. Space Force, UK MoD, and commercial payloads for Cornwall, UK launch
• Established new Brazilian subsidiary and received launch operator’s license
• Continued international momentum with signed study for South Korean spaceport

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Virgin Orbit PR)–Virgin Orbit (Nasdaq: VORB) (“Virgin Orbit” or the “Company”), the responsive space flight and services company, today announced its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022.

Virgin Orbit’s Chief Executive Officer, Dan Hart, commented, “We had another strong quarter of execution, culminating in our latest launch on July 1^st. Our ‘Straight Up’ mission, which was our fourth successful launch in 18 months, delivered seven satellites for the DoD. We continue to see strong efficiency gains as we scale production and increase launch rate.”

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

Powered by 33 flights of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 booster, the United States leads all nations with 48 launch attempts through the first seven months of the year. The total is three short of the number of U.S. launches attempted last year, and far ahead of the 27 launches conducted by second place China through the end of July. The U.S. has conducted more launches than the 43 flights conducted by the rest of the world combined.

A number of notable flights were conducted. SpaceX launched two Crew Dragons to the International Space Station (ISS), including the first fully privately funded mission to the orbiting laboratory. United Launch Alliance (ULA) launched Boeing’s CST-100 Starship crew vehicle on an automated flight test to ISS, a crucial step before astronauts to fly on the spacecraft. Small satellite launch provider Rocket Lab conducted its first deep-space mission by sending a spacecraft the size of a microwave to the moon.

The solar cell assemblies will power three Lockheed Martin spacecraft designed to provide resilient space-based global missile warning capabilities to meet evolving threats from adversaries under the United States Space Force’s Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next Gen OPIR) Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) program

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Rocket Lab PR) — Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”), a leading launch and space systems company, announced that its high-efficiency, radiation-hardened Coverglass Interconnected solar Cell (CIC) assemblies will power the three Lockheed Martin Next Gen OPIR GEO (NGG) satellites for the United States Space Force (USSF). The NGG program will deliver resilient global missile warning capabilities to counter emerging missile and counter-space threats and is part of the latest evolution of the USSF’s missile warning system, following the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) program, which was supported by SolAero, a space solar power company acquired by Rocket Lab in January 2022.

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.