Top Stories

Kratos Wins $447M Space Force Contract for MEO Missile Tracking Ground System

Kratos has been awarded a $447 million Space Force contract to build and operate the ground operations center for the Resilient Missile Warning Tracking (RMWT) program in Medium Earth Orbit. The award is a follow-on to an earlier contract given to Parsons for the same program.

RMWT is part of the Space Force’s broader push to move missile warning off legacy GEO satellites and distribute it across multiple orbital regimes. MEO-based tracking adds resilience against jamming and kinetic threats targeting the traditional high-value GEO belt. KeepTrack users can monitor the MEO belt using the satellite tracking tools to watch how this architecture develops as new assets come online.

Read the full story: Breaking Defense

Space Force Publicly Briefs Electronic Warfare Threats to LEO Constellations

At the Satellite 2026 conference on March 23, Space Force Chief Master Sergeant Ron Lerch — senior enlisted advisor to the Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Intelligence — delivered an unclassified briefing on threats to U.S. space systems. Lerch specifically called out electronic warfare technologies designed to disrupt proliferated LEO constellations.

The public release of this threat assessment is deliberate. The Space Force has been increasingly open about adversary EW capabilities, likely to build support for funding and accelerate hardening of commercial and government PLEO systems. Any disruption to PLEO constellations would affect hundreds of trackable objects — use KeepTrack to monitor active LEO constellations and their orbital spacing.

Read the full story: SpaceNews

Redwire’s ELSA Solar Arrays Earn First Commercial Award — $12.8M from Moog for National Security Satellite

Redwire has its first customer for the Extensible Low-Profile Solar Array (ELSA): Moog, which will integrate the arrays into its Meteor satellite bus. The contract is worth $12.8 million. The end customer is an undisclosed national security buyer.

ELSA was unveiled earlier this month and is designed to deliver 50% more power than comparable systems in a lower-profile form factor — relevant for buses where volume and drag constraints matter in LEO. The Meteor bus with ELSA wings is likely targeting a government constellation role, though no orbit or mission has been disclosed publicly.

Read the full story: SpaceNews

Army C2 Budget Consolidation Will Expand in FY27 After FY26 Congressional Approval

The Army received congressional approval in FY26 to consolidate 13 budget lines covering electronic warfare, counter-UAS, and drone programs. The service’s undersecretary has confirmed further consolidation is planned for FY27.

The move is administrative but operationally meaningful — fragmented budget lines complicate procurement timelines and make it harder to shift funding quickly between related programs. Consolidating C2-related lines gives the Army more flexibility to respond to fast-moving threats like drone swarms without waiting on reprogramming approvals.

Read the full story: Breaking Defense

Destinus and Shield AI Complete European Drone Autonomy Tests, No Customers Yet

Swiss company Destinus and U.S. firm Shield AI have concluded a joint European test campaign focused on drone autonomy for counter-UAS missions. The companies are pitching the technology to European air forces as a way to reduce dependence on crewed aircraft for cUAS roles. No customers have signed on.

The campaign follows growing European demand for autonomous air defense solutions driven by the war in Ukraine. Shield AI’s autonomy stack — previously demonstrated on F-16s and other platforms — is the core technology being evaluated for uncrewed application in contested airspace.

Read the full story: Breaking Defense

Air Force May Field a Second Stand-in Attack Weapon if Industry Can Beat Northrop’s Price and Schedule

The Air Force is soliciting industry feedback to benchmark Northrop Grumman’s Stand-in Attack Weapon (SiAW) program. The service told Breaking Defense it would consider a competing or complementary missile if industry can demonstrate faster and cheaper delivery.

SiAW is designed to hit air-defense systems from within contested airspace, giving strike aircraft a survivable option against anti-access/area denial threats. The benchmarking exercise suggests the Air Force is keeping options open rather than locking in a sole-source path for the munition.

Read the full story: Breaking Defense

Satellite of the Day

EKRAN 8

EKRAN 8 is a Soviet-era communication and direct broadcasting satellite that launched on February 5, 1982, aboard a Proton-K/DM rocket from Tyuratam Cosmodrome. Operated by MSVYAZ (the Soviet Ministry of Communications), it was manufactured by NPOPM and represented the Soviet Union’s push into direct satellite broadcasting—a technology that would revolutionize how television and radio signals reached remote regions of the vast Soviet territory. Equipped with a single UHF transponder rated at 200 watts (plus a backup unit) and a C-band uplink, EKRAN 8 could relay communications across the expansive Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc nations.

The satellite was part of the Ekran program, which pioneered fixed-satellite service in the Soviet sphere during the Cold War space race. With a design life of approximately three years, EKRAN 8 carried 2,000 kg at launch and featured deployable solar arrays to power its communications payload. Its low inclination orbit of just 7.26 degrees positioned it for efficient coverage of equatorial and mid-latitude regions, making it ideal for distributing television programming and telecommunications across populated areas. Though built in the early 1980s, EKRAN 8 remains a fascinating artifact of Soviet space ambitions and the era when satellite broadcasting was still a cutting-edge technology.

Learn more about this satellite: View EKRAN 8

Upcoming Space Launches

March 25

• Isar Aerospace Spectrum: Onward and Upward

  • From Orbital Launch Pad, Andøya Spaceport (20:00 UTC) Spectrum’s second test flight, carrying six payloads: CyBEEsat (TU Berlin), TriSat-S (University of Maribor), Platform 6 (EnduroSat), FramSat-1 (NTNU), SpaceTeamSat1 (TU Wien Space Team), and the “Let it Go” deployment experiment from Dcubed. Exolaunch is managing payload integration and deployment. Spectrum is a small launch vehicle developed by German company Isar Aerospace, with a LEO capacity of 1,000 kg. Watch Live Launch Preview

• China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Long March 2C: Unknown Payload

  • From Launch Complex 9, Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, People’s Republic of China (22:43 UTC) Payload and mission details are not yet available. The Long March 2C is a two-stage launch vehicle using storable propellants (Nitrogen Tetroxide and Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine), with a LEO capacity of 3,850 kg. Launch Preview

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5: Starlink Group 17-17

  • From Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, CA, USA (23:03 UTC) A batch of 25 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites into low Earth orbit. Booster B1081 will land on drone ship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean on its 23rd flight. Watch Live Launch Preview

March 27

• ExPace Kuaizhou 1A: Unknown Payload

  • From Launch Area 95A, Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People’s Republic of China (04:04 UTC) Payload and mission details are not yet available. Kuaizhou 1A is a Chinese quick-reaction solid-fueled orbital launch vehicle with a liquid-fueled fourth stage, capable of lifting 300 kg to LEO. Launch Preview

• RKK Energiya Soyuz-5: Demo Flight

  • From Launch Pad 45/1, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan (11:00 UTC) Demonstration flight for Russia’s new Soyuz-5 (Irtysh) launch vehicle, carrying a mass simulator. Soyuz-5 is being developed to replace the Zenit-2 and Proton Medium, featuring an RD-171MV engine on the first stage and is capable of delivering 17,000 kg to low Earth orbit. This mission is conducted under the Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS). Launch Preview

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5: Starlink Group 10-44

  • From Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, FL, USA (11:00 UTC) A batch of 25 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites into low Earth orbit. Watch Live Launch Preview

March 29

• United Launch Alliance Atlas V 551: Amazon Leo (LA-05)

  • From Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, FL, USA (07:53 UTC) The sixth of nine Atlas V rockets purchased by Amazon to deploy satellites for the Amazon Leo (Kuiper) broadband internet constellation. The Atlas V 551 configuration, powered by a Russian-built RD-180 first stage engine and an RL10-powered Centaur upper stage with five solid strap-on boosters, will loft a batch of satellites into low Earth orbit. Amazon Leo aims to provide high-speed, low-latency connectivity to underserved and remote areas globally. Watch Live Launch Preview

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5: Transporter 16 (Dedicated SSO Rideshare)

  • From Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, CA, USA (10:10 UTC) A dedicated SmallSat rideshare mission to Sun-synchronous orbit carrying dozens of satellites from numerous customers, including 57 payloads manifested by German company Exolaunch and 19 payloads from Texas-based Seops Space. Launch Preview

March 31

• Rocket Lab Electron: Daughter Of The Stars (LEO-PNT Pathfinder A)

  • From Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1A, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand (TBD) A dedicated mission for the European Space Agency (ESA) deploying the first two satellites — IOD-1 and IOD-2 — for the Celeste LEO-PNT (Low Earth Orbit Position, Navigation, and Timing) constellation. The full constellation will ultimately comprise 11 satellites designed to complement existing navigation assets including Galileo, EGNOS, and other GNSS constellations. The two pathfinder satellites will be deployed into a 510 km circular orbit. Electron uses electric-pump-fed Rutherford engines and can lift up to 300 kg to LEO. Watch Live Launch Preview

• China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Long March 2C: Unknown Payload

  • From Launch Area 94 (SLS-2 / 603), Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People’s Republic of China (TBD) Payload and mission details are not yet available.

Schedule Changes

• Isar Aerospace Spectrum | Onward and Upward: Status upgraded from To Be Confirmed to Go for Launch.
• Rocket Lab Electron | Daughter Of The Stars (LEO-PNT Pathfinder A): Status downgraded from Go for Launch to To Be Determined, indicating a delay or pending review.
• China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Long March 2C | Unknown Payload (Jiuquan): Status downgraded from Go for Launch to To Be Determined, indicating a delay or pending review.

Note: Launch dates and times are subject to change due to technical or weather considerations.