Every Cosmic Herald story on U.S. Space Force — missions, launches, discoveries, and the business of space, newest first.
Lt. Gen. Douglas A. Schiess faced few questions and even fewer skeptics at his July 16 Senate hearing to lead the Space Force, telling lawmakers that China's rapid military-space buildup justifies a roughly $71 billion budget and a service set to more than double in size.
Read the story →In his farewell address as Chief of Space Operations, Gen. Chance Saltzman warned that orbital mechanics gives no nation an opt-out from a war in space — and that the only real deterrent is a force visibly able to win one.
SDA launched 21 more York-built data-relay satellites after a nine-month pause to fix on-orbit software and hardware issues, bringing half of its 126-satellite Tranche 1 Transport Layer into orbit even as GAO warns the program may not deliver capability on schedule.
A pre-dawn Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral quietly notched a milestone that says more about SpaceX's operating model than any single mission: the 600th flight of a reused booster.
Air and space leaders from the US, UK, and more than 50 other nations meet in London July 15-16 to discuss space operations, nuclear deterrence, and missile defense days after a tense NATO summit.
NASA has rebooked its six-satellite SunRISE solar radio observatory from a ULA Vulcan Centaur onto a SpaceX Falcon Heavy, a Space Force-sponsored rideshare that will fly the toaster-oven-size CubeSats to just above geosynchronous orbit.
The Space Force has finished carving its entire acquisition enterprise into nine mission-focused portfolios controlling up to 92% of contracting authority, its biggest reorg since 2019.
Space Systems Command has admitted Relativity Space and Impulse Space to the NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 contract pool, giving the two commercial newcomers a shot at up to $5.6 billion in military launch task orders.
The Senate Armed Services Committee has calendared a July 16, 2026 hearing on Lt. Gen. Douglas Schiess's nomination to become the Space Force's third Chief of Space Operations, succeeding Gen. Chance Saltzman.
Space Systems Command admitted Impulse Space and Relativity's Relativity Federal to NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 on July 7, growing the qualified-provider pool to seven and handing each a $5 million task order.
The Senate's draft FY2027 NDAA orders a formal study into whether the Space Force still needs to borrow Air Force lawyers, with findings due by December 1, 2027.
A midnight Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg deployed 81 satellites for five nations, headlined by three FireSat wildfire detectors, a Navy tech demo, an in-space 3D printer, and the UAE's first navigation satellite.
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