Space Alert

Polaris Alpha, the private-equity owned company that completed its most recent acquisition late last month, is seeking to establish itself as a major player in what the company calls “emerging” warfighting domains, including space, electronic warfare and cyberspace.

The Defense Department is asking Congress to approve a $50 million transfer to a program that would develop a commercially based, micro-synthetic aperture radar satellite prototype aimed at using "deep learning analytics" to improve the speed and exploitation of raw satellite imagery, according to a document obtained by Inside Defense.

A prominent Washington defense budget expert says the Air Force is most likely to extend the service life of the Minuteman III fleet to bridge a gap in nuclear missile levels if the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent program is delayed.

Northrop Grumman said early Monday it will acquire Orbital ATK in a $9.2 billion deal meant to bolster Northrop's capabilities in space and missile defense.

The Air Force has strongly opposed a new proposal to establish a separate Space Corps, alleging it would be too expensive and disruptive -- but some analysts and former Defense Department officials are puzzled by the service’s response to an organizational change they say could help manage the space domain.

The Air Force will continue mulling the possibility of merging the 24th and 25th Air Forces into a joint group for cyber, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and electronic warfare operations at a senior leadership's Corona meeting Oct. 30 to Nov. 3, a service spokesman told Inside the Air Force this week.

The Air Force is on track to launch Friday its fifth Operationally Responsive Space mission -- a Space-Based Space Surveillance System gapfiller satellite that service officials say will demonstrate a number of technology and rapid acquisition practices that can be incorporated into other space programs.

The Navy postponed declaring full operational capability for the Mobile User Objective System, causing a schedule breach in the program's baseline, according to a Selected Acquisition Report obtained by Inside the Navy.

The Air Force told companies at a recent industry day it plans to begin migrating Space-Based Infrared System satellites onto a modernized ground control and mission data-processing system in fiscal years 2017 and 2018.