Xona Is in Orbit. Its CEO Says U.S. GPS Backup Leans on China.
Xona launched its first six navigation satellites last week. CEO Brian Manning says U.S. users seeking GPS backup now lean on Chinese signals.
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RG-XX Bids Are In. The Award Is a Year Away.
RG-XX bids went in Monday, but Scout Space’s Courtney Sayles says an award a year away, for a handful of satellites, isn’t the commercial speed or volume investors need.
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Golden Dome Panel Splits on the Program’s Political Risk
Momentus CEO John Rood says Golden Dome lacks bipartisan support, while Breakwater’s Jen Ross says the program is on track for its 2028 demo.
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MUOS Gets Two More Satellites and a Life to 2040
Space Systems Command’s Katherine Coens says MUOS is getting two more satellites and ground upgrades to stretch its life to 2035 or 2040, with RFIs expected over the next 18 months.
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SDA’s First Tracking Satellites Slip to Spring, Sandhoo Says
SDA Director GP Sandhoo says the first Tranche 1 tracking launch has slipped to next spring, with about 474 satellites planned through Tranche 3 and a Tranche 4 RFI out.
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“I Can’t Refuel You. I’m Sorry”: Satellite Servicers Can’t Agree on a Plug
Sierra Space and Northrop Grumman have refuelable satellites headed to GEO with different interfaces. At MilSat, Sierra’s Erik Daehler gave the Space Force an 18-month clock.
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Satellite Makers Say Stop-Start Funding Undercuts High-Rate Production
York, Terran Orbital and CesiumAstro say they scaled production as asked, but stop-start contract funding makes high-rate satellite manufacturing hard to sustain.
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The Pentagon’s Message to Space Startups: Show Us Something That Works
SDA’s Sandhoo and DIU’s Butow told Silicon Valley Space Week that startups need working hardware and a path to revenue. COMSO’s Trimailo described new help getting cleared.
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AvL Technologies Secures Final CMMC Level 2 Certification for Defense SATCOM Supply Chain
In an announcement released Wednesday, Oct. 28, AvL Technologies disclosed that it has achieved Final Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Level 2 certification following an assessment conducted by an authorized […]
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BofA’s Ron Epstein: “Everybody’s Doing National Security Work Today”
BofA’s Ron Epstein says space companies that once avoided defense work now depend on it. Planet’s results and Rocket Lab’s $816M SDA win show the shift.
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