The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is the primary research and development center for the Department of the Air Force, playing a key role in developing warfighting technologies for air, space, and cyberspace. As an integrated lab, AFRL supports both the Air Force and the Space Force, providing solutions ranging from satellites and rocket fuel to advanced materials and manufacturing processes. AFRL partners with organizations like NASA, other government agencies, academia, and industry to conduct research, develop technologies, and test new concepts for space-based capabilities, including space weather observation and data transport. Key areas of focus include space vehicles, rocket propulsion, directed energy, and advanced materials for aerospace systems.
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The Air Force Research Laboratory awarded Axient, which is based in Huntsville, Alabama, a $25,000,000 task order in September 2023 for integrated space experiments to be performed over the next three years.
Axient awarded BlackSky a $2,000,000 task order in November 2023 on behalf of the Air Force Research Laboratory.
The September 2023 $25,000,000 task order to Axient from the Air Force Research Laboratory is to be performed over the next three years.
Axient won a contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory in September 2023 worth up to $25,000,000 for integrated space experiments.
The flight of the AFRL-funded XQ-67A validated the genus/species concept developed with AFRL under the Low-Cost Attritable Aircraft Platform Sharing (LCAAPS) program.
Viasat was awarded a contract by Northrop Grumman to support the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory DEUCSI Call 003 program, nicknamed Global Lightning.
AFRL selected GA-ASI in 2021 to design, build, and fly the XQ-67A Off-Board Sensing Station (OBSS).
Northrop Grumman was awarded a four-year contract for the AFRL DEUCSI Call 003 Global Lightning program to test integration of space internet services into existing military systems.
Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT) has been awarded a contract from Northrop Grumman to support the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s Defense Experimentation Using Commercial Space Internet (DEUCSI) Call 003 program, nicknamed Global Lightning.
Northrop Grumman is working under a $95 million, four-year contract awarded by the Air Force Research Laboratory in June 2023 to design, develop, and test three prototype satellite terminals that use multiple commercial and military communication systems.
Viasat signed an agreement with Northrop Grumman on 2024-02-29 to support an Air Force Research Laboratory experiment using broadband satellite internet to connect military vehicles and aircraft.
The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory awarded Relative Dynamics and the Rochester Institute of Technology a Small Business Technology Transfer award in 2022 to create a telescope mirror that requires little if any adjustment for observing space objects.
The Air Force Research Laboratory started the DEUCSI project in 2017 to explore the potential of using commercial satellite internet constellations to provide connectivity for military platforms.
Intelsat, based in McLean, Virginia, will supply five ROAM terminals to the Air Force Research Laboratory under a $9,000,000 contract that is part of the Defense Experimentation Using Commercial Space Internet (DEUCSI) program.
Advanced Aircraft Company was selected by the Air Force Research Laboratory and AFWERX for a Direct-to-Phase II contract worth $1,250,000 to focus on the company’s Hybrid Advanced Multirotor Unmanned Aircraft System (HAMR).
The Direct-to-Phase II contract from AFRL and AFWERX supports continued development and testing of HAMR.
The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and AFWERX have partnered to streamline the SBIR and STTR process by accelerating proposal-to-award timelines, expanding opportunities to small businesses, and reducing bureaucratic overhead through ongoing contract execution process improvements.
AFRL expects to use similar ground systems, satellite operations personnel, and data analysis processes for both Oracle-M and Oracle-P as part of its iterative approach to cislunar SSA.
The Air Force Research Laboratory unveiled two programs, Defense Deep Space Sentinel (D2S2) and Oracle, to develop cislunar space situational awareness capabilities.
The AFRL Space Control Technology Branch is collaborating with Pacific Defense to research, develop, and demonstrate sensing capabilities for cislunar space.