The Department of Defense (DOD) is a U.S. government agency responsible for military and national security space activities. It acts as a major procurer and operator of space systems, including launch vehicles and satellite systems for reconnaissance, missile launch detection, navigation, and communication. The DOD aims to maintain space superiority, integrate military space power, and ensure space stability, working with commercial firms to integrate space solutions into national security architectures.
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
SpaceX provided Starlink services in Ukraine at its own expense and under an agreement with the U.S. Agency for International Development rather than under a Department of Defense contract.
The U.S. Department of Defense relies on geostationary satellites located about 22,0 m above the Earth’s equator for critical communications and early warning of missile launches.
The Department of Defense and the Department of the Air Force have created Defense Innovation Unit, AFWERX, and SpaceWERX to work with startups.
The Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture is a LEO-based satellite constellation built to enable key Department of Defense space capabilities.
CesiumAstro was awarded a contract through the Department of Defense’s Space Development Agency to advance the company’s multi-beam L-band active electronically scanned array antenna.
The U.S. Defense Department released updated guidelines for safe and responsible space operations on 2023-03-03.
CesiumAstro was awarded a contract through the Department of Defense’s Space Development Agency to advance the company’s multi-beam L-band active electronically scanned array antenna.
The Department of Defense is interested in satcom services provided by small GEO satellites such as those offered by Astranis.
Rocket Lab has launched national launching security payloads developed in partnership with Australia’s Department of Defence.
Mistral Inc. operates a state-of-the-art engineering facility near Baltimore where it manufactures systems for various Department of Defense agencies.
The Space Rapid Capabilities Office can award contracts of up to $1,000,000,000 without requiring approval from the Pentagon or a service acquisition executive.
Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific personnel completed a cross-banding demonstration that connected legacy 5 kHz Ultra High Frequency (UHF) MILSATCOM channel operators with the Department of Defense’s Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) group operators.
MUOS is the Department of Defense’s newer UHF SATCOM system designed to provide joint warfighters with worldwide voice and data communications in challenging weather environments and through thick foliage.
UHF SATCOM supports more than 50% of all deployed Department of Defense users.
Eutelsat’s government revenues fell 20% to 67,000,000 EUR following U.S. Department of Defense non-renewals.
For fiscal year 2023 the Pentagon requested $26,900,000,000 for military space programs and Congress increased that to $28,500,000,000.
Congress enacted significant oversight provisions in the 2023 authorization and appropriations legislation that require the Space Force and the Department of Defense to provide more thorough justification for program funding.
Funding for military space programs across the Department of Defense grew from $17,700,000,000 in 2021 to $21,800,000,000 in 2022.
The 2023 National Defense Authorization Act directs the Department of Defense and the director of national intelligence to make publicly available a strategy regarding defending and protecting on-orbit satellites.
The Pentagon is recovering remnants of the Chinese spy balloon shot down on February 4 off the coast of South Carolina.