Space Force

If you are outside doing some stargazing in the Western Hemisphere this evening and are looking up at just the right time, you might catch sight of something that will appear quite strange: a small circular cloud of light that will rapidly expand to roughly the apparent size of a full moon, before finally fading away some minutes later. 

What you will have just seen is not some strange atmospheric phenomenon, but a fuel dump from a U.S. Space Force (USSF) mission that launched earlier today on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 511 rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Spire’s nanosatellite is providing a low-cost platform to test EnerSys^® ZeroVolt™ 18650 battery cells in orbit

VIENNA, Va., December 16, 2021–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Spire Global, Inc. (NYSE: SPIR) (“Spire” or “the Company”), a leading global provider of space-based data, analytics, and space services, successfully delivered a U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command (SSC) payload to space aboard its 3U LEMUR CubeSat. The satellite has been operating nominally since July 2021 and is performing on-orbit experiments to collect payload performance data. SSC, through their Science and Technology Directorate (SSC/ZAD), awarded Spire this mission under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

Spire modified the power system of the satellite to successfully integrate ZeroVolt™ 18650 battery cells provided by EnerSys^Ⓡ, a global leader in stored energy solutions for industrial applications. On June 30, 2021, a Falcon 9 launch vehicle deployed the nanosatellite into Spire’s on-orbit constellation, where Spire has been successfully conducting power system discharge tests to gather operational performance data on the battery cells and build flight heritage for this novel Lithium-ion technology produced by EnerSys.

“The development of space-as-a-service offerings presents the larger space, science, and technology fields with opportunities to conduct research and development over a significant period of time at low-cost, opening the possibility of space to a wider audience than ever before,” said Theresa Condor, Chief Operating Officer, Spire Global. “Traditional payloads can take years to get into orbit. At Spire, we have the ability to send up customer payloads within a matter of months, providing a fast, reliable, and efficient option for those interested in on-orbit research.”

This mission demonstrates the rapid integration and operation of science and technology experiments through Spire’s space-as-a-service model. In a period of 12 months, Spire integrated the high energy, long life EnerSys ZeroVolt™ Lithium-ion battery cells into the nanosatellite and deployed it on orbit.

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“Working with Spire on this mission has provided us with an opportunity to quickly and responsibly place our ZeroVolt battery cells into orbit so that we may conduct testing and gather operational performance data,” said Joseph Troutman, Manager of Business Development at EnerSys. “We will be able to further our battery capabilities and continue to provide satellite and military applications with world-class battery power to support mission success.”

The SBIR program is a highly competitive initiative which awards funding to domestic businesses and aims to stimulate technological innovation, meet federal research and development needs, and more. SSC awarded this SBIR to Spire as a Phase II program. Phase II program funding is based on results achieved in Phase I and the scientific and technical merit and commercial potential of the project proposed in Phase II.

About Spire Global, Inc.
Spire (NYSE: SPIR) is a leading global provider of space-based data, analytics, and space services, offering access to unique datasets and powerful insights about Earth from the ultimate vantage point so that organizations can make decisions with confidence, accuracy, and speed. Spire uses one of the world’s largest multi-purpose satellite constellations to source hard to acquire, valuable data and enriches it with predictive solutions. Spire then provides this data as a subscription to organizations around the world so they can improve business operations, decrease their environmental footprint, deploy resources for growth and competitive advantage, and mitigate risk. Spire gives commercial and government organizations the competitive advantage they seek to innovate and solve some of the world’s toughest problems with insights from space. Spire has offices in San Francisco, Boulder, Washington DC, Ontario, Glasgow, Luxembourg, and Singapore. To learn more, visit spire.com.

About EnerSys
EnerSys, the global leader in stored energy solutions for industrial applications, manufactures and distributes energy systems solutions and motive power batteries, specialty batteries, battery chargers, power equipment, battery accessories and outdoor equipment enclosure solutions to customers worldwide. Energy Systems, which combine enclosures, power conversion, power distribution and energy storage, are used in the telecommunication, broadband and utility industries, uninterruptible power supplies, and numerous applications requiring stored energy solutions. Motive power batteries and chargers are utilized in electric forklift trucks and other industrial electric powered vehicles. Specialty batteries are used in aerospace and defense applications, large over-the-road trucks, premium automotive, medical and security systems applications. EnerSys also provides aftermarket and customer support services to its customers in over 100 countries through its sales and manufacturing locations around the world. With the NorthStar acquisition, EnerSys has solidified its position as the market leader for premium Thin Plate Pure Lead batteries which are sold across all three lines of business.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211216005294/en/

Contacts

For media relations at Spire Global, Inc.:
Janine Kromhout
[email protected]

For investor relations at Spire Global, Inc.:
Hillary Yaffe
[email protected]

College football viewers took to Twitter last night to mock the appearance of the Space Force flag ahead of the national anthem performance.

The Georgia Bulldogs faced off against Alabama Crimson Tide for the College Football Playoff National Championships on Monday.

However, the appearance of the Space Force flag alongside the other uniformed services of the U.S caused confusion and mockery on social media.

The Space Force was first introduced on December 20, 2019, when the National Defence Authorization Act was signed into law under then-President Donald Trump.

Some football fans questioned why the Space Force was still a service, while others highlighted that they were introduced ahead of the Coast Guard.

While the appearance surprised some fans, the College Football Playoff’s website (CFP) did announce that the Space Flag would be making an appearance.

It said: “In advance of [Natalie] Grant’s performance, the Nation’s Colors will be presented by a Joint Service Color Guard from the Military Department of Indiana’s Ceremonial Unit.

“Including Indian and Kentucky members of the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Space Force and Coast Guard.”

Sports blogger Mike Taddow wrote on Twitter: “Lmaoo ayo space force is still a thing? Joe aint fixed that? Joe really aint done sh*t huh.”

He later joked: “And when we gone get a space force flyover? I’m tired of the air force monopolizing that segment. Space force need to fly ET’s ship over the national game.”

Photojournalist Gregory Anderson also wrote: “I can’t believe ‘Space Force’ is still a thing. WTF POTUS.

“Get rid of that idiotic Trumpian leftover.”

Photographer Will Leverett offered a similar sentiment and wrote: “I forgot we had a Space Force. Like in my head it’s a joke from a bad dream.”

Comedian Chad Daniels also joked that the Space Force was announced ahead of the Coast Guard.

He said: “At the college championship they just announced the different branches of the military and Space Force was before Coast Guard hahaha they just can’t catch a break.”

Music artist Troy Cartwright joked about the fact the Space Force is in the honor guard at all. He wrote: “So far the highlight of the natty has been them putting the Space Force flag into the honor guard during the national anthem.

The U.S Space Force also faced mockery from the public when the military branch unveiled its uniform. On January 18, 2020, the United States Space Force tweeted the brown and green camouflaged outfit.

Social media users latched on to the fact the outfit was camouflaged and questioned why it would ever be necessary, and if so, why brown and green colors.

One Twitter user wrote: “Camo in space? WTF? More wasted tax dollars. Great job!”

The Space Force Twitter page replied to this comment and explained that they were “utilizing current Amy/Air Force uniforms, saving costs on designing/producing a new one.

“Members will look like their joint counterparts they’ll be working with, on the ground.”

Despite this response, social media users continued to ridicule the military branch.

Author Wajahat Ali wrote: “Thankfully Space Force will give us an edge in World War 6. Their camouflage in space will assure victory.

Author Tomi T Ahonen also joked: “This is an important announcement.

“Just as Space Force will feature uniforms useful in space, with camouflage patterns.

“The new Space Force command will be structured in scales of fish.
Space Cadets: Cod, Space Sergeants: Haddock, Space Commanders: Pike.”

MELBOURNE, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX) has been selected by the U.S. Space Force to continue efforts to upgrade and modernize its space domain awareness, which is used to help combat anti-satellite threats.

The U.S. Air Force began work in 2018 to replace the Space Defense Operations Center (SPADOC) with the Advanced Tracking and Launch Analysis System (ATLAS). L3Harris has been developing applications in a new architecture that will allow ATLAS to scale and handle the exponential growth of commercial constellations, increased debris, anti-satellite tests and adversarial threats. Now, L3Harris has been selected to integrate the government’s equipment and oversee ATLAS application deployment.

“Anti-satellite threats have increased and require attention now,” said Ed Zoiss, President, Space and Airborne Systems, L3Harris. “We are responding to the urgency by partnering with the Space Force to modernize space domain awareness assets that are key to understanding and acting on those threats.”

SPADOC became operational in the 1990s to monitor space objects, process space events like anti-satellite launches, and support safety of flight operations.

L3Harris space superiority capabilities provide the foundation for space domain control, protecting assets and preserving strategic advantages. A trusted partner of the Space Force and other agencies, L3Harris has served the space superiority mission for more than 30 years.

About L3Harris Technologies

L3Harris Technologies is an agile global aerospace and defense technology innovator, delivering end-to-end solutions that meet customers’ mission-critical needs. The company provides advanced defense and commercial technologies across space, air, land, sea and cyber domains. L3Harris has approximately $17 billion in annual revenue and 47,000 employees, with customers in more than 100 countries. L3Harris.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect management’s current expectations, assumptions and estimates of future performance and economic conditions. Such statements are made in reliance upon the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results and future trends to differ materially from those matters expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Statements about the value or expected value of orders, contracts or programs or about system or technology capabilities are forward-looking and involve risks and uncertainties. L3Harris disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — The Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) officers at Huntsville High School are among the first in the country to convert their affiliation from the Air Force to the Space Force. On January 12, 2022 a transition ceremony commemorated the historic event. 

Huntsville High is one of 10 units across the United States chosen to convert. Selections were based on proximity to Space Force or related government agencies, including Space Force bases, facilities, and centers of influence, such as U.S. Space Command Headquarters, NASA, and missile defense agencies.

“The Space Force is incredibly important today to the way we live our day to day lives not just from the perspective of the military but as a society,” says Col. Niki Lindhorst.

The JROTC Space Force program develops young talent and opens the door for college and career opportunities in science technology engineering and math as well as the military.

“Investing time in our high schools, STEM education is incredibly important to us in Space Force and all we do is very technical and so we require a lot of minds and future leaders coming out of high schools and junior highs that are excited about STEM education,” says Col. Lindhorst.

Huntsville High school’s JROTC program is one of the select few to blaze the trail for the programs future.

“Across the nation there are hundreds of JROTC programs with the department of the air force so to be selected as one of the first ten, if you do the math its pretty special,” says Col. Lindhorst.

Cadet Collin White says its a privilege that Huntsville High was chosen.

“Our Space Force JROTC is so young and its honestly a really historic moment for the United States. As we pass these historic monuments you realize times are changing and that we change with the times and…we proceed here showing not only what you can do for Space Force but what all the good it can bring to the nation and how its a worthwhile program,” says White.

About 1,200 JROTC cadets, or 1 percent of the entire AFJROTC program population, will be affected by this change. For now the program will continue to fall under the Air Force.

Space Force JROTC plans to convert up to 100 units over the next couple of years, according to Anthony “Todd” Taylor, Chief of the Program Development Division at headquarters Air Force ROTC.

The Netflix absurdist comedy Space Force was an Ars favorite in 2020, easily winning a spot on our annual list of best TV shows. We loved the show’s wickedly sly humor, absurdist set-ups, and unexpected heart. It’s finally back with a second season, and while much of the old magic remains intact, it’s starting to lose its luster just a bit—perhaps because we only got seven episodes instead of ten (thanks, never-ending pandemic).

(Spoilers for S1 below.)

As we’ve reported previously, the series was created by Steve Carell and Greg Daniels (who also created Parks and Recreation and Upload). Space Force was inspired in part by the Trump administration’s announcement that it would establish a national Space Force. Carell plays four-star general Mark Naird, a decorated pilot with dreams of running the Air Force.

But in the pilot episode, his dreams for promotion were dashed when he was tapped instead to lead the newly formed sixth branch of the US Armed Forces: Space Force. His new appointment earned the mockery of Naird’s four-star general rival Kick Grabaston (Noah Emmerich). Ever the good soldier, Mark uprooted his family and moved to a remote base in Wild Horse, Colorado where he and a colorful team of scientists and aspiring “Spacemen” struggled to meet the White House insistence on getting American boots on the Moon (again) by 2024, thereby achieving “total space dominance.”

Naird naturally butts heads with his chief scientist, Dr. Adrian Mallory (John Malkovich), a pacifist who has misgivings  about working for the Department of Defense. Mark’s wife, Maggie (Lisa Kudrow) is in prison, and his daughter Erin (Diana Silvers) resents having to live in Colorado. The impressive main cast also includes Ben Schwartz as social media director Tony Scarapiducci; Jimmy O. Yang as Dr. Chan Kaifang, Mallory’s lead assistant; Tawny Newsome as Captain Angela Ali, a helicopter pilot who becomes one of the mission’s astronauts; and Don Lake as Brigadier General Bradley Gregory, Naird’s adjutant.

Somehow, Space Force succeeds in getting those boots on the moon—but so does China. In the S1 finale, the Joints Chief of Staff were outraged by the Chinese astronauts’ desecration of the Apollo 11 Lunar Flag Assembly (they rolled over it in a rover). Naird’s strategy for a mild attack on the Chinese habitat was over-ruled by the Secretary of Defense, who ordered the destruction of the Chinese lunar base, which would likely trigger all-out war.

Mallory threatened to resign, and Naird decided to defy his orders. That, in turn, led to Grabaston executing a military coup and taking over Space Force, arresting Mallory and Naird. The US astronauts were told to attack the Chinese habitat with wrenches. They returned from this dubious mission to find that the Chinese astronauts had crippled the US base, putting their very survival at risk. And, scene.

That first season was inexplicably panned by critics (viewers were far more positive). Maybe those critics weren’t watching the same series, because we here at Ars loved the show, even though Senior Space Editor Eric Berger had some issues with the depiction of the space-tech. It’s not The Office, nor is it Veep, and that’s a good thing. My take:

Space Force‘s approach to comedy is that of a precision scalpel carefully sheathed to avoid inflicting too much damage with its cuts. There’s an underlying warmth and affection for all these fallible characters trying to do something extraordinary, making us root for them even as we laugh at their pratfalls…. Malkovich shines like a supernova as Dr. Adrian Mallory, a committed pacifist, passionate about his science, working for a military operation (“Space should be a zone of wonder, not of conflict and death”). His languid acerbic wit and genteel sophistication are the perfect foil to Carell’s tightly wound, rough-around-the-edges, everything-by-the-book general, who feels deeply but keeps those feelings bottled up, as a good soldier should. Their unlikely friendship, forged in the fires of a nigh-impossible task, is the heart and soul of the series.

Netflix clearly felt the series performed well enough to warrant a second season. The season picks up a few months after the finale. Angela and her fellow astronauts (including the Chinese) managed to make it back to Earth, and Space Force is now subject to a disciplinary hearing before the new administration’s Secretary of Defense (Tim Meadows). Naird emerges still in charge of Space Force, but the fledgling agency has four months to prove itself—and its budget has been slashed in half.

Meanwhile, Angela is struggling with her new national hero status and distancing herself from her fledgling relationship with Chan. He handles it pretty much like the lovable nerd he is: by constructing an elaborate flowchart complete with equations to assess the situation. (Dude, take a hint from that returned-text ratio.) Mallory’s beloved manned Mars mission gets the axe, leaving its lone astronaut, Captain Lancaster (Patton Oswalt) in a precarious predicament. Naird’s wife, Maggie, files for divorce, and Erin is ambivalent about going to college, angling to take a gap year instead.

The writers do an excellent job of giving each member of the gifted ensemble cast their moment in the spotlight. Nor so they skimp on small throwaway comic moments that can ornament a scene, like the fact that US satellites in the series are all named after 70s rock bands (Genesis, Rush, Blue Oyster Cult). In the strongest episode, Naird and Mallory host a diplomatic dinner with a visiting delegation from China. Mallory spars with the delegation’s chief scientist, a defiant moon landing denier who needles Mallory by dismissing Neil Armstrong as a “terrific actor.” Meanwhile, Naird, a notorious lightweight, must hold his own, shot-for-shot, against the Chinese general to successfully negotiate a 50/50 split of the moon’s resources.

However, because of the shortened season, S2 just doesn’t have the breathing room to develop the grace notes that so enriched the storytelling of that first season, especially with regard to the interpersonal relationships. The characters don’t really develop much at all, making that whole aspect feel rather thin. I especially missed the subtle moments between Naird and Mallory, although Carell and Malkovich deliver their usual impeccable performances. This is still a delightful, eminently bingeable series and I’m rooting for a full third season without the constraints of shooting during a full-blown pandemic.

The second season of Space Force is now streaming on Netflix.

Listing image by Netflix

Lisa Costa was appointed chief technology and innovation officer of the Space Force in September 2021

WASHINGTON — Lisa Costa, chief technology and innovation officer of the U.S. Space Force, said the service is eyeing investments in edge computing, data centers in space and other technologies needed to build a digital infrastructure.  

“Clearly, the imperative for data driven, threat informed decisions is number one, and that means that we need computational and storage power in space, and high-speed resilient communications on orbit,” Costa said Jan. 13 at a virtual event hosted by GovConWire, a government contracting news site. 

Costa was appointed CTIO of the Space Force in September 2021. She was previously director of communications systems and chief information officer of U.S. Special Operations Command.

She said the Space Force has a long-term vision of being a “digital service” and is now laying out a strategy to invest in “the right infrastructure for a competitive and contested domain.” 

A key goal of the Space Force is to be agile and “outpace our adversaries,” said Costa. Timely and relevant data is imperative, and that will require investments in government-owned and in commercial infrastructure in space, she added. “Things like cloud storage, elastic computing, critical computation for machine learning, infrastructure in and across orbits.” 

She noted that the Space Force has to do a better job communicating its needs to the commercial industry and to universities that are developing many of the technologies the service is seeking.

Edge computing and data management in orbit are growing market segments in the space industry. Onboard computing allows satellites to process data they collect and perform autonomous decision-making and tasks faster than if the data had to be transported to a server on the ground. 

Space Force guardians need these capabilities so they can analyze data using machine learning and artificial intelligence, Costa said. “AI is incredibly important in space. So where are we going to do that processing?” 

Having space-based orbital computational power is “really critical so we don’t have to download massive amounts of data to ground stations to do processing, and then upload the information,” she said. “So help us figure out the best ways of processing information, and getting it to the decision makers.”

A digital infrastructure that can move data quickly “is absolutely imperative because of two primary factors: the nature of the threat and the size of our Space Force, which is quite small.”

“We are the only U.S. military service that was established during the information age,” said Costa. “And so the Space Force has this unique opportunity to be born digital. And we’re seizing on that opportunity.”