Latest news with #KristinPanzenhagen
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Space Force shifts upfront range upgrade costs to commercial firms
The Space Force this week revealed a new model for upgrading its East and West Coast ranges, shifting upfront costs that used to be borne by the government to the commercial launch companies that rely on the infrastructure. Under a new $4 billion Space Force Range Contract, which will be managed by advisory and consulting firm Jacobs Technology, commercial launch firms will place task orders and pay directly for various services required to support their launches. That includes things like costly maintenance, sustainment, operations and systems engineering for aging range infrastructure. 'Historically, the government has fronted these costs,' Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen, Space Launch Delta 45 Command and Eastern Range Director, said in a statement Tuesday. 'The ability of our commercial partners to directly fund their own task orders will lessen the financial and administrative burden on the government and is in line with Congressionally mandated Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness requirements.' As commercial space launch demand has grown in recent years, the Space Force's ranges at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and Vandenberg Space Force Base in California have become the world's busiest launch hubs. The ranges have seen a 30% annual increase in business for several years in a row and conducted 114 missions in 2024, the bulk of them from Cape Canaveral. Those launch rates have put strain on range infrastructure, and the service has been weighing options for addressing the issue. The Space Force is investing nearly $1.4 billion through 2028 to widen roads to accommodate larger rockets, improve airfields, secure communication lines and increase power redundancy — part of an effort called Spaceport of the Future, which aims to run the ranges more like a commercial airport. Shifting to this new cost construct, the service said, also supports that goal. 'This contract will transform the way operations, maintenance, sustainment, and systems engineering and integration services are provided at the Eastern and Western Ranges, to enable their eventual transformation into efficient, high-capacity multi-user spaceports,' the service said in the statement. The service has been working with Congress in recent years to get approval for various policy changes to enable the spaceport transition. One such change allows the Space Force to collect fees from companies for the indirect costs of using its ranges, similar to what a port authority might impose on its users. In the Fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, lawmakers passed a provision requiring launch firms to reimburse the Defense Department for those costs. The bill also included language directing the Space Force to consider options for commercial providers to perform 'day of' launch services, which includes things like payload processing and integration.
Otago Daily Times
12-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
US in talks to launch more satellites from NZ
By Phil Pennington of RNZ The US military is holding talks with New Zealand about launching more satellites from this country. The US Space Force is moving to deploy hundreds more satellites that will - among other things - support America's nuclear command-control-and-communications (NC3) system. It is not known what types of satellite it might wish to launch from New Zealand, but the Pentagon has signalled for several years its interest in diversifying launches into clear southern hemisphere skies, and elsewhere outside the US. Congress ordered a report two years ago on the benefits of using partner countries' spaceports for rapid launch in a war or other crisis. Efforts to get the report through the US embassy have failed. There are now new talks, with US Space Force General Brigadier Kristin Panzenhagen at the forefront. "We are looking at international partnerships as potential ways to get our satellites to orbit," she said in an interview with the Mitchell Institute thinktank. Talks were in their very early stages. "So we've been talking to some of our allies and partners about their launch capability, whether it's existing capability - so for example, you know, Japan has existing capability, Rocket Lab is launching out of New Zealand, Ariane Space out of French Guyana." The US wanted to "see what we may be able to do for enhancing each other's resiliency". She said Sweden and Britain were also in the talks. The UK has no working spaceports, but is trying to build six of them. The Pentagon has repeatedly told lawmakers - in pleas for more space funding - that it was in a race against China to achieve space superiority by 2027. The US could end up helping design new spaceports offshore, so its launches would not face technical barriers, Panzenhagen added. The 2023 report to Congress aimed to assess launch capability and "the shared costs and technology between the United States and allies, including if investments from the Pacific Deterrence Initiative and the European Deterrence Initiative could be considered for allied spaceports". As the US pivots away from Europe and more towards the Indo-Pacific, it is pouring billions more into the Pacific Deterrence Initiative for the likes of missiles in Guam, drone experiments, and "military construction", documents showed. Launches out of Mahia for the Pentagon and US space spy agency NRO have been mostly for experimental missions so far. But the US relies on its two spaceports at home - at Cape Canaveral in Florida, and at Vandenberg base in California - for actual missions, including 'cannot fail' operations. Retired Space Force colonel Charles Galbreath, now a senior fellow at the Mitchell institute, interviewed the general on YouTube last week, and spelled out why accelerating launches mattered so much. "Launch, and the assured access to space that it represents, is foundational to space superiority and leveraging the unique benefits of the space domain. "If you can't get to space, you can't control it," Galbreath said. Diversification and speed Space Force is not only diversifying, but speeding up. In its latest exercise, a launch that once took two years was down to just 10 weeks, Galbreath heard. International diversification is being paired with bringing more companies on board, often smaller ones, rather than the usual massive 'primes' like Lockheed. For instance, Rocket Lab US has just been elevated into a fast-lane of its National Security Space Launch (NSSL) programme. New Zealand is also linked in through its space research within the Five Eyes intelligence group, including a role in current tests of satellite comms to ships. This comes under the umbrella of what US media calls the "Pentagon's global meta-network" - or CJADC2 - or combined joint all-domain command and control - essentially, a satellite-linked network for faster shooting. The New Zealand Defence Force has recently been going to more US-led CJADC2 exercises or taking a bigger role, including in ones that build "kill chains" and "kill webs". The head of US nuclear forces Admiral Charles Richard underlined the link between JADC2 (now called CJADC2) when he spoke to Congress in 2022. "A subset of what JADC2 is doing is for nuclear command and control," Richard said. "The two systems have to be overlapped to a great extent so that we can have integration." Both CJADC2 and nuclear command-control-and-comms expect to benefit from the launch of hundreds of satellites into low-orbit, to get away from reliance on a handful of large, hugely expensive and vulnerable large satellites in higher orbit, according to official US documents. A big CJADC2-linked exercise in Australia in August - Talisman Sabre - aims to advance how 19 countries including New Zealand share communications through a single system, which occurred for the first time last year. Defence and Space Minister Judith Collins talked up the commercial opportunities for New Zealand firms to help out the Pentagon last year. But last week's survey of the space industry that Collins released - which covered its potential to double by 2030 to be worth $5 billion a year - barely mentioned defence. Collins said: "I have not engaged directly with the Space Force on launching from New Zealand." Company leaders in the defence industry praised her appearance at an industry event last Friday. "Judith Collins is a rock star," said one online. "Capable of doing the work publicly and behind closed doors," said another. RNZ asked if it could attend the event to hear her speak, but was declined. Launches are checked and approved by national security officials and National Security and Intelligence Minister Christopher Luxon. But Luxon diverted questions about NC3 to the Defence Ministry. Collins has been approached for comment. The US Embassy said it had "nothing further to provide".
RNZ News
12-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
US wants to launch more satellites from NZ
The US has been ken to diversify launches into clear southern hemisphere skies for several years. File photo. Photo: Joel Kowsky / NASA via Getty Images The US military is holding talks with New Zealand about launching more satellites from this country. The US Space Force is moving to deploy hundreds more satellites that will - among other things - support America's nuclear command-control-and-communications (NC3) system. It is not known what types of satellite it might wish to launch from here, but the Pentagon has signalled for several years its interest in diversifying launches into clear southern hemisphere skies, and elsewhere outside the US. Congress ordered a report two years ago on the benefits of using partner countries' spaceports for rapid launch in a war or other crisis. RNZ's efforts to get the report through the US embassy have failed. There are now new talks, with US Space Force General Brigadier Kristin Panzenhagen at the forefront. US Space Force General Brigadier Kristin Panzenhagen Photo: Supplied "We are looking at international partnerships as potential ways to get our satellites to orbit," she said in an interview with the Mitchell Institute thinktank. Talks were in their very early stages. "So we've been talking to some of our allies and partners about their launch capability, whether it's existing capability - so for example, you know, Japan has existing capability, Rocket Lab is launching out of New Zealand, Ariane Space out of French Guyana." The US wanted to "see what we may be able to do for enhancing each other's resiliency". She said Sweden and Britain were also in the talks. The UK has no working spaceports, but is trying to build six of them. The Pentagon has repeatedly told lawmakers - in pleas for more space funding - that it was in a race against China to achieve space superiority by 2027. The US could end up helping design new spaceports offshore, so its launches would not face technical barriers, Panzenhagen added. The 2023 report to Congress aimed to assess launch capability and "the shared costs and technology between the United States and allies, including if investments from the Pacific Deterrence Initiative and the European Deterrence Initiative could be considered for allied spaceports". As the US pivots away from Europe and more towards the Indo-Pacific, it is pouring billions more into the Pacific Deterrence Initiative for the likes of missiles in Guam, drone experiments, and "military construction", documents showed. Launches out of Mahia for the Pentagon and US space spy agency NRO have been mostly for experimental missions so far. But the US relies on its two spaceports at home - at Cape Canaveral in Florida, and at Vandenberg base in California - for actual missions, including 'cannot fail' operations. Retired Space Force colonel Charles Galbreath, now a senior fellow at the Mitchell institute, interviewed the general on Youtube last week, and spelled out why accelerating launches mattered so much. "Launch, and the assured access to space that it represents, is foundational to space superiority and leveraging the unique benefits of the space domain. "If you can't get to space, you can't control it," Galbreath said. Space Force is not only diversifying, but speeding up. In its latest exercise, a launch that once took two years was down to just 10 weeks, Galbreath heard. International diversification is being paired with bringing more companies on board, often smaller ones, rather than the usual massive 'primes' like Lockheed. For instance, Rocket Lab US has just been elevated into a fast-lane of its National Security Space Launch (NSSL) programme. New Zealand is also linked in through its space research within the Five Eyes intelligence group, including a role in current tests of satellite comms to ships. This comes under the umbrella of what US media calls the "Pentagon's global meta-network" - or CJADC2 - or combined joint all-domain command and control - essentially, a satellite-linked network for faster shooting. The New Zealand Defence Force has recently been going to more US-led CJADC2 exercises or taking a bigger role, including in ones that build "kill chains" and "kill webs" . The head of US nuclear forces Admiral Charles Richard underlined the link between JADC2 (now called CJADC2) when he spoke to Congress in 2022. "A subset of what JADC2 is doing is for nuclear command and control," Richard said. "The two systems have to be overlapped to a great extent so that we can have integration." US Admiral Charles Richard Photo: AFP / DREW ANGERER Both CJADC2 and nuclear command-control-and-comms expect to benefit from the launch of hundreds of satellites into low-orbit, to get away from reliance on a handful of large, hugely expensive and vulnerable large satellites in higher orbit, according to official US documents. A big CJADC2-linked exercise in Australia in August - Talisman Sabre - aims to advance how 19 countries including New Zealand share communications through a single system, which occurred for the first time last year. Defence and Space Minister Judith Collins talked up the commercial opportunities for New Zealand firms to help out the Pentagon last year. But last week's survey of the space industry that Collins released - which covered its potential to double by 2030 to be worth $5 billion a year - barely mentioned defence. Collins told RNZ: "I have not engaged directly with the Space Force on launching from New Zealand." Company leaders in the defence industry praised her appearance at an industry event last Friday. "Judith Collins is a rock star," said one online. "Capable of doing the work publicly and behind closed doors," said another. RNZ asked if it could attend the event to hear her speak, but was declined. Launches are checked and approved by national security officials and National Security and Intelligence Minister Christopher Luxon. But Luxon diverted RNZ's questions about NC3 to the Defence Ministry. RNZ has approached Collins for comment. The US Embassy said it had "nothing further to provide". Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Space Force weighs options for boosting launch resiliency, capacity
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways The Space Force is eyeing options to increase its launch capacity and resiliency as demand for U.S. national security and commercial launch continue to strain existing launch infrastructure. Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen, who serves as program executive officer for assured access to space and oversees the service's launch range operations, said this week the service is exploring a range of leads for increasing launch access — from new spaceports to international partnerships to newer models like sea-based launch. At the same time, it's also investing in overburdened insfrastructure at its current sites. The Space Force operates two of the busiest spaceports in the world at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The ranges have seen a steady, annual 30% increase in launch business for several years, Panzenhagen said during a May 6 Mitchell Institute event, conducting 144 missions in 2024 — 93 of those from Cape Canaveral. The service is 'not in dire straits,' when it comes to launch capacity, she said, but its infrastructure is supporting a higher mission cadence than any other spaceport in the world — most of that driven by commercial launch business. 'Where we're seeing the need for added capacity is to be able to continue to support those commercial payloads,' Panzenhagen said. 'What we need for the national security space launch, what we're always looking for, is that added resiliency.' To ensure access to more reliable and frequent launch opportunities for both military and commercial missions, the Space Force is investing nearly $1.4 billion through 2028 to improve its existing infrastructure. The program, called Spaceport of the Future Infrastructure, aims to reduce disruption on the service's ranges and sets a goal of conducting at least one launch every day. It also aims to improve the resiliency of infrastructure to things like extreme weather and interference, and reduce the impact an increased launch pace has on personnel and operations. To get after those goals, Panzenhagen said, her team has projects underway to widen roads to accommodate larger rockets, improve airfields, secure communication lines and increase power redundancy. The service is also in talks with international and commercial partners about expanding access to other spaceports or ways of launching. While Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg are the Space Force's primary launch sites, the service has also conducted launches from other domestic sites, including the Pacific Spaceport Complex in Alaska and NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. But the service is also in talks with other countries about taking advantage of their launch infrastructure. Panzenhagen pointed to Japan, New Zealand and France as potential partners in this effort — which she described as still preliminary. She also noted that Norway, the United Kingdom and Sweden have nascent launch capabilities that could be designed with built-in interoperability that makes it easier for international allies to leverage in the future. 'We're at the very early stages of that, but I'm really excited about building those international partnerships,' she said. Panzenhagen said she's also met with several companies that are developing sea-based launch capabilities. While past attempts at a viable sea-launch system have hit technical and financial snags, China has seen some success with that modality. The Space Force is studying options offered by firms like The Spaceport Company, which is building mobile, offshore launch sites. Panzenhagen said these firms still need to prove their business case, but sea-based launch potentially could help relieve congestion at ranges and give the military access to more orbital locations. Among the key considerations for the service are funding — whether companies would rely on government contracts or see opportunities for private investment — and the logistics of transporting a rocket and any associated commodities to a barge. 'It's something that we're interested in seeing what the possibilities are,' Panzenhagen said.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Space Force issues $13.5 billion in contracts to 3 launch firms
The U.S. Space Force announced more than $13.5 billion in launch contracts Friday to SpaceX, United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin for missions that will fly between fiscal years 2027 and 2032. The awards are part of the service's National Security Space Launch program, or NSSL, which it uses to acquire nearly all military launch missions. Under the deal, SpaceX will receive $5.9 billion to fly 28 missions, ULA $5.3 billion to launch 19 and Blue Origin $2.3 billion to conduct seven. While ULA and SpaceX are both NSSL incumbents, Blue Origin is a new entrant to the program. Its New Glenn rocket has not yet completed the Space Force's certification process, but following its first flight in January, it became eligible to compete. 'Today's award culminates nearly three years of government and industry partnership to increase launch resiliency and capacity,' Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen, program executive officer for assured access to space, said in a statement. 'The result is assured access to space for our national security missions, which increases the military's readiness.' The Space Force expects to launch 84 missions between fiscal 2027 and 2032 — nearly double the number of missions it launched the previous five years. To meet that demand and create a path for more companies to compete, the service adopted a new strategy for this next batch of missions. Under that approach, the Space Force created two lanes in which companies can compete. Lane 1 is for commercial-like missions and is geared toward new providers, and Lane 2 — which was awarded Friday — is reserved for firms whose rockets meet more stringent security and performance requirements. SpaceX, ULA and Blue Origin were also selected to compete for Lane 1 missions, along with Stoke Space and Rocket Lab, which are both developing new rockets slated to fly this year. The service expects to release its first request for proposals for Lane 1 launches later this spring and companies will have a chance to compete for additional missions in fiscal 2026.
