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Keyword: militarysatellite

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  • Space Capability Integral to All Military Operation

    03/26/2012 1:11:35 AM PDT · by U-238 · 3 replies · 2+ views
    Defense Talk ^ | 3/26/2012 | Defense Talk
    Space capabilities have become integral to all military operations, the commander of Air Force Space Command told reporters here during a Defense Writers Group breakfast yesterday. "It's hard to imagine what life was like before we had ... GPS providing very accurate targeting capability, military satellite communications providing all the reach-back that's needed, [and] missile warning providing cover for our deployed forces," Air Force Gen. William L. Shelton said. The Air Force launched and maintains the 24 satellites that make up the GPS navigation system. The all-weather, 24-hour system was intended for military use, but in 1983 President Ronald Reagan...
  • U.S. Military Satellites Achieve 'Holy Grail' of Missile Defense

    03/25/2011 10:15:12 PM PDT · by ErnstStavroBlofeld · 19 replies
    Fox News ^ | 3/24/2011 | Turner Brinton
    A pair of low Earth-orbiting demonstration satellites built by Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems for the first time on March 16 detected and tracked a ballistic missile launch through all phases of flight, a Northrop Grumman official said March 22. So-called birth-to-death tracking of a ballistic missile launch had never been done before from space -- and is the most significant achievement to date for the Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) spacecraft, said Doug Young, Northrop Grumman’s vice president of missile defense and warning programs. “It’s the Holy Grail for missile defense,” Young said during a media briefing here. [Top...
  • China's Military Space Surge

    03/14/2011 10:57:17 PM PDT · by ErnstStavroBlofeld · 3 replies · 1+ views
    Space Ref ^ | 3/8/2011 | Space Ref
    China's surging military space program is poised to challenge U.S. aircraft carrier operations in the Pacific, as Chinese military spacecraft already gather significant new radar, electrooptical imaging, and signal intelligence data globally. During 2010, China more than doubled its military satellite launch rate to 12. This compares with three to five military missions launched each year between 2006 and 2009. Since 2006, China has launched about 30 military related spacecraft. Its total of 15 launches in 2010 set a new record for China and for the first time equaled the U.S. flight rate for a given year. Most U.S. public...
  • Air Force Working Through GPS Receiver Problems

    05/07/2010 10:25:36 PM PDT · by ErnstStavroBlofeld · 4 replies · 287+ views
    Space News ^ | 5/7/2010 | Turner Brinton
    More than 8,000 deployed military GPS receivers experienced compatibility problems with the most recent upgrade to the timing and navigation constellation’s ground control segment, but the U.S. Air Force has implemented an interim fix while it validates a permanent solution. When the Air Force upgraded the GPS Operational Control Segment Jan. 11, some military users began reporting their systems were losing GPS signals. The problem was isolated to a specific type of GPS receiver known as the Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module (SAASM) deployed in at least 86 U.S. weapons systems that were having trouble authenticating a new messaging format implemented...
  • Boeing to Provide Next-Generation GPS Ground Systems Support to US Air Force

    04/12/2010 8:38:44 PM PDT · by ErnstStavroBlofeld · 2 replies · 253+ views
    Boeing Media ^ | 4/13/2010 | Boeing Media
    Boeing today announced that, as part of the Raytheon team awarded the space-based Global Positioning System (GPS) advanced control segment program (OCX), it will develop portions of the U.S. Air Force's new ground control segment. GPS OCX will provide more secure, accurate, and precise navigation around the world for military, humanitarian and commercial applications. The development contract, awarded recently by the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center's GPS Wing, is valued at more than $880 million over six years, including five option years for sustainment. Boeing has provided ground operations sustainment support for the current GPS II fleet for...
  • Military Communications Satellite Built By Lockheed Martin Achieves 10 Years In Service

    03/01/2010 7:51:09 PM PST · by ErnstStavroBlofeld · 12 replies · 344+ views
    Defense Professionals ^ | 3/01/2010 | DefenseProfessionals
    The U.S. Air Force’s Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) B8 satellite, built by Lockheed Martin has surpassed its 10-year design life of on-orbit service in providing secure and reliable communications capabilities for the warfighter. Launched from Cape Canaveral on Jan. 20, 2000, the B8 satellite is one of 14 DSCS III spacecraft designed and built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems for the MILSATCOM Systems Wing at the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif. The satellite is also the first of four DSCS III satellites to feature Service Life Enhancement Program (SLEP) upgrades that...
  • Russian company eyes offensive military satellite

    02/20/2010 1:25:37 AM PST · by ErnstStavroBlofeld · 3 replies · 304+ views
    RT,com ^ | 1/26/2010 | RT
    Leading Russian spacecraft producer Energia has presented a concept of a universal military satellite with offensive capabilities. The 20-ton orbiter with a life expectancy of 10 to 15 years would be powered by a 150 to 500 kilowatt nuclear reactor and will be able to “monitor territories and airspace, provide informational superiority – including in armed conflicts – and perform target designation and traffic control. It will also be offensive-capable,” said Energia head Vitaly Lopota, as cited by ITAR-TASS news agency. He did not specify what offensive capabilities the satellite would have; whether it will be able to target other...
  • U.S. Air Force Scales Back Missile Warning Technology Program

    02/05/2010 1:59:04 PM PST · by ErnstStavroBlofeld · 11 replies · 399+ views
    Space News ^ | 02/05/2010 | Turner Brinton
    The trend over the last several years of annual funding increases for U.S. Air Force space activity appears to be at an end, and that, coupled with the ongoing recapitalization of the service’s operational satellite fleets, means there is little money left for new development initiatives. The service’s 2011 budget request, submitted to Congress Feb. 1, scales back the Third Generation Infrared Surveillance (TGIRS) program and curbs funding for the Operationally Responsive Space Office. This follows U.S. President Barack Obama’s decision early last year to cancel the $26 billion Transformational Satellite communications system. Overall, the request includes $8 billion for...
  • Possible Space Wars In The Near Future

    01/17/2010 8:42:29 PM PST · by ErnstStavroBlofeld · 24 replies · 943+ views
    RIA Novosti/Space War ^ | 1/18/2010 | by Ilya Kramnik
    The U.S. media suspects China and India of developing anti-satellite weapons. An article to this effect has been published the New Scientist magazine. Until recently, only the Soviet Union, its legal successor Russia and the United States were capable of developing anti-satellite weapons. U.S. analysts now think that China and India are acquiring similar capabilities. To what extent are such fears justified? It is hard to overestimate the role played by military satellite systems. Since the 1970s, an increasingly greater number of troop-control, telecommunications, target-acquisition, navigation and other processes depend on spacecraft which are therefore becoming more important. At this...
  • U.S. Air Force launches satellite to enhance military communications

    12/11/2009 1:07:37 AM PST · by ErnstStavroBlofeld · 279+ views
    Defense Professionals ^ | 12/11/2009 | Defense Professionals
    Air Force officials successfully launched a new-generation military communications satellite from here at 8:47 p.m. EST Dec. 5 when a Delta IV rocket carried a Wideband Global SATCOM into space. WGS satellites are designed to provide high-capacity communications to U.S. military forces and the satellites will augment and eventually replace the Defense Satellite Communication System that has been the Department of Defense's backbone for satellite communications over the last two decades. Secretary of the Air Force Michael B. Donley, who had planned to witness the launch from the Morrell Operations Center at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station prior to a...