Top Stories

Space Force Awards Orbital AMTI Contracts to 9 Firms

The Space Force confirmed nine companies won contracts for orbital Air Moving Target Indication (AMTI) capabilities. The service did not release contract award dates or individual dollar values, leaving the full scope of the program undisclosed.

Orbital AMTI uses satellites to detect and track moving ground and air targets — a capability historically handled by airborne platforms like JSTARS. Moving this mission to orbit expands coverage and survivability. Watch for new catalog entries as these programs mature.

Read the full story: Breaking Defense

Air Force Secretary Pushes Multi-Year Procurement for Satellites and Aircraft

Air Force Secretary Troy Meink is seeking congressional authorization for multi-year contracts covering spacecraft and aircraft production — not just munitions. He framed it as an “across the board” push, signaling intent to lock in longer production runs to drive down per-unit costs.

Multi-year satellite contracts would affect how quickly new birds reach orbit and how consistently constellations get replenished. If authorized, expect more predictable launch cadences from defense contractors.

Read the full story: Breaking Defense

Space Force’s ‘Commercial First’ Strategy: What Col. Trimailo Says Industry Needs to Deliver

Col. Tim Trimailo outlined what the Space Force actually wants from commercial partners — not just participation, but speed, interoperability, and risk tolerance that government programs historically haven’t demanded from vendors.

This shapes which commercial satellite operators and service providers are likely to land defense contracts. Companies that can demonstrate resilience and rapid reconstitution are the ones being positioned for follow-on work.

Read the full story: SpaceNews

NATO Rethinking Air Surveillance Architecture for Low-Flying Drones and Missiles

NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, Adm. Pierre Vandier, said lessons from Ukraine and the Iran conflict are forcing a structural rethink of alliance-wide air surveillance. The focus is on detecting low-altitude, low-cost threats that legacy radar networks weren’t built to track at scale.

Space-based persistent surveillance is part of the solution set being evaluated. The demand signal from NATO for low-earth orbit ISR and tracking assets is growing directly out of these operational lessons.

Read the full story: Breaking Defense

Army Wants Industry to Fund More of ITEP Helicopter Engine Development

Maj. Gen. Clair Gill, Program Executive Officer of Maneuver Air, said the Army is pushing GE and other manufacturers to absorb more development costs for the Improved Turbine Engine Program. The Army’s stated position: it wants to buy, not fund R&D. Negotiations are ongoing over how development costs get split.

GE has been seeking additional government funding for ITEP testing. The Army’s resistance reflects a broader Pentagon push to shift financial risk onto contractors before contracts are awarded.

Read the full story: Breaking Defense

Marines Begin Concept Work on Sixth-Generation Fighter

Marine Corps leadership has started early conceptual development on a next-generation fighter. A senior Marine general indicated the platform would likely resemble the Navy’s F/A-XX program, though no formal requirements exist yet.

This has no near-term satellite tracking implications, but the eventual test and operational phases of any sixth-gen program will generate new radar cross-section and signature data relevant to tracking low-observable aircraft.

Read the full story: Breaking Defense

Satellite of the Day

OneWeb SL0640

OneWeb SL0640 is part of the OneWeb constellation, a UK-based satellite internet operator’s ambitious plan to provide global broadband connectivity. Launched on March 9, 2023, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, this Ku-Band communication satellite represents one of the newer additions to OneWeb’s growing fleet. The satellite was manufactured by ONEWUS and features a compact trapezoid design with deployable solar arrays, weighing just 148 kg at launch—making it highly efficient for its role in a mega-constellation architecture.

With an operational lifespan of approximately seven years, SL0640 relies on SPT-50 or BHT-350 Hall effect thrusters for orbital maneuvering and station-keeping. The satellite’s Ku-Band payload operates from a high-inclination orbit (87.89°), enabling coverage over polar and near-polar regions where traditional geostationary satellites struggle. This polar-optimized constellation represents a significant shift in how satellite internet providers approach global coverage, complementing terrestrial networks in remote areas and maritime zones.

Track this satellite in real-time: Track OneWeb SL0640

Upcoming Space Launches

April 18

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5: Starlink Group 17-22
  • From Vandenberg Space Force Base, Space Launch Complex 4E (14:00 UTC) A batch of 29 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites launched to low Earth orbit. Booster 1080 will land on drone ship Just Read the Instructions. Watch Live Launch Preview

April 19

• Blue Origin New Glenn: BlueBird Block 2 #2
  • From Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Launch Complex 36A (10:45 UTC) Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket will deploy AST SpaceMobile’s second next-generation BlueBird satellite into low Earth orbit, supporting space-based cellular broadband for commercial and government customers. This will be only the third flight of the New Glenn vehicle overall. Watch Live Launch Preview

April 20

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5: GPS III SV10
  • From Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Space Launch Complex 40 (06:57 UTC) The tenth and final mission in the GPS III series, delivering the last satellite of the next-generation Global Positioning System constellation for the United States Space Force. GPS III satellites offer three times better accuracy and up to eight times improved anti-jamming capability compared to earlier generations. Watch Live

April 22

• Rocket Lab HASTE: Bubbles

  • From Wallops Flight Facility, Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 (Launch Area 0 C), Virginia, USA (00:00 UTC) A suborbital test launch under Rocket Lab’s Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron (HASTE) program. Further mission details are to be determined.

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5: Starlink Group 17-14

  • From Vandenberg Space Force Base, Space Launch Complex 4E (02:00 UTC) A batch of 29 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites launched to low Earth orbit. Watch Live

April 23

• Rocket Lab Electron: Kakushin Rising (JAXA Rideshare)
  • From Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand (03:09 UTC) A Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)-manifested rideshare mission carrying eight small satellites to sun-synchronous orbit. The payload includes educational cubesats, an ocean monitoring satellite, a multispectral camera demonstrator, and OrigamiSat-2 — a deployable antenna that uses origami folding techniques to unfurl to 25 times its packed size. The satellites were originally planned to fly on the Japanese Epsilon-S rocket before launch delays prompted the switch to Electron.

April 25

• Agency for Defense Development South Korean ADD Solid-Fuel SLV: Demo Flight

  • From ADD Offshore Launch Platform, Sea Launch (05:00 UTC) The first full orbital launch of South Korea’s military small satellite launch vehicle, following two suborbital stage tests in 2022 and one partial orbital test flight in December 2023. Further details are to be determined.

• SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5: Starlink Group 17-16

  • From Vandenberg Space Force Base, Space Launch Complex 4E (14:00 UTC) A batch of 25 Starlink satellites launched to low Earth orbit as part of SpaceX’s broadband internet mega-constellation. Watch Live

• Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) Soyuz 2.1a: Progress MS-34 (95P)

  • From Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan, Pad 31/6 (22:21 UTC) An uncrewed Progress cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station.

April 27

• United Launch Alliance Atlas V 551: Amazon Leo (LA-06)
  • From Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Space Launch Complex 41 (To Be Determined) United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket will deploy 29 satellites for Amazon’s Leo broadband internet mega-constellation (formerly Project Kuiper). The constellation is planned to ultimately comprise 3,276 satellites distributed across 98 orbital planes at altitudes ranging from 590 to 630 km, providing high-speed, low-latency internet to underserved and remote regions worldwide.

Schedule Changes

• Atlas V 551 | Amazon Leo (LA-06) has been newly added to the manifest, currently scheduled for April 27, 2026 with a To Be Determined launch time from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Space Launch Complex 41.

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