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space & defense tech · Tech
Cole reads a launch manifest the way other reporters read an earnings call, and he's found the contract always explains more than the countdown clock.
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NASA's new RFP for commercial space stations offers a lifeline on transportation, but the real test is which contractors can survive the leap from $100 million seeds to billion-dollar builds.
With a new RFP for private space stations, NASA is shifting the financial burden of transportation to ensure a human presence in orbit—but the victory may belong to the legacy primes.
Administrator Jared Isaacman signs MOU with Energy Secretary Chris Wright to accelerate fission-powered spacecraft, but GAO warnings and tight deadlines suggest a reality gap.
A look at the Tradewinds initiative, where short videos and 'other transaction' agreements are bypassing traditional procurement to fund AI giants.
The Tradewinds initiative allows the DOD to grant 'post-competitive' status to AI firms, bypassing traditional acquisition timelines via Other Transaction agreements.
The storied VC firm's investment in Furientis highlights a growing appetite for low-cost, mass-produced weaponry over traditional, 'exquisite' defense systems.
DOJ charges Earthmade Computer CEO Greg Lui with orchestrating a complex diversion scheme to funnel export-controlled GPUs into China's AI hub.
The Metropolitan Police and other European agencies are reviewing digital forensics software after US prosecutors linked the Virginia-based firm to Moscow-based developers.
Opinion: Apple claims it is tightening macOS Full Disk Access to protect users from autonomous AI agents, but the timing suggests a strategic move to ensure no third-party agent can monetize the OS more efficiently than Siri.
The arrest of Earthmade Computer CEO Greg Lui highlights systemic failures in tracking high-end compute diverted to Chinese AI labs.
A new prototype satellite tests Google's TPU in space, but a white paper reveals the massive SpaceX launch volume required to make orbital data centers viable.
By establishing No. III Space Effects Squadron, the MoD is opting for disruption over destruction to secure orbital assets.
By repurposing James Webb leftovers to hit a $1.2 billion cost cap, NASA risks the integrity of its first 'Probe Explorer' mission.
NASA is betting a $1.2 billion mission on a modified spare cryocooler to hit a 2033 launch date, but institutional instability at JPL and Goddard looms over the new procurement strategy.
The tech giant is launching a hardware testbed to evaluate tensor processing units in low-Earth orbit, signaling long-term ambitions for space-based data centers.
The leak of personal data from the FBI's Remote Operations Unit provides a map of the bureau's offensive cyber capabilities that national security interests cannot ignore.
OPINION: AstroForge is attempting to bypass the $200 million cost of ground infrastructure by handing the keys to a neural network—a move that ignores the catastrophic risk of a total loss of signal.
As the U.S. installs a proxy government in Caracas, a report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute warns that banned Chinese AI firms are embedding themselves into the infrastructure of a U.S.-managed state.
Palantir claims Tom Watson is there to 'build,' but with a break clause looming on its massive health service contract, the move looks like a strategic effort to secure a precarious asset.
A think tank warns that Washington's control over Venezuela includes a surveillance apparatus built by banned Chinese firms.
Flight 14 aims to deploy Starlink V3 satellites, but hardware reliability remains the primary hurdle for commercial viability.
Air Force Secretary Troy Meink reveals the U.S. has deployed space control weapons to counter threats from Russia and China.
As venture capital for climate tech stalls, fusion startups are leveraging their laser and high-energy research to secure funding from the Pentagon and defense conglomerates.
A new Request for Information reveals NASA is soliciting state-funded land and infrastructure to launch a federal space workforce pipeline.
A new Request for Information reveals NASA is courting states to fund the infrastructure and land for a proposed national space academy, effectively privatizing the capital risk of a federal talent pipeline.
The Exploration Company's record Series C is a start, but Huby's vision for a heavy-lift cadence requires billions more to break the SpaceX dependency.
Britain's new space strategy blends civil growth with military necessity, but a 'red rating' on the Skynet 6 program reveals the friction between ambition and execution.
A new cross-government funding package signals a strategy that balances economic growth with orbital defense and intelligence.
Project PANOPTES offers £5 million to develop autonomous C-UAS capabilities to prevent ammunition exhaustion during saturation attacks.
A £5 million tender for autonomous anti-drone tech suggests urgency, but the real challenge lies in moving from 'capability demonstrations' to integrated vehicle deployment.
The Ministry of Defence is putting £5 million toward vehicle-mounted laser systems, but the real challenge isn't the initial tender—it's whether directed energy can outpace the economics of drone saturation.
Chancellor John Healey launches a procurement scheme for 'homegrown' AI, but patchy adoption and vague savings targets suggest a gap between funding and functional deployment.
Chancellor John Healey introduces a scheme to bridge the gap between British AI startups and public sector contracts, though adoption rates remain uneven.
OPINION: While the Spike system promises a distributed mesh of cheap interceptors, the real challenge for San Francisco-based Mara isn't the kinetic kill—it's whether a rucksack-scale system can survive the logistics of a swarm war.
A federal court ruled that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's 'supply-chain risk' designation of the AI lab was illegal and retaliatory.
By attempting to blacklist Anthropic over ethical safeguards, the Department of Defense is risking the very partnerships essential for next-gen autonomous defense.
After missing multiple launch windows, India is signaling a shift toward a 2035 space station goal that could redefine LEO power dynamics.
Elon Musk aims to bypass terrestrial power and cooling constraints by deploying NVIDIA's Vera Rubin architecture in Low Earth Orbit.
A presidential memorandum calling for 1,000 annual launches by 2030 pivots toward federal land expansion and a third heavy-lift site.
President Trump's new space transportation policy targets 1,000 annual launches by 2030, shifting the focus to federal land carve-outs and infrastructure funding.
New national space transportation policy directs NASA and the Pentagon to scale infrastructure for 1,000 annual launches by 2030.
The orbital data center startup is stockpiling cash to secure manifest slots as SpaceX phases out Falcon 9.
Backed by a $1 billion Series C, the SpaceX-alumni startup aims to disrupt defense primes, but the real test remains whether its Blackbeard missiles can actually scale.
The upcoming launch of a sophisticated lunar probe to Shackleton Crater raises questions about territorial claims and the pace of the Artemis Program.
New Zealand's security agency reports that Chinese entities are leveraging space investments to establish intelligence-gathering capabilities on local soil.
New Zealand's security agency reports attempts by a Beijing-linked organization to install ground-based space infrastructure for military intelligence gathering.
A leaked memo from Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Feinberg suggests a sole-source contract to address munitions and vehicle maintenance delays.
A leaked memo reveals plans to bypass competitive bidding to scale Palantir's data analytics across the defense industrial base.
By absorbing a sensor specialist with classified access and steady revenue, Joby Aviation is diversifying away from the long road to air taxi certification and toward high-margin defense contracts.
The U.S. Department of Defense is funding a massive expansion of Sila's Washington state facility to reduce reliance on Chinese graphite supply chains.
A phishing attack on a specialized connector manufacturer highlights the precarious nature of storing export-controlled technical data on commercial M365 stacks.
A phishing attack on a defense supplier highlights the precarious nature of storing export-controlled technical data on commercial cloud stacks.
A massive $1.37 billion funding round signals investor confidence in Hadrian's plan to rebuild the defense industrial base, but the scale of the mission remains the central question.
As Intel's RAMP-C program concludes, the U.S. government secures an equity stake in GlobalFoundries to bolster domestic semiconductor capabilities.
The latest CHIPS Act injection into GlobalFoundries targets silicon photonics for AI datacenters as Intel's RAMP-C program wraps up.
The Department of Veterans Affairs is deploying an 'army' of AI agents via a massive Salesforce contract, even as Oracle secures a separate DoD win worth nearly $7 billion.
A massive new agentic AI contract signals a shift in procurement strategy at the Department of Veterans Affairs, even as Oracle secures a separate multi-billion dollar DoD win.
The Pentagon is scaling its National Security Space Launch program to over $30 billion to support expanding satellite constellations and the proposed Golden Dome shield.
By tripling the ceiling on Lane 1 procurement, the Pentagon is moving beyond experimental prototypes toward a high-cadence architecture to support massive new constellations and the 'Golden Dome' shield.
As the Pentagon moves to dissolve the Space Development Agency, technical problems and launch gaps are slowing satellite deployment amid daily missile launches against the joint force in Operation Epic Fury.
Technical failures and schedule delays plague the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture just as the SDA is folded back into the Space Force.
Technical issues and schedule delays plague the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture just as the SDA is folded back into the Space Force.
A new draft RFP ends the guesswork for commercial orbital developers but introduces thousands of strict mandates.
A public prediction record for Cole Fenwick’s calls is coming soon.