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Military and Defence

EU Adopts Conclusions for Space Traffic Management

European Council

The Council of the European Union (The Council) have adopted conclusions on ‘Space traffic management: state of play’. The conclusions address the challenges of an increasingly congested orbital space and the need for a common approach to ensure a safe and sustainable European space policy. As a result, the conclusions stress the urgency of developing an EU space traffic management (STM) approach, which will contribute to space safety, sustainability and security, and welcome the progress made so far.

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South Korea Launches First Military Spy Satellite

SpaceX has successfully launched its first military spy satellite to better monitor North Korea. The launch happened at California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base using SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. Furthermore, it is the first of five spy satellites South Korea contracted with SpaceX to launch into space by 2025. The satellite is an electrooptical and infrared device, while the four remaining satellites will feature synthetic aperture radar, which can "see" through cloud cover and at night.

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Millennium Space completes review for missile tracking space vehicle

Millenium Space Systems previous satellite for Space Force, TETRA-1 small satellite. Credit Millennium Space Systems

Millennium Space Systems, a Boeing company, announced on the 27th of November that it has completed the critical design review (CDR) for its Missile Track Custody (MTC) space vehicle. The CDR investigated not just an individual spacecraft, but also the overall constellation design. The MTC program is part of Space Systems Command’s (SSC) Space Sensing Resilient Missile Warning, Missile Tracking, Missile Defense program office.

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Space Café BeNeLux by Dr. Heike Poignand: Kees Buijsrogge on “How space technology is key for Europe’s sovereignty?”

In the most recent episode of “Space Café BeNeLux”, our host Dr. Heike Poignand, welcomed Kees Buijsrogge, Director High Tech for Civil & Military Space at TNO to an open discussion around the delicate topic how space technology is key for Europe’s sovereignty? The conversation highlighted the significance of space in Europe's sovereignty, the methods employed to achieve it—such as programs like IRIS²—and the integral role space plays in our daily life, impacting innovation and competitiveness, that are crucial especially for smaller nations like The Netherlands.

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TAP Accelerator Program launched by Space Systems Command

Col. Raj Agrawal, Brig. Gen. Kyle C. Paul, Col. Stephen Lyon provided an overview of the Space Domain Awareness TAP Lab Accelerator program to more than 200 attendees. Credit SSC

Space Systems Command (SSC) started its technology accelerator program at its newest Technology, Applications, and Process (TAP) Lab on the 28th of October. It has been supported by Virginia Tech’s Applied Research Corporation (VT-ARC) and MITRE Corporation. The opening day agenda welcomed more than 200 participants and showcased not only the mission of the Accelerator program, but also the physical space TAP Lab provides aiming to enhance the collaboration experience. 

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SDA Contracts Northrop Grumman for PWSA T2TL Satellites

Northrop Grumman Corporation has received an agreement with a total potential value of approximately $732 million to design and build 38 data transport satellites, from the Space Development Agency (SDA). These satellites will support Tranche 2 Transport Layer – Alpha (T2TL-Alpha), the latest iteration of SDA’s low-Earth orbit Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA). Furthermore, the announcement follows an August 2023 award to Northrop Grumman of 36 satellites as part of Tranche 2 Transport Layer – Beta (T2TL-Beta)

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Terran Orbital to Build Satellite Buses for Lockheed Martin

Terran Orbital office. Credit Terran Orbital

Lockheed Martin has awarded Terran Orbital Corporation a contract to build 36 satellite buses for the Space Development Agency’s (SDA) Tranche 2 Transport Layer (T2TL) Beta constellation. Terran Orbital will consequently deliver the buses to Lockheed Martin, which will conduct payload integration and jointly operate the satellites with SDA.

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2nd German Space Congress – the evening before

We are almost there! The 2nd German Space Congress #Weltraumkongress is about to start in a few hours. But before, time to set up. Tomorrow I will report about the event, will offer you interviews, and I will have the pleasure of hosting the sustainability panel with my esteemed guests, Stephanie Deml, Ingo BAUMANN, Ernst K. Pfeiffer, Christopher Kebschull, and Christian Schmierer! I am looking forward to seeing many of you tomorrow. Enjoy Berlin!

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Hisdesat Partners NATO for Uncrewed Maritime Exercise

Hisdesat, the Spanish governmental satellite services provider of defense, security and intelligence, has provided secure satellite communications for the Dynamic Messenger-23 exercise, an annual NATO exercise that aims to assess the ability of allied naval forces to integrate unmanned systems in maritime operations.

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