NATO Archives

Space Force unveils antisatellite weapons program, reserve branch plans at Senate hearing

Space Force leaders pulled back the veil of secrecy on one of the service’s most-secretive programs and made a push for congressional authorization of a new part-time branch during a May 2 hearing before the Senate.

New Leader Takes Space Force Helm as Dangers in Orbit Loom

Pentagon leaders emphasized the growing importance of missions in orbit Wednesday as they welcomed the second general to command the Space Force. The new chief of space operations, Gen. Chance Saltzman, pledged to get his young service ready for war.

U.S. Defense Strategy Document Pledges Commercial Space Protection

In a first-of-its-kind shift in stated strategy, the Biden Administration pledged, in a document that outlines Pentagon plans, to protect growing American commercial interests in space while advancing military space capabilities and international cooperation in orbit. Military space has returned to the spotlight in recent years after a slump that accompanied the end of the Cold War.

Rivals Launch Military Satellites Amid U.S.-led Space Defense Drills

A flurry of military and intelligence satellite launches by rival powers this month came as the United States and two dozen partner nations wrapped up the largest global space defense wargame in history.

Russia launched what some leaders have described as a spy satellite for Iran and its own on-orbit snooping satellite Cosmos-2558, which is circling Earth in an orbit conspicuously close to a recently launched U.S. National Reconnaissance Office satellite, a Netherlands researcher confirmed.

Pentagon Nominates Domain Awareness Expert to Lead Space Force

One of the U.S. military’s top experts in space domain awareness has been nominated to become the Pentagon’s second Chief of Space Operations. Lt. Gen. Chance “Salty” Saltzman was nominated Thursday to take the space service’s top job. If his promotion is confirmed by the Senate, Saltzman will have rocketed in three years from wearing a single star to pinning four to his uniform.

U.S. Joins Allies in Space Operations ‘Vision’

By Tom Roeder troeder@spacefoundation.org A shared space operations vision accord now binds the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Australia and New Zealand, the Pentagon announced Tuesday. The Combined Space Operations Vision 2031 accord commits the seven nations to a code of conduct in space, including a mission to “generate and improve cooperation, coordination,…