Plus: EchoStat's next satellite order
| | | A SpaceNews daily newsletter | | 06/03/2025 | | | | | BAE Systems won a $1.2 billion contract to build 10 missile-tracking satellites. The contract was awarded to BAE Systems Space and Mission Systems on May 29 through a firm fixed price Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreement, the Space Force's Space Systems Command said Monday. The program is known as Resilient Missile Warning Tracking Epoch 2, which marks the second phase of the Space Force's program to develop a missile-tracking network in medium Earth orbit. The satellites are designed to detect and track a range of threats, from large, bright intercontinental ballistic missile launches to dim, maneuvering hypersonic missiles. The first satellites are slated for delivery in 2029 and will be incorporated into the Golden Dome missile defense initiative. [SpaceNews]
One of the biggest challenges facing Golden Dome is how to handle a system of systems. The Golden Dome command and control system must integrate data from space-based sensors, ground-based radars and other sources to provide a unified operational picture and enable real-time decision-making, said an executive with Amentum, which has developed ground control systems for the Missile Defense Agency. Amentum, which merged with missile defense contractor Jacobs in September, recently rolled out what it calls a "common ground-space enterprise architecture" that it's pitching for Golden Dome. [SpaceNews]
EchoStar has ordered another geostationary satellite for its Dish Network TV broadcast business even as the company flirts with bankruptcy. Maxar Space Systems said Monday it won a contract to build the ES XXVI geostationary satellite for EchoStar, which will provide broadcast services across the United States and Puerto Rico, continuing services provided by a mix of about 10 owned and leased payloads. As demand for satellite TV declines, EchoStar has been pushing into connectivity services, including a terrestrial 5G network. The FCC, though, is investigating EchoStar's buildout of those systems, and the company said Friday it will not make a $326 million interest payment on debt backed by spectrum licenses due to that uncertainty. That move could trigger a bankruptcy filing that would pause FCC efforts to modify or revoke its licenses. [SpaceNews]
NanoAvionics won a contract to build a cubesat for a South Korean mission to study Venus. NanoAvionics will build an 8U cubesat for Chasing the Long-term Variability of Our Nearest Neighbor Planet Venus, or CLOVE, a mission by South Korea's Institute for Basic Science (IBS). CLOVE would carry ultraviolet and near-infrared sensors from IBS to monitor Venus' atmosphere, performing those observations from low Earth orbit. IBS aims to deploy a new CLOVE satellite every three years over a 15-year period, covering at least one full 11-year solar cycle, to collect data that could shed more light on how Earth's sister planet evolved into a hostile world. [SpaceNews]
| | | | | Rocket Lab launched a BlackSky imaging satellite Monday. An Electron rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 7:57 p.m. Eastern, deploying the BlackSky Gen-3 satellite into low Earth orbit nearly an hour later. This is BlackSky's second Gen-3 satellite, which features improved resolution and other capabilities. BlackSky bought five Electron launches from Rocket Lab in 2023, and this was the tenth Electron launch overall to carry BlackSky satellites. [SpaceNews]
SpaceX launched more Starlink satellites overnight. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 12:43 a.m. Eastern Tuesday, putting 23 Starlink satellites, 13 with direct-to-cell payloads, into orbit. The launch was scheduled for Sunday night but postponed a day for undisclosed reasons. [Spaceflight Now]
The French space agency CNES is seeking proposals for an in-space refueling demonstration. CNES issued a call for proposals last week for CRYOSTARS, or Cryogenic Storage and Transfer for Advanced Rocket Systems. The program first seeks to study use cases for refueling using cryogenic propellants, such as liquid hydrogen, which would be followed by ground tests and potentially a demonstration mission. [European Spaceflight]
One less thing to worry about: a collision between the Milky Way and the neighboring Andromeda galaxy is no longer a certainty. Astronomers had believed the two galaxies would collide in about five billion years, creating a merged galaxy dubbed "Milkomeda" while flinging many stars into intergalactic space. New models, though, show that the odds of such a collision are now no higher than 50-50, with only about a 2% chance of a head-on collision between the galaxies. [Space.com]
| Time Doesn't Fly When You Fly
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"And some say, 'Oh well, that seems like a really short period of time.' I will say when you're traveling at more than a couple thousand miles per hour, 11 minutes is enough."
– Aisha Bowe, reflecting on her brief suborbital spaceflight on Blue Origin's New Shepard vehicle in April. [Washington Post]
| | | | | | | | | What's New With SpaceNews? | | Don't forget to sign up for our next webinar! |  | | Join us June 10 for an exclusive one-on-one live interview with Rep. George Whitesides (D-CA), a freshman congressman representing California's 27th District. Whitesides brings years of experience to Capitol Hill, having previously served as NASA's chief of staff and as CEO of Virgin Galactic. | | | | |
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