APOGEE STAFF Private satellite operators supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia have helped counter the Kremlin’s vast electronic warfare (EW) and cyber arsenal. Commercial satellite communications (SATCOM) have exponentially changed the tactical, operational and strategic environment to Ukraine’s advantage, helping to coordinate counterattacks, guide drone strikes and distribute medicine, aid and other support. Commercial satellite operators have provided photos to help strategists in Kyiv while shining a light on atrocities and potential war crimes by Russian soldiers. This is the “first war where commercial space capabilities have really played a significant role,” Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, former…
Author: Apogee
APOGEE STAFF he U.S. Department of Defense is working with commercial partners to identify sources of radio frequency (RF) jamming and other threats that interfere with global positioning system (GPS) signals. Electronic devices that disrupt GPS signals are proliferating worldwide, prompting concern within the Defense Department and industries dependent on GPS. Pinpointing the precise location and sources of the interference has long been a challenge. To find a solution, the U.S. Space Force is working with commercial partners Slingshot Aerospace and HawkEye 360, which use satellites to track ships, vehicles and other devices that emit RF signals. Under an agreement…
APOGEE STAFF New commercial technologies may someday help the U.S. Space Force refuel and service satellites in space. Space Systems Command (SSC), the service’s development, acquisition, launch and logistics command, is exploring how to leverage commercial assets to maneuver and service satellites in geostationary orbit (GEO), more than 35,000 kilometers above Earth. The idea is in early stages and hasn’t received full funding, although members of Congress are warming to the idea. The SSC plans to develop an operational concept to access commercial technologies. On-orbit servicing would vastly improve maneuverability and extend satellites’ lifespans. “There’s interest on the Hill already,…
APOGEE STAFF The U.S. Space Force is hoping to add another satellite to its Wideband Global Satcom constellation, which provides communications to the U.S. military and allies. If approved, the new satellite would be the 12th to join the network. The Space Force is awaiting approval of the U.S. Department of Defense budget before awarding a contract to develop the satellite, which would called be WGS-12. Congress added U.S. $442 million to the budget to build the new wideband geostationary spacecraft, SpaceNews said. Boeing, the prime contractor of the WGS satellites since 2001, is amidst construction of WGS-11+ at its…
APOGEE STAFF Early on November 15, 2021, the seven crew members of the International Space Station (ISS) were awakened by NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Flight controllers radioed to warn about a field of satellite debris nearing the station and they wanted the members to review their safe haven procedures. The crew sealed the hatches to the radial modules that extend from the station’s long axis — including NASA’s Tranquility module, the European Space Agency’s Columbus module, Japan’s Kibo module and the United States’ Quest airlock — then hunkered down inside their Soyuz and Dragon crew capsules until the…
APOGEE STAFF For more than a decade, as the People’s Republic of China (PRC) ramped up its military capabilities, nations around the world have entered space security relationships with the United States. More than 30 countries have taken this step, from entry-level space situational agreements (SSA) to the deepest levels of cooperation. The decision to partner beyond the Earth’s atmosphere opens the door to the next challenge — aligning operational systems and security requirements so nations can actually work together in space. It’s a challenge that has confronted militaries before across terrestrial domains. In the U.S., the number of special…
APOGEE STAFF You can see how humans fuel climate change in the spread of drought and wildfire, the rise of sea levels and the melting of glaciers. Thanks to a growing network of orbital sensors, you can also see the source of the greenhouse gas emissions that are contributing to the crisis. Three microsatellites launched in November 2023 for the Canadian company GHGSAT are among the most sophisticated. They joined a fleet of GHGSAT censors, each the size and shape of a microwave oven, that can locate the source of methane emissions to within less than 25 square meters. Before…
ERIK D’AMATO | photos by AFP/GETTY IMAGES On a Sunday afternoon in late March 2023, a rocket lifted off from the Alcântara Launch Center on Brazil’s north coast carrying a payload for the Brazilian Air Force. The launch was the 500th at the spaceport, which is even closer to the equator (2.3 degrees) than the more well-known European-run center in neighboring French Guiana. The launch involved several firsts, including the use of a hybrid motor employing solid fuel fed with liquid oxidizer via an electric pump. While on some levels a smashing success, the Alcântara launch also highlighted Brazil’s uneasy…
APOGEE STAFF Amid growing recognition that space superiority drives all-domain superiority, satellite ground stations and radio telescopes are emerging as top security concerns as the People’s Republic of China (PRC) expands its presence across Latin America. The PRC insists that space-related centers it has developed in half a dozen countries across the region serve only peaceful purposes. But pivoting them to military use seems a likelier prospect now that the PRC is accelerating its overarching strategy of military-civil fusion (MCF), integrating and leveraging science technology and innovations across both sectors. Speaking in October 2022 at the Chinese Communist Party congress,…
APOGEE STAFF For the Pentagon, space is the key to deterring aggression and allies are the key to operations in space. Across the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), people are working to build a coalition of like-minded nations to head off adversaries such as the People’s Republic of China (PRC), identified by military leaders as the “pacing threat” in space and all other domains. One of the chief drivers of this effort is Kelli L. Seybolt, who has spent much of her three-decade career in government as a civilian Air Force employee specializing in international relations. For the past five…