SpaceX planning another attempt to launch X-37B • Space Force holds its first national conference

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View this email in your browser National security insights for space professionals. Delivered Tuesdays. In this week's issue: Space Force holds its first national conference • HawkEye 360 buys Maxar's RF business • SpaceX to make another attempt to launch X-37B • And much more  If this newsletter was forwarded to you, sign up for free here Note to readers: Our next newsletter will publish Jan. 9 following a brief holiday hiatus. HAPPY HOLIDAYS! In the spotlight The Falcon Heavy launch of the U.S. Air Force X-37B spaceplane was scrubbed three times last week. SpaceX announced on Friday it is looking to launch this mission no earlier than Dec. 28. SpaceX postponed the USSF-52 mission carrying the X-37B first due to weather, and then to perform additional system checkouts. "The payload remains healthy," SpaceX said. USSF-52 will be the seventh flight of the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle built by Boeing, and its first on a Falcon Heavy. Here's a rundown of the X-37B's first six flights: The U.S. Space Force held its inaugural national conference last week in Orlando, Fla.  About 2,000 Space Force guardians, allies and industry executives gathered for the two-day Spacepower conference organized by the Space Force Association, a non-profit advocacy group. In a keynote speech, General Chance Saltzman, Chief of Space Operations, emphasized the need for the young branch to have its own event focused on building space power doctrine and culture separate from the Air Force. Saltzman wants guardians to better understand how space assets support broader military missions amid rising competition with Russia and China. He also aims to showcase career opportunities to attract talent. The strategic competition in space between the U.S. and China was a central topic of discussion at the conference.  Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein, head of Space Systems Command, said the service must embrace "dynamic space operations." That means fielding satellites that can maneuver in response to threats.   Achieving this vision requires new satellite designs with universal ports for refueling and other upgrades, and modern ground stations.    In other news Leidos announced Dec. 12 that an on-orbit experiment it launched in July 2022 for the U.S. Army has been completed. An experimental satellite called Lonestar sought to demonstrate a capability to warn soldiers on the ground that GPS signals have been jammed.  "Lonestar successfully demonstrated new technology for GPS interference warning and utility for tactical users and made multiple new observations that were shared with the defense and intelligence sectors of government and other federal agencies," said Jonathan Pettus, operations manager at Leidos Dynetics. Leidos Dynetics was awarded an $8.8 million contract for the Lonestar experiment in 2018. HawkEye 360 announced Monday it has acquired Maxar's RF Solutions business. The acquisition comes less than a year after the Earth imaging firm Maxar acquired Aurora Insight, a company specializing in the analysis of radio frequency (RF) data. Maxar RF Solutions was formed in January 2023 from the Aurora Insight acquisition. HawkEye 360, a dominant player in space-based RF data analytics, will take over Maxar RF's two satellites, intellectual property and data archive. "The on-orbit assets and expertise of the RF Solutions group from Maxar Intelligence brings a complementary capability to HawkEye 360," said HawkEye 360 President Rob Rainhart.  The sale of its RF business follows a major restructuring at Maxar announced in September. Below is an Aurora Insight map of African RF transmissions. Red indicates the highest signal power levels. Purple indicates little or no signal power detected by the satellite sensor. Our space solutions are essential for global security, space protection and scientific discovery. From missile defense to weather, navigation and beyond, we deliver mission breakthroughs and advance our way of life. Explore solutions Headlines you might have missed 🚀 The U.S. Space Force will launch a new market research study next year to assess commercial weather services to fill military demand for meteorological data.  The move comes amid concerns that the military's current reliance on a patchwork of international and domestic sources is inadequate for future operational demands. While weather data is crucial for military operations, officials said environmental monitoring satellites face stiff competition for resources within the Space Force budget. True Anomaly, a startup based in Denver, raised $100 million in a Series B funding round. "This financing enables continued investment in people, products and services to further advance True Anomaly's mission," said co-founder and CEO Even Rogers.  True Anomaly is producing small satellites designed for surveillance and reconnaissance of objects in space, aimed at the military and intelligence markets. Quasar Satellite Technologies — a startup that tracks radio-frequency signals emitted by satellites and analyzes the radio chatter to draw insights — is setting sights on the U.S. defense and intelligence market.  Phil Ridley, founder and CEO, said the company developed a portable digital phased array antenna that can monitor the RF transmissions of dozens of satellites at a time.  The technology, currently used by Australia's military and intelligence agencies, is being offered to the U.S. government, Ridley said in an interview. Amazon has successfully tested inter-satellite links between two Project Kuiper prototype broadband satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO). KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2 used optical communications payloads to maintain a two-way 100 gigabits per second link for around an hour at a time, Project Kuiper vice president Rajeev Badyal said in an interview. The satellites were nearly 1,000 kilometers apart during the tests, but the technology is designed to work across distances up to 2,600 kilometers.  Thanks for reading ! Please send comments, suggestions and tips to serwin@spacenews.com Copyright (C) 2023 Multiverse Media Inc.. All rights reserved. You signed up to receive this newsletter on Spacenews.com. At times you may receive marketing material. Our mailing address is: Multiverse Media Inc. 100 Filmore St. 5th Floor Denver, CO 80206 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe