Space

The National Reconnaissance Office’s proliferated satellite architecture is supporting a new mission area for space-based sensing and targeting.

Aviation Week editors discuss how space control is front and center for the U.S. Space Force, allied services and adversaries.

The Week Ahead In Aerospace & Defense

INMARSAT gets Marine Corps sat connectivity award... CT-157 Siskin II factory acceptance... NORTHROP GRUMMAN announces new spacecraft positioning/navigation system...

United Launch Alliance (ULA) is preparing for the first launch of its Vulcan rocket in support of Amazon’s Leo broadband constellation deployment.

Cowboy Space says it plans to build launch vehicles and orbiting data centers for artificial intelligence.

Italian plans to develop an airborne satellite launch system have moved a step closer after the successful launch of a suborbital rocket from a jet trainer in the U.S.

The Dutch military explores penetrating ISR and satellite upgrades to enhance intelligence capabilities and address vulnerabilities in space systems.

Integrated vehicle systems tests on the Delta 1 will follow production acceptance work, clearing the way for delivery to Spaceport America this summer.

AVIATION INNOVATION COALITION announced... LOCKHEED gets Aegis Guam award... USRA welcomes University of Idaho...

Rocket Lab has signed an agreement to buy Motiv Space Systems, a specialist in planetary robotics and solar array motors, for $40 million in cash.

NASA plans a June launch to boost the descending Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory.

The U.S. Space Force is assisting an undisclosed partner nation that is interested in launching national security missions from a sovereign spaceport, a recent government notice shows.

The National Reconnaissance Office has scheduled the launch date for its next mission for no earlier than May 11, the agency said May 8.

The Pentagon, in concert with NASA and the FBI, on May 8 released scores of reports, images and videos of unidentified aerial phenomena.

Brian Hughes is returning to NASA as senior director of launch operations, the agency announced on May 8.

MDA Space is continuing with Canadarm3 work even as it discusses its future with the Canadian Space Agency in the wake of NASA’s decision to abandon the Lunar Gateway.

The Exploration Company is looking to begin trials of a flight-representative reusable cryogenic liquid oxygen‑methane engine next year.

Government intel agencies must move faster than ever to satisfy operators’ growing appetite for remote-sensing data.

Rocket Lab has already booked more launches in the first three months of 2026 than in all of 2025, company CEO Peter Beck announced in a May 7 earnings call.

Anduril plans to conduct three company-funded tests of a hypersonic vehicle launched by a Rocket Lab rocket, the launch company said May 7.

Swissto12 is to add an unfurling antenna reflector to a satellite in geostationary Earth orbit that it plans to use to broadcast directly to mobile devices.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Japan’s space agency, has agreed to work with the European Space Agency on the Ramses planetary defense mission.

A Turkish rocket propulsion company is at the heart of the country’s efforts to establish a presence in lunar exploration.

Spire Global has opened its satellite manufacturing facility in Munich.