The second satellite in the Air Force's Space-Based Infrared System constellation is expected to arrive today at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL, where Lockheed Martin and service technicians will ready the satellite for a planned launch in March.

The Air Force last week awarded Lockheed Martin a $1.9 billion full production contract for its fifth and sixth Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellites. Company officials say work on the communications satellites will begin immediately.

Days after announcing the suspension of the Weather Satellite Follow-on program, the Air Force issued a $9 million support contract for the program to the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

More than two months into its initial production contract for the fifth and sixth geosynchronous Earth orbit satellites in the Air Force's Space-Based Infrared System constellation, Lockheed Martin has been awarded a second production contract to cover non-recurring engineering work.

In the aftermath of a recent senior-level summit on the Air Force's cyber priorities, Air Force Space Command will be holding a more localized version in Colorado this spring in the hopes of improving the way it does business with space and cyber technology providers.

Air Force officials conducting a study on the viability of merging commercial and military terminals for the Wideband Global Satellite Communications constellation hope to have those terminals installed aboard aircraft within five years of the study's conclusion, depending on the results of the analysis.

As Air Force officials review data from the recent Orbital Test Vehicle launch to inform an ongoing accident investigation board, NASA -- which is contributing to that analysis -- plans to move ahead with a scheduled January launch without making significant changes to its rocket booster as a result of that AIB.

The Missile Defense Agency last week issued new information about its search for industry expertise on the development of additional satellites for its space-based missile tracking system and how industry competitors and a five-laboratory team will work together to develop them.

The Air Force this week announced that its Weather Satellite Follow-on program has been suspended due to a lack of funding.

The Air Force last week awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to sustain its Global Positioning System satellite constellation's ground segment, overlooking its competitor, a Boeing-Raytheon-Harris team.

Members of both the House and Senate this week moved to limit funding for the Missile Defense Agency's future space-based missile tracking system until it commissions an independent cost estimate and analysis of alternatives for the program.

A new Commerce Department study on the space industrial base is likely to help the Pentagon make strategic purchasing decisions and achieve cost savings, according to officials conducting the review.

The president of SpaceX said this week that two recent Air Force space launch task orders could move the company closer to qualifying to fly larger Air Force payloads.

The Missile Defense Agency recently expanded on the intent of its request for industry expertise in the development of additional satellites for its space-based missile tracking system, noting that the production and manufacturing suggestions it receives could potentially inform changes to the design of the satellites.

U.S. Transportation Command is seeking industry input for market research on vessel-tracking satellite services.

Air Force Secretary Michael Donley has directed a new study of potential uses for nano- and micro-satellites as the service contemplates transferring missions now consolidated among a handful of large satellites to a larger constellation of smaller spacecraft.

The Air Force's third Orbital Test Vehicle was successfully launched today from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL, marking a return to Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle operations after a two-month delay.

The Air Force recently awarded Northrop Grumman additional funds to facilitate an adjusted launch schedule for the last two remaining satellites in the service's Defense Meteorological Satellite Program.

The Navy announced recently that the first Mobile User Objective Satellite is operational, even though the MUOS waveform used by radios on the ground is still in formal qualification testing, according to the Army.

The Air Force is looking to sole source software and engineering services for its future space operations center.