space force

Latest about space force

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket takes off on an Air Force mission on Aug. 8, 2019. SpaceX and ULA will share the job of carrying "national security" cargo for the military going forward, as the Pentagon rushes to retire the Atlas V and its Russian-made rocket engines.

SpaceX wins Pentagon rocket contract to send spy satellites into orbit

By Rafi Letzter published

SpaceX and United Launch Alliance will share the job of launching the Pentagon's most important military equipment from 2022 to 2026.

Space Exploration
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launches an X-37B space plane on a classified mission for the U.S. Space Force from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on May 17, 2020.

Space Force launches robotic X-37B space plane on new mystery mission

By Amy Thompson published

The U.S. Space Force's mysterious X-37B space plane successfully launched on its sixth mystery mission from Florida today (May 17).

Space Exploration
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the X-37B space plane for the U.S. Space Force's OTV-6/USSF-7 mission stands atop a rainy launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base, Florida on May 16, 2020.

Launch of secret X-37B space plane delayed by bad weather

By Tariq Malik published

The U.S. Space Force's next secret mission of a robotic X-37B space plane has been delayed at least 24 hours after bad weather thwarted a launch attempt today (May 16).

Space Exploration
A Boeing image shows the X-37B in its capsule before launch.

Why a microwave-beam experiment will launch aboard the Air Force’s secretive X-37B space plane

By Rafi Letzter published

There's a microwave power experiment heading to space Saturday (May 16) aboard the Air Force's secretive X-37B spaceplane. Researchers hope it could lead to a new global power source.

Space Exploration
A U.S. Air Force X-37B space plane, encapsulated ahead of a planned May 16, 2020, launch. That liftoff will kick off the sixth mission for the X-37B program.

US Space Force to launch the next X-37B space plane mystery mission on May 16

By Mike Wall published

The sixth X-37B mission is scheduled to lift off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station May 16, Space Force officials announced Wednesday (May 6).

Space Exploration
A Russian Soyuz 2.1v rocket launches a classified military satellite into orbit from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russian on Nov. 25, 2019. The satellite can apparently track other satellites in orbit.

2 Russian satellites are stalking a US spysat in orbit. The Space Force is watching.

By Chelsea Gohd published

A U.S. satellite that's used to spy on other countries is being trailed by two Russian satellites, according to the commander of the U.S. Space Force.

Space Exploration
President Donald Trump speaks during his State of the Union address on Feb. 4, 2020.

Trump touts Space Force in State of the Union address

By Mike Wall published

Space got a couple of shout-outs in President Trump's State of the Union address last night (Feb. 4).

Space
Artist's illustration of one satellite inspecting another. On Aug. 14, 2018, a US diplomat said that a Russian satellite described as a "space apparatus inspector" has been behaving very oddly on orbit, raising the possibility that it may be a space weapo

Russian Satellite Is Behaving Oddly. But Is It a Space Weapon?

By Mike Wall published

A Russian satellite that launched to Earth orbit last October has been behaving oddly, raising the possibility that the craft could be some sort of space weapon, a U.S. diplomat warned.

Space Exploration
President Donald Trump wants a new Space Force branch of the U.S. military, but it reopens an old argument about military uses in space. Here, the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds fly over NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida with retired NASA astronaut and

Should the US Have a Military Presence in Space?

By Elizabeth Howell published

President Donald Trump's call this week that to create a sixth branch of the U.S. military — which he called the "Space Force" — has reopened a wider debate on the military's role in space.

Space
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Donald Trump Wants a 'Space Force,' But America Already Has One

By Brandon Specktor published

Trump's proposed Space Force would basically be doing things the Air Force already does.

Space
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