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RF & Microwave Electronics

Ariane 6 Booster Upgrade Sets a New European Heavy-Lift Benchmark

Ariane 6 has entered a higher-performance phase. On June 17, 2026, the heavy-lift rocket launched 36 Amazon Leo satellites from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, flying...

Podcasts

Propulsion

Engineering Spacecraft Components at Scale for Commercial Space Growth

On this episode of the Aerospace & Defense Technology podcast, Brian Ippolitto, Vice President of Space Systems at Marotta Controls, discusses how spacecraft component engineering is evolving to meet the accelerating demands of commercial space growth. Listen now!

Podcasts

Aerospace

How Star Catcher’s In-Space Power Grid Could Eliminate Satellite Power Constraints

Star Catcher Industries is developing an in-space power grid that captures sunlight in orbit and delivers it wirelessly to satellites on demand. The...

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Electronics & Computers

Prototype Reflectarray Antenna Demonstrates Low‑SWaP Anti‑Jam Tactical SATCOM

Preventing adversaries from interfering with communications is crucial to national security. Tactical satellite communications (SATCOM) focus on securing...

Podcasts

Manned Systems

Accelerating Spacecraft Development with AI, Digital Twins, and Simulation

During the 2026 Siemens Realize Live conference and exhibition in Detroit, MI, the Aerospace & Defense Technology podcast interviewed Dr. Tom Stoumbos, Simulation and Test Leader at Northrop Grumman, about the company’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital simulation and testing tools to design, manufacture, and produce new satellites and space technologies. Listen now!

Articles

Software

Edge Computing Advances Enable Smarter Spacecraft and Satellites in Orbit

As satellites take on more onboard processing — from Earth imaging to autonomy — spacecraft computing designers are pushing for higher performance under tight thermal and radiation constraints. Read on to learn how suppliers are approaching heat removal, radiation mitigation and production-scale space-grade computing for LEO and beyond.

Articles

Manned Systems

Commercial Satellite Manufacturing Scales Up as LEO Demand Drives New Production Lines

Space vehicle and satellite development programs are driving demand for new small- and medium-sized satellites across commercial and defense imaging, data collection, and other space-based applications. Read on to learn more.

Application Briefs

RF & Microwave Electronics

Advancing Next Generation Weather Data from Space

PlanetiQ has been awarded a $15 million, 48-month Strategic Funding Increase contract by the U.S. Air Force. Read on to learn more about it.

Application Briefs

RF & Microwave Electronics

NEC Completes Design of Japan’s Optical Communication Demonstrator Satellite

NEC Corporation will develop a small technology demonstration satellite to conduct in-orbit verification of key technologies essential for realizing future optical communication satellite constellations, including optical communications, high-speed network routing design, and high-capacity millimeter-wave band communications. The design of the satellite-mounted equipment (payload) for this demonstration has now been completed. Read on to learn more.

Application Briefs

Aerospace

Solid-State Data Recorders for SDA’s Tranche 3 Tracking Layer Satellites

Mercury Systems was awarded a contract from L3Harris Technologies to provide SSDRs for the U.S. Space Development Agency Tranche 3 Tracking Layer satellite constellation. Read on to learn more.

Application Briefs

Manned Systems

Rapidly Deployable Counter-Threat Space Missions for NATO

EnduroSat, a space infrastructure builder, and Shield Space, a veteran-found UK defense technology company, have entered into a strategic partnership to deliver rapidly deployable counter-threat space missions for NATO and allied defense customers. Read on to learn more.

Briefs

Communications

Space Systems Command Looks Ahead to New Era of GPS Success

The GPS III series is the third generation of the U.S. Space Force’s GPS satellites and consists of ten 5,000-pound satellites manufactured by Lockheed Martin, with the first launched in 2018. Read on to learn more.

Briefs

RF & Microwave Electronics

Glaring Vulnerabilities Discovered in Satellite Communications

With $800 of off-the-shelf equipment and months’ worth of patience, a team of U.S. computer scientists set out to find out how well geostationary satellite communications are encrypted. And what they found was shocking. Read on to find out why.

Podcasts

Aerospace

Radiation-Tolerant Microcontrollers for Expanding LEO Satellite Network

On this episode of the Aerospace & Defense Technology podcast, we speak with the CEO of Vorago Technologies, Bernd Lienhard, about how radiation-tolerant and radiation-hardened semiconductor technologies are enabling the next generation of satellite constellations, autonomous defense systems, and resilient space infrastructure. Listen now!

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Photonics/Optics

Developing User Terminals for ESA's Optical Communications Network

Kepler Communications, a Canadian satellite telecommunications provider operating the first commercial optical data relay constellation, is leading a group of industry...

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Design

New Report Outlines Challenges and Opportunities for Orbital Data Centers

Space-based data centers would place data processing and storage systems for AI and other computing needs into satellites. This could reduce the land, electricity,...

Articles

Robotics, Automation & Control

Defense Research Program Developing Tactical Clocks for GPS-Free Navigation

Synchronizing time in modern warfare – often down to billionths of a second – is critical for mission success. DARPA's Robust Optical Clock Network program enables precision timekeeping, even in contested and/or GPS-denied environments, creating the opportunity for unprecedented endurance and coordination for warfighters around the world. Read on to learn more.

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RF & Microwave Electronics

NRL Satellite Payloads to Test Situational Awareness, Debris Observation and Detection

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) successfully launched three advanced experimental payloads aboard the Department of War (DoW) Space Test...

Products

RF & Microwave Electronics

New Products

See the new products, including Signal Hound's VSG200, a 20 GHz vector signal generator offering 40 MHz of realtime streaming bandwidth; LK Metrology's innovative COREX 250; Aerotech Inc.'s launch of its AGV-CPO CORE Performance 2-Axis Laser Scan Head; VPT, Inc.'s release of the VSCPL1210SG, the first point of load DC–DC converter in its award–winning VSC Series of space–grade COTS power supplies; and more.

Articles

Communications

Undetectable Ship-to-Ship Laser Communications

Astrolight recently demonstrated undetectable, unjammable, and high-bandwidth laser-based ship-to-ship communication with its POLARIS terminal during REPMUS’25, NATO’s largest unmanned maritime exercise. Read on to learn more about it.

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Design

NVIDIA’s Space 1 Vera Rubin Brings Data Center Computing to Orbit

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang announced the launch of the Space‑1 Vera Rubin Module during his keynote at the company’s 2026 GPU Technology Conference (GTC) last week.

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Connectivity

Amazon Leo to Accelerate Satellite Production and Launch Cadence

Amazon Leo is continuing the full-scale deployment of our growing satellite constellation, with more than 200 satellites deployed and hundreds of additional flight-ready...

News

Unmanned Systems

Times Microwave Systems Launches New Levitate RF Cable Assemblies for UAV Avionics

Designed for both military and commercial radio frequency (RF) systems, the Levitate line features an ultra lightweight construction with minimal signal loss,...

Articles

RF & Microwave Electronics

NASA Demonstrates a First-of-Its-Kind Space Communications

NASA's Space Communications and Navigation Program and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory have successfully tested wideband technology that allows spacecraft to communicate with both government and commercial networks for the first time. Read on to learn more.

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RF & Microwave Electronics

SpaceRAN Demonstrator Will Test 5G Connectivity on Software-Defined Satellite

Satellite connectivity is essential for global communications, and Airbus is leveraging its experience in satellites to test the capabilities of a 5G...

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RF & Microwave Electronics

FAA to Replace Aging Network of Ground-Based Radars

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued separate contract awards to RTX subsidiary Collins Aerospace and Indra for its "Radar System Replacement" program.

Articles

Manned Systems

How the US Space Force is Leveraging Commercial Antennas for Defense Applications

The U.S. Space Force (USSF) Space Systems Command (SSC) achieved a major milestone during a demonstration event in August, showcasing the Joint Antenna Marketplace (JAM) and successfully transferring the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory’s (NRL) Transmit/Receive Enterprise (TREx) Service from a research and development project into an SSC operational prototype. Read on to learn more.

Briefs

Aerospace

German Researchers Test Quantum Channels In-Flight

It is not easy to transmit individual photons precisely from an aircraft, capture them in a ground station and detect them successfully. Researchers have, however, now managed to do exactly that. They have even measured, multiple times, various quantum channels between an aircraft and a ground station, sent photons to an ion trap and tested technologies for quantum key distribution (QKD). Read on to learn more.

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RF & Microwave Electronics

Satellite Communications for the Army’s NGC2 Pilot

Kymeta Corporation has been selected as a multi-orbit satellite communications (SATCOM) capability provider for the Army’s Next Generation Command and Control (NGC2) Pilot with the...