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
SpaceX Lands $1.6 Billion Space Force Deal to Launch 18 Rockets for Airborne-Threat Tracking Satellites
Space Systems Command awarded SpaceX two task orders worth $1.6 billion for 18 Falcon 9 launches by end of 2027, carrying satellites meant to track airborne threats and feed targeting data to U.S. forces in near-real time.
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Military Space
GAO: Space Force Doesn't Know How Many Guardians It Actually Needs
A new GAO report finds the Space Force filled only 75% of its identified FY2025 positions and has no standardized way to calculate how many Guardians it actually requires — a gap opening just as the service plans to roughly double in size.
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Military Space
Air Force Inherits the Military's Troubled M-Code GPS Receiver Program from Space Force
The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center took over the delay-plagued MGUE program on July 23, 2026, absorbing the jam-resistant M-code receiver effort that the Space Force developed but struggled to field on schedule.
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Military Space
The Nuke Detectors Riding Shotgun on GPS: NNSA Ships Its Fifth Next-Gen Global Burst Detector
NNSA has handed the Space Force its fifth next-generation Global Burst Detector, the multi-lab sensor payload that turns GPS satellites into a 24/7 nuclear detonation watch — announced the same day the Space Force offloaded its troubled M-code receiver program to the Air Force.
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Military Space
SDA's Mesh Grows: Third Tranche 1 Launch Puts 21 York Satellites in Orbit — and All 21 Phone Home
A July 16 Falcon 9 lofted 21 York-built data-transport satellites for the Space Development Agency, resuming Tranche 1 flights after a roughly nine-month pause — and York confirmed contact with all 21 within hours, pushing the on-orbit count to 63.
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Military Space
The Space Force Just Tripled Its Commercial Launch Contract Ceiling to $17 Billion
The Space Force tripled its NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 ceiling to $17 billion across seven launch providers on July 17, 2026 — but a GAO report showing commercial launches at federal ranges have more than quadrupled since 2021 suggests the real bottleneck isn't rockets, it's the ground beneath them.
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Military Space
A Confirmation Hearing So Quiet It Was Called a Compliment: Schiess Set to Become Space Force's Third Chief
Lt. Gen. Douglas A. Schiess faced few questions and even fewer skeptics at his July 16 Senate hearing to lead the Space Force, telling lawmakers that China's rapid military-space buildup justifies a roughly $71 billion budget and a service set to more than double in size.
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Military Space
Saltzman's Exit Warning: Orbital Mechanics Will Drag Everyone Into a Space War
In his farewell address as Chief of Space Operations, Gen. Chance Saltzman warned that orbital mechanics gives no nation an opt-out from a war in space — and that the only real deterrent is a force visibly able to win one.
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Military Space
Half the Constellation: SDA Resumes Tranche 1 Satellite Launches After Nine-Month Pause
SDA launched 21 more York-built data-relay satellites after a nine-month pause to fix on-orbit software and hardware issues, bringing half of its 126-satellite Tranche 1 Transport Layer into orbit even as GAO warns the program may not deliver capability on schedule.
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Commercial
SpaceX Marks the 600th Flight of a Reused Falcon Booster With a Pre-Dawn Starlink Launch
A pre-dawn Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral quietly notched a milestone that says more about SpaceX's operating model than any single mission: the 600th flight of a reused booster.
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Military Space
Space and Air Chiefs From 50-Plus Nations Convene in London to Talk Space Warfare and Nuclear Deterrence
Air and space leaders from the US, UK, and more than 50 other nations meet in London July 15-16 to discuss space operations, nuclear deterrence, and missile defense days after a tense NATO summit.
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Missions
NASA Moves Its Sun-Watching SmallSat Swarm From Vulcan Centaur to Falcon Heavy
NASA has rebooked its six-satellite SunRISE solar radio observatory from a ULA Vulcan Centaur onto a SpaceX Falcon Heavy, a Space Force-sponsored rideshare that will fly the toaster-oven-size CubeSats to just above geosynchronous orbit.
