| By Jeff Foust
In today's edition: calculating military space funding for 2026, Lockheed Martin explains how future GPS satellites will counter interference, India's PSLV investigation and more.
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The Space Force has nearly $42 billion in funding this year, although future funding is uncertain. An analysis released by the National Security Space Association on Tuesday estimated that the Pentagon is spending $57.7 billion on space in fiscal year 2026, including the Space Force, Missile Defense Agency and space efforts in other services. That funding comes from the regular appropriations bill and last summer's budget reconciliation act, including money set aside for the Golden Dome missile defense initiative. A key question is whether the 2026 surge represents a new baseline or a peak. If the additional funding from budget reconciliation is not renewed, the Space Force's budget could revert to $26 billion, placing constraints on some programs. [SpaceNews]
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth used a pair of stops at Colorado space companies Monday to criticize defense bureaucracy. Speaking to workers at True Anomaly and Sierra Space as part of the Pentagon's "Arsenal of Freedom" tour, Hegseth framed the department's acquisition struggles as the product of a sclerotic Beltway establishment, saying companies like theirs are the antidote. His rhetoric aligns with a broader procurement reform narrative inside the Pentagon. Senior officials have voiced dissatisfaction with cost overruns and slow fielding timelines in major defense programs and signaled greater interest in commercially funded innovation, fixed-price contracts and faster development cycles. [SpaceNews]
Lockheed Martin says planned upgrades to GPS satellites will address concerns about interference. A company executive said this week that the GPS 3 Follow-On, or GPS 3F, satellites will be a "game changer" in countering interference. Among the upgrades will be the ability to transmit M-code signals at a higher energy over a specific region to overcome jamming. Those interference concerns have led to calls for complementary or alternative forms of positioning, navigation and timing, including other satellite constellations and terrestrial systems. [SpaceNews]
Luxembourg-based OQ Technology has received 25 million euros ($30 million) from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to expand its direct-to-device constellation. The funding, announced Wednesday, is a loan that will support the deployment of more than 20 small satellites. OQ Technology uses S-band to connect proprietary and mass-market off-the-grid tracking and monitoring devices after deploying 10 Internet of Things (IoT) satellites in low Earth orbit, but is developing its first dedicated satellite to provide smartphone connectivity in C-band that is slated for launch in the middle of this year. C-band promises greater bandwidth than S-band, and additional spacecraft would improve coverage and latency for what OQ Technology intends to be a multi-band constellation serving IoT and smartphone devices. [SpaceNews]
One challenge for space traffic coordination turns out to be figuring out how satellite operators can communicate with each other. At the Space Traffic Conference last week, a major issue discussed was the difficulty finding contact information for satellite operators in the event of a potential conjunction. Aarti Holla-Maini, director of the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs, said her office was asked twice in the last 14 months to help make contact with operators to coordinate maneuvers to avoid collisions after other efforts to make contact failed. The problem, experts say, shows the need for a comprehensive directory of satellite operators of some kind, or ultimately automating the process of coordinating collision avoidance maneuvers. [SpaceNews]
| | | | | | Other News
SpaceX launched more Starlink satellites from Florida Tuesday evening. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 6:04 p.m. Eastern, deploying 29 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. This was SpaceX's 18th launch so far this year of Starlink satellites. [Spaceflight Now]
A committee chartered by the Indian space agency ISRO will review potential organizational issues behind back-to-back PSLV launch failures. The committee, whose members include former ISRO Chairman S. Somanath, will study if there are underlying cultural, management or other reasons that could explain the failures of PSLV launches in January and in May 2025. Both failures involved the third stage of the vehicle but appear to have different root causes. The committee is expected to complete its work by April. [The Hindu]
A Space Force general involved in acquisition has moved into a new position. Maj. Gen. Stephen Purdy was reassigned last week to be a senior adviser on space acquisition to Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink. Purdy spent a year as the acting head of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration, a role that ended in January, while also serving as military deputy in the office. Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen is the new military deputy for space acquisition. [Breaking Defense]
A record-long State of the Union address had little space for space. The speech Tuesday night by President Trump, which at 108 minutes was the longest in at least 60 years, included only a brief reference to the Space Force, which he called "my baby" since it was established in his first term. "My baby's becoming so important," he said. Near the end of the speech, he mentioned launching "mankind into the stars on rockets powered by sheer American will and unyielding American pride." He did not mention the Artemis 2 astronauts, who were in attendance as guests of Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. Also present was NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, a guest of Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.) [SpacePolicyOnline.com]
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| "You can can go fast, but there's risks with that too, though. A lot of the government things that they do, there's scar tissue there and they've learned lessons the hard way. Sometimes these companies can be a little bit like petulant teenagers, and they're just going to go out there and give it a go, and then they find out the hard way."
| | – Todd May, senior vice president of the Space and Mission Solutions Business Unit at KBR, contrasting government and commercial approaches during a talk at the Beyond Earth Symposium on Tuesday.
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