The US Space Force is considering launching five satellites into cislunar space by 2029, according to a notice sent to aerospace manufacturers reported by Air and Space Forces. The satellites would orbit the far side of the Moon and serve as reconnaissance 'seed vehicles' to shape a broader strategy for a future satellite network in that region. Major General Stephen Purdy has described the cislunar area as a potential 'warfighting domain' for the military.
futurism.com
· 2026-11-03
Apple Maps has begun obscuring satellite views of several NASA and U.S. Space Force and Air Force installations, including Wallops Flight Facility, Stennis Space Center, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Vandenberg Space Force Base, and Whiteman and Ellsworth Air Force Bases. The change appeared without any Apple announcement, and coverage is inconsistent—some sensitive sites like Dyess and Barksdale Air Force Bases remain unblurred, as do large Navy installations such as Pearl Harbor and Norfolk. Google Maps has not made similar changes to these locations.
spaceexplored.com
· 2026-10-31
United Launch Alliance announced it plans to resume Vulcan launches on November 13, nine months after a solid rocket booster nozzle failure in February disrupted its schedule. The mission will carry 40 satellites for Amazon's Leo broadband constellation, the first of 38 Vulcan flights booked by Amazon, and will fly with a redesigned booster nozzle pending range approval.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-10-28
The US Space Force wants a third heavy-lift launch site operational by 2030 to ease strain on existing bases in Florida and California, according to Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, head of Space Systems Command. No location has been chosen, and officials have not yet worked out how to acquire the land needed. Air Force Secretary Troy Meink first flagged the need for the site in May, citing a congressionally mandated study of launch infrastructure.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-10-23
SpaceX turned down three military launch contracts offered by the US Space Force, according to this week's Rocket Report roundup. Separately, a NASA safety panel said SpaceX's Starship may need up to 22 refueling flights to support a lunar landing mission.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-10-23
Blue Origin announced plans to add two new launch pads for its New Glenn rocket at Cape Canaveral, on top of two already under construction, along with a new manufacturing facility for up to 150 upper stages of a larger New Glenn variant. The company also plans two additional landing ships to recover first stages, plus a customer integration facility built with the US Space Force featuring four payload bays. Blue Origin says it has invested about $3 billion in Florida infrastructure, employs over 5,000 people there, and works with 500 state-based suppliers.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-10-16
The Space Force has retired its last two satellites used for monitoring global conflicts, moving them to a designated orbital disposal zone. This marks the conclusion of the satellite program dedicated to early warning and surveillance. The satellites had been operational for several years before their decommissioning.
gizmodo.com
· 2026-10-06
Dr. Tony Phillips of spaceweather.com has built a method to track Earth's upper atmosphere by analyzing orbital decay data from SpaceX's Starlink satellites, along with constellations from Planet Labs, Amazon Kuiper, and Eutelsat OneWeb. He uses the 'B-star' drag term buried in Space Force tracking data to measure how much the atmosphere expands in response to solar activity, finding a roughly two-day lag between solar radio flux changes and atmospheric response.
theregister.com
· 2026-09-25
President Trump announced on Truth Social plans to establish a new 'AI Force' and appoint an 'AI czar' to lead it, comparing the initiative to his creation of the Space Force. He pledged his administration would not hinder AI industry growth, instead vowing to 'cherish' and support it, while making unsubstantiated claims that data centers raise salaries, cut taxes, and improve safety in host communities.
theverge.com
· 2026-09-20
President Trump used a Saturday Truth Social post to declare the creation of an 'AI Force,' comparing it to his Space Force initiative, and said he would soon name an AI 'czar.' He offered no details on the group's structure, mandate, or funding, and the White House did not clarify whether it would function as a military or civilian body.
politics.slashdot.org
· 2026-09-20
President Trump announced via Truth Social that he is establishing an 'AI Force,' comparing it to the creation of the Space Force, and said he will soon name someone to lead it. He gave no specifics on the agency's structure or duties but pledged not to hinder AI industry growth, and also floated renaming 'artificial intelligence' to something like 'extreme' or 'supreme intelligence.'
engadget.com
· 2026-09-19
US Space Force chief Gen. Douglas Schiess stated publicly that Guardians currently operate weapons in orbit capable of defending against space-based attacks, though he gave no specifics on the systems involved. He illustrated the claim with an anecdote about an operator called 'Specialist Gray' who allegedly used electromagnetic warfare against an adversary during a missile alert.
futurism.com
· 2026-09-16
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