U.S. Space Force
Every Cosmic Herald story on U.S. Space Force — missions, launches, discoveries, and the business of space, newest first.
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Military Space
VICTUS HAZE: How a 16-Hour Launch and a 61-Hour Chase Just Rewrote the Rules of Space Warfare
Over the July 4th weekend, Rocket Lab launched a Space Force satellite in 16 hours 42 minutes, then True Anomaly's autonomous JACKAL-0004 found and imaged it in 61 hours — the first commercial orbital intercept in history.
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Military Space
GAO Watchdog: Pentagon Weapons Now Take 12 Years to Deliver, and Space Programs Are Feeling It Too
A July 2, 2026 GAO report finds Pentagon weapons now take over 12 years to field on average, with a missile-warning satellite delay and Space Force staffing shortages among the warning signs.
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Military Space
Victus Haze: How the Space Force Just Proved It Can Hunt Satellites on Hours' Notice
Rocket Lab's Puma launched 16 hours after notice and, guided only by its own sensors, tracked down and photographed True Anomaly's orbiting Jackal-0004 satellite — a rehearsal for spotting adversary spacecraft with almost no warning.
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Military Space
Space Force Fields 'Meadowlands' Satellite Jammer, Cutting Deployment Gear by Two-Thirds
The Space Force has operationally accepted Meadowlands, an L3Harris-built jammer that shrinks its satellite-warfare kit from 23 cases to seven while matching the anti-satellite push from China and Russia.
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Military Space
Space Force Hands Boeing $2 Billion to Extend the Military's 'Cellphone Network in Space'
The U.S. Space Force awarded Boeing up to $2 billion to build two new MUOS narrowband satellites, dethroning incumbent Lockheed Martin and keeping the military's UHF 'cellphone network in space' alive into the mid-2030s.
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Military Space
Congress Eyes $55.5 Billion for Space Force — and the Service Is Already Spending It
The House Appropriations Committee approved $55.5 billion for U.S. Space Force while the service reopens competition for satellite-control antennas — a signal the branch is accelerating ground modernization before the budget is even final.
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Military Space
Space Force Bets on a Jam-Resistant Swarm: First Two PTS-G Satellites Ordered for $437.7M
The U.S. Space Force awarded Viasat and Intelsat General contracts totaling $437.7 million to build the first two operational PTS-G 'Swarm 1' satellites — small, maneuverable, dual-band anti-jam spacecraft meant to replace the aging AEHF fleet, with launch slated for 2028.
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Commercial
A Chinese Spaceplane Just Released an Object Into Orbit — and Commercial Trackers Caught It
Commercial space surveillance firms independently detected a Chinese spaceplane deploying an object in orbit, underscoring the growing clout of private-sector space domain awareness.
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Military Space
Rocket Lab Launches Victus Haze Satellite in Space Force's Most Ambitious Responsive Space Exercise Yet
Rocket Lab's Electron delivers a Space Force satellite for the Victus Haze exercise, testing whether the U.S. can rapidly deploy orbital assets when a crisis demands it.
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Military Space
The Space Force Just Published a 15-Year Vision. Personnel, Simulators, and Survivability Top the List.
A 100-page roadmap called Objective Force lays out how the smallest military branch plans to quadruple its satellite fleet, grow headcount by 30%, and train for orbital combat through 2040.
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Military Space
Northrop Grumman Says It Can Scale Solid Rocket Production — But Washington Has to Commit First
The solid rocket motor maker argues the industrial base is ready to ramp up, but short-term government contracts make it nearly impossible to justify the capital investment needed to do so.
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Military Space
Space Force's Top Rapid-Acquisition Leader Decamps for Nuclear Weapons Center as Congress Rewrites the Playbook
Kelly Hammett's move from the Space Rapid Capabilities Office to Kirtland AFB comes as both chambers of Congress prepare to fold the agile procurement shop into a broader acquisition framework.
