United Launch Alliance launched a National Reconnaissance Office payload aboard the Delta IV Heavy rocket in support of the agency's national defense mission.

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Exquadrum has partnered with Dynetics to develop and demonstrate a ground-based system for launching hypersonic boost glide weapons as part of a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency program.

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Some industry executives have said that NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program has provided companies an opportunity to advance their technology platforms and form partnerships with additional firms, SpaceNews reported Thursday. “Going back to the moon with commercial technology opens the floodgates,” said Grant Anderson, president, CEO and co-founder of Paragon Space Development, which teams […] More

Tory Bruno, president and CEO of United Launch Alliance, told Ars Technica in an interview published Wednesday that the company expects to launch a national security payload aboard the ULA-built Vulcan rocket in 2022. He said ULA plans to perform certification flights in 2021 under the launch services agreement with the U.S. Air Force. “And we intend […] More

Three companies have received separate contracts to build propulsion technologies intended to power a ground-based weapons delivery platform as part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Army’s joint Operational Fires program. Aerojet Rocketdyne, Exquadrum and Sierra Nevada Corp. will support the OpFires initiative that seeks to demonstrate a ground system that can launch hypersonic […] More

The U.S. Navy and the Missile Defense Agency have tested the interception performance of the Raytheon-made Standard Missile-3‘s Block-IIA variant with a land-launched target. The Navy’s USS John Finn destroyer launched the SM-3 IIA missile to intercept the ballistic target during the test in Hawaii, marking the missile’s second fulfilled interception, Raytheon said Friday. “This second […] More

Seattle-based space industry leaders have urged Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., to help establish a space center in Washington in response to the state’s lag behind other states, including California and Texas, Geekwire reported Friday. Executives such as Aerospace Futures Alliance CEO Kelly Maloney and Aerojet Rocketdyne General Manager Ken Young voiced out their ideas as […] More

United Launch Alliance has begun final preparations to launch a Lockheed Martin-built military communications satellite for the U.S. Air Force on Wednesday at Cape Canaveral AF Station in Florida. ULA said Friday its Atlas V 551 rocket will carry the fourth Advanced Extremely High Frequency spacecraft designed to help command and tactical forces transmit data. Lockheed delivered AEHF-4 to Cape […] More

United Launch Alliance has chosen Blue Origin to produce a booster engine technology to power a launch vehicle designed for government and commercial satellite missions. The Vulcan Centaur rocket’s first stage, fueled by liquefied natural gas, will use a pair of BE-4 engines from Blue Origin, ULA said Thursday. ULA President and CEO Tory Bruno said the company has worked with the […] More

Seth Seifman, an analyst with J.P. Morgan, has said he predicts sales of hypersonic missiles to go beyond $5B by the middle of 2020s as the Defense Department prioritizes the development of the weapons technology, CNBC reported Wednesday. He cited several defense companies that may pursue hypersonic contracts such as Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, […] More

Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory has received approval from NASA to transition to the final assembly and design phase a spacecraft for an asteroid deflection mission. NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test spacecraft aims to shift the orbit of an asteroid in the Didymos binary asteroid system to demonstrate the capability of the kinetic impact […] More

Some aerospace and defense contractors have initiated efforts to build new communications satellites and hypersonic missiles to leverage the rising military spending on space projects to counter threats posed by Russia and China to U.S. space assets, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. Those companies also intend to capitalize on the White House’s plan to […] More