National security insights for space professionals. Delivered Tuesdays.

Welcome to this week's edition of SpaceNews Military, your concise source for the latest developments at the intersection of space and national security. In this issue, we cover:

Commercial-military space integration lagging despite policy push
Military challenges in space domain awareness
SpaceWERX awards more than $300 million to space firms

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Space & defense brief 🛰️

Despite Defense Department policies and studies advocating for greater private sector involvement in space programs, the gap between rhetoric and action remains wide, according to experts speaking on Monday at a SpaceNews webinar.

Key takeaways:

DoD has yet to institutionalize processes prioritizing commercial capabilities early in budgeting cycles
Cultural shift required to replace government-owned systems with private services
Space Force lags behind NASA in leveraging commercial capabilities beyond launch services
Experts call for nuanced understanding of commercial space sector's capabilities and economic value
Security concerns may contribute to military hesitation, but benefits often outweigh vulnerabilities

Industry consultant Mandy Vaughn emphasized the need for cultural changes within government to fully embrace commercial solutions. While praising NASA's Commercial Cargo and Crew programs as successful models, Vaughn noted the Space Force has yet to replicate this approach "in any substantial way."

Brian Weeden of the Aerospace Center for Space Policy and Strategy cautioned against over-hyped industry promises while advocating for better data on the sector's economic contributions and strategic government investments.

Retired Space Force Gen. John Shaw acknowledged progress made by entities like the Space Development Agency but argued that the full potential of commercial capabilities for national security purposes remains untapped.

Although space is viewed by DoD as a critical domain, the U.S. military is struggling to innovate in space domain awareness (SDA), experts warn. During Monday's SpaceNews webinar, they highlighted a lag in capabilities for monitoring and analyzing objects in Earth orbit.

In brief:

SDA remains largely confined to basic cataloging, falling short of needed predictive and analytical capabilities
Experts cite minimal progress in SDA techniques despite years of discussion
Current efforts likened to "searching for keys under a streetlight," focusing on easily accessible data
Multiple attempts to shift focus from "space surveillance" to more comprehensive awareness have yielded little change
Challenges persist in catalog maintenance and orbital tracking, even as operational demands expand
Shaw noted a lack of significant progress in SDA. "We still have a capability lag," he stated, noting that current capabilities aren't substantially different from those of five to seven years ago.

Weeden provided historical context, highlighting repeated attempts to shift focus in space monitoring. "Here we are 10 years later and there's been another name change... getting at the same exact question: How do we get beyond just tracking things in space?" Weeden remarked.

Experts suggest the root of the problem may lie in a combination of technical challenges and cultural inertia, which is concerning due to the increasingly congested and contested space environment.

Nine space technology companies have been awarded more than $300 million in contracts by SpaceWERX, an organization that matches commercial companies with military programs.

These contracts were announced last week as part of the Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) program funded by the Air Force's AFWERX. These funds aim to enhance dual-use technologies for the U.S. Air Force and Space Force.

The selected companies received a total of $146 million in Small Business Innovation Research funds, along with $155 million in additional government matching funds and $217 million in private matching funds. The recipients include:

American Lithium Energy: Specializes in advanced lithium-ion battery technology.
Apex Technology: Focuses on satellite manufacturing.
Impulse Space: Develops orbital transfer vehicles for satellite movement.
Inversion Space: Creates autonomous reentry vehicles for precise cargo delivery from space.
K2 Space: Manufactures large satellite buses.
Outpost Space: Develops space vehicles for high-precision payload returns to Earth.
Portal Space Systems: Created a maneuverable satellite bus called Supernova.
Turion Space: Works on in-space mobility and non-Earth imaging.
Wildstar: Specializes in next-generation narrowband antennas for satellite communication.

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In other news 🚀

Mynaric, a key supplier of optical communications terminals for satellites, is facing significant production challenges that could impact the U.S. Space Force's Space Development Agency plans to launch its next batch of satellites by the end of this year.

Headquartered in Munich, Germany, Mynaric was selected as a supplier of these terminals by several satellite manufacturers that are under contract to deliver dozens of spacecraft to SDA.

The company fired its CEO and on Monday announced a management shakeup.

Northrop Grumman received a $200 million contract from the U.S. Space Force to construct a radar site in the United Kingdom to monitor objects in outer space. This initiative is part of the AUKUS security alliance involving Australia, the U.K. and the United States.

The contract is for the second site of the Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability (DARC) program, which aims to create a global network of three advanced radar systems — one in each of the AUKUS partner nations. The first DARC site is currently under development in Western Australia, expected to be operational by 2026.

Scout Space, a Virginia-based startup specializing in space domain awareness, has signed an agreement with Dawn Aerospace to demonstrate the ability to observe objects in very low Earth orbit (VLEO) from an aircraft operating in suborbital space.

Scout will install its space domain awareness sensors aboard Dawn Aerospace's Mk-II Aurora uncrewed suborbital spaceplane for a test flight targeted for November at the Tāwhaki National Aerospace Centre near Christchurch, New Zealand.

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