Breaking Defense reports, “The Space Force has seen positive results from experiments with space-based sensors to track airborne targets, and now is hoping to use incoming funds to speed capability to orbit, according to Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman.”
Full Story (Breaking Defense)
Tag: Astronautics
Space Force Pauses Vulcan Missions Supporting National Security Payloads
Breaking Defense reports, “The Space Force is holding off on launching further national security payloads aboard United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket until an anomaly observed during a recent military mission is resolved, according to a top service official. ‘We are going to work through this anomaly until we launch again on Vulcan,’ Col. Eric Zarybnisky, the Space Force’s portfolio acquisition executive for assured access to space, said.”
Full Story (Breaking Defense)
Faculty Advisor Spotlight: Danilo de Camargo Branco, Florida Institute of Technology
FROM THE INSTITUTE
Danilo de Camargo Branco, Assistant Professor in the Department of Aerospace, Physics and Space Sciences at the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT), serves as the Faculty Advisor for the AIAA FIT Student Branch. He was recognized in 2025 with the AIAA Faculty Advisor Award for his extraordinary leadership, mentorship, and unwavering dedication to his student branch.
Lockheed Martin to Test Digital Atomic Clock on Upcoming GPS III Satellite
Aviation Week reports, “Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Space Force are testing several new technologies aboard the next GPS III satellite, including a new digital atomic clock … The 10th GPS III satellite, scheduled to launch in early 2026, will carry a new digital version, Lockheed Martin Vice President for Navigation Systems Malik Musawwir told reporters Feb. 23 at the Air and Space Force Association’s Air Warfare Symposium here.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
SpaceX Pushes Reusability Record With 33rd Falcon 9 Flight
The Starlink 6-104 mission added another 28 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites into low Earth orbit. As Spaceflight Now reports, “Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 10:47 p.m. EST (0347 UTC). The Falcon 9 rocket flew on a south-easterly trajectory upon leaving the pad.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
Video
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 28 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. (Launch occurs at the 0:10 second mark)
VideoFromSpace; YouTube
SpaceX Marks Second Bahamas Landing After Starlink Mission
SPACE reports, “SpaceX landed a rocket in The Bahamas for the second time ever on Thursday, Feb. 19. A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 29 of SpaceX’s Starlink broadband satellites launched from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 8:41 p.m. EST (0141 GMT on Feb. 20).”
Full Story (SPACE)
Video
SpaceX launches Starlink satellites, lands off coast of Bahamas. (Launch occurs at the 0:11 second mark)
VideoFromSpace; YouTube
NASA Outlines Flight Plan for Crewed Artemis II Mission
Aviation Week reports, “NASA used its first Space Launch System rocket to send an uncrewed Orion spacecraft on a 25-day test flight around the Moon in late 2022, kicking off its Artemis lunar exploration campaign. On Artemis II, the agency will attempt to broaden Orion’s operational envelope by adding a flight crew, with assessments of the spacecraft’s environmental control, life support and astronaut interactive systems on tap.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Space Systems Command Seeks Industry Input on GEO Refueling Services
Aviation Week reports, “The U.S. Space Systems Command is looking for companies that could provide refueling services in geostationary orbit to spacecraft configured for such operations. The goal is to find vendors that, by 2030, could provide the service through standard interfaces that the service has previously approved, Space Systems Command said in a Feb. 13 request for information. Among the information the government is seeking is cost and schedule estimates to get to a first flight.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
ISS Back to Full Strength with Arrival of New Crew
AP News reports, “The International Space Station returned to full strength with Saturday’s arrival of four new astronauts to replace colleagues who bailed early because of health concerns. SpaceX delivered the U.S., French and Russian astronauts a day after launching them from Cape Canaveral.”
Full Story (AP News)
New Crew Launches to ISS Following NASA’s First Medical Evacuation
AP News reports, “A new crew rocketed toward the International Space Station on Friday to replace the astronauts who returned to Earth early in NASA’s first medical evacuation. SpaceX launched the replacements as soon as possible at NASA’s request, sending the U.S., French and Russian astronauts on an expected eight- to nine-month mission stretching until fall. The four should arrive at the orbiting lab on Saturday, filling the vacancies left by their evacuated colleagues last month and bringing the space station back to full staff.”
Full Story (AP News)