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.
The 2019 National Defense Authorization Act directs the Department of Defense to complete a plan and initiate development of a space-based missile defense sensor architecture.
The Pentagon’s existing missile warning satellites, the Space Based Infrared System, operate in high and geostationary Earth orbits to detect launches such as intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Congress directed the Department of Defense in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 to identify the most promising technologies and estimate a schedule, cost, and personnel requirements for a space-based defensive layer.
The Department of Defense is committed to creating a Space Development Agency as a joint organization like the Strategic Capabilities Office to rapidly develop and field the next generation of space capabilities.
The Department of Defense must request funding for the Space Force in the fiscal year 2020 budget proposal due 2019-02-04.
Defense Department officials are designing a "space sensor layer" to deploy sensors in low-Earth orbit to detect and track dim hypersonic glide vehicles that cannot be detected with current ground radar or missile-warning satellites in geostationary Earth orbit.
The Pentagon approved a $500,000,000 spending ceiling for SpEC as the total prototype throughput of the agreement over five years.
The Air Force Space Enterprise Consortium was established in 2017 and given authorities to kick-start projects with less red tape than traditional Pentagon contracting.
Vice President Mike Pence was briefed on the Space Force proposal at the Pentagon.
The Pentagon is finalizing a proposal for the establishment of a United States Space Force as a sixth military branch.
The National Space Council has been coordinating with the Department of Defense on the legislative proposal.
Vice President Mike Pence will visit the Pentagon 2018-12-17 to discuss the space reorganization.
President Trump directed the Defense Department to establish U.S. Space Command as a four-star combatant command.
President Donald Trump directed the Department of Defense to establish a U.S. Space Command as a unified combatant command.
A 2018-12-18 presidential memo instructed the Pentagon to establish a United States Space Command as a functional Unified Combatant Command and directed the Secretary of Defense to recommend officers for nomination and Senate confirmation as Commander and Deputy Commander of the new command.
Virgin Orbit is preparing to launch a small satellite for the Department of Defense in 2019.
The space governance committee is overseeing a Department of Defense space reorganization to comply with President Trump’s directive to establish a new military branch.
Congress in the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act directed Air Force Space Command to take over responsibility for procurement of commercial satcom services for the Department of Defense by 2018-12-12.
Congress passed legislation in 2016 requiring the Air Force to develop domestic alternatives to the RD-180 and prohibiting the Pentagon from signing contracts for Atlas V launches after 2022.
The Pentagon is working with the White House on a legislative proposal for organizing military space that will be submitted to Congress with the fiscal year 2020 budget.