Updated 12:45 p.m. Eastern with confirmation of contact with #satellite after deployment.

#WASHINGTON — A #Rocket Lab Electron launched an Astroscale #spacecraft that will rendezvous with and inspect a spent upper stage in low Earth orbit as a precursor to removing it.

The Electron lifted off from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 9:52 a.m. Eastern Feb. 18. The launch was the second this year for the company after the Jan. 31 launch of four satellites for space situational awareness company NorthStar Earth and Space.

#WASHINGTON — The Space Development Agency selected California-based EpiSci to develop a software tool capable of detecting #hypersonic #missiles in flight from satellite data, a challenging task given the extreme speeds of these weapons.

Hypersonic missiles travel at speeds of at least Mach 5, which is five times the speed of sound, posing a significant challenge for current defense systems. The Space Development Agency (SDA), an organization within the U.S. Space Force, is building a network of satellites in low Earth orbit with the goal to provide global indications, warning, tracking, and targeting of advanced missile threats.

#SAN #FRANCISCO — Thales Alenia Space won a contract from Ball Aerospace, prime contractor for #NASA’s Near Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor, to provide key communications components for the spacecraft destined Earth-sun #Lagrange point 1.

Under the contract announced Feb. 13, Thales Alenia Space will supply NEO Surveyor’s S-band transponder, K-band modulator and K-band traveling wave tube amplifier to transmit data 1.5 million kilometers between L1 and #Earth.

#WASHINGTON — SpaceX launched a U.S. #military classified mission Feb. 14, sending to orbit six missile-detection satellites: two for the Missile Defense Agency and four for the Space Development Agency. The mission, named USSF-124, flew to orbit on a #Falcon 9. The #rocket lifted off at 5:30 p.m. Eastern from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.

The payload included five satellites made by L3Harris Technologies and one made by Northrop Grumman

#TITUSVILLE, Fla. — BAE Systems will complete its $5.5 billion acquisition of Ball #Aerospace in days after securing regulatory approvals for the deal.

The companies announced Feb. 14 that they had all the approvals in place from regulators to complete the deal, announced in August. All that remains are the “customary steps at the end of a transaction,” said Tom Arseneault, president and chief executive of #BAE Systems Inc., in an interview. “We’re hoping to complete that in the coming days.”

#TAMPA, Fla. — #Skylo has raised $37 million to help nail down the partnerships it needs to enable more smartphones to connect to satellites for texting and other low-bandwidth services.

The funding round was announced Feb. 13, a year after the first Skylo-enabled smartphone was unveiled by Bullitt, the British ruggedized handset maker that has since run into financial issues.

Using standards widely adopted by the cellular industry, Silicon Valley-based Skylo has developed the ground infrastructure that satellites already in geostationary orbit need to connect to mass market devices

#WASHINGTON — The Department of the Air Force on Feb. 12 unveiled plans to reorganize Air Force and Space Force units, change personnel policy, training, operations and acquisitions.

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said priorities have to change for the era of “great power competition,” particularly with #China. He discussed the planned changes in a speech at the Air & Space Forces Association’s Warfare Symposium in Aurora, #Colorado.

#WASHINGTON — A top official at the #Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit urged space industry executives not to underestimate the U.S. Space Force’s commitment to adopting commercial products and services, despite some lingering challenges.

“The Space Force may be the new kid on the block but they’re leading the charge when it comes to embracing commercial innovation,” said Steven “#Bucky” #Butow, director of the space portfolio at the Defense Innovation Unit, or #DIU.