🌕 New Trump space policy sets 2028 deadline for Moon base, Golden Dome prototype

📬 In Today’s Defense Brief

🛰️ SDA awards four contracts worth $3.5B for next-gen missile-tracking satellites — Read More

🌕 New Trump space policy sets 2028 deadline for Moon base, Golden Dome prototype — Read More

🚀 Lockheed conducts live-fire test of GMLRS variant — Read More

🌊 US Navy experiments with Lancet autonomous undersea vehicle — Read More

🤖 Humanoid robots inch closer to frontline military roles — Read More

🎱 Plus 14 other news stories you may like

📰 Full Breakdown

🛰️ SDA awards four contracts worth $3.5B for next-gen missile-tracking satellites — Read More

• The Space Development Agency awarded four major contracts totaling roughly $3.5B to build the next tranche of missile-tracking satellites, advancing plans for a proliferated low Earth orbit sensing layer. The constellation is designed to detect and track ballistic, hypersonic, and maneuvering missile threats with greater persistence and resilience than legacy systems.

• SDA officials emphasized speed and competition, spreading work across multiple vendors to reduce risk and accelerate delivery timelines. The satellites will integrate infrared sensing with networking and data transport to support real-time cueing for missile defense systems.

• The awards reinforce SDA’s role as a central pillar of future missile warning and tracking, aligning closely with broader homeland defense efforts such as Golden Dome and joint all-domain command-and-control initiatives.

🌕 New Trump space policy sets 2028 deadline for Moon base, Golden Dome prototype — Read More

• A new White House space policy directive sets aggressive timelines, including a 2028 target for a lunar base and a prototype of the Golden Dome missile defense architecture. The policy frames space as a contested warfighting domain requiring rapid, visible progress.

• The document pushes agencies to prioritize speed, public-private partnerships, and dual-use technologies, tying civil space exploration goals more tightly to national security imperatives.

• Defense officials note that the deadlines are aspirational but intended to force alignment across NASA, the Space Force, and industry around shared milestones for space infrastructure and missile defense experimentation.

🚀 Lockheed conducts live-fire test of GMLRS variant — Read More

• Lockheed Martin completed a live-fire test of a new GMLRS configuration, demonstrating improved range, accuracy, or mission flexibility compared to earlier variants. The test underscores continued investment in precision fires as a core capability for the Army and joint forces.

• The live-fire event validated guidance, propulsion, and flight performance elements under operationally relevant conditions, according to the company.

• Officials frame the upgrade path as a way to extend the relevance of GMLRS in contested environments, bridging toward longer-range fires while leveraging existing launchers and logistics chains.

🌊 US Navy experiments with Lancet autonomous undersea vehicle — Read More

• The U.S. Navy is testing the Lancet autonomous undersea vehicle as part of broader efforts to expand unmanned maritime capabilities for sensing, surveillance, and undersea warfare.

• Lancet is designed to be modular and low-cost, enabling deployment in numbers to cover wide areas or perform specialized missions such as seabed mapping or target detection.

• Navy officials see AUVs like Lancet as force multipliers that can reduce risk to crewed platforms while increasing persistence and awareness in contested undersea environments.

🤖 Humanoid robots inch closer to frontline military roles — Read More

• Advances in humanoid robotics are drawing increased military interest, particularly for logistics, maintenance, and hazardous tasks near the frontline. Developers argue that human-like form factors allow robots to operate in environments built for people.

• Current experimentation focuses on autonomy, power endurance, and human-machine teaming rather than direct combat roles.

• Defense planners view humanoid robots as a long-term play that could reduce manpower strain and risk, though reliability and cost remain significant hurdles before large-scale deployment.

🌏 Other Important News

🌊 Sea

• SECDEF: New frigate to be based on National Security Cutter; first FFX to be built at Ingalls — Read More

• U.S. Southern Command strikes two suspected narco boats in eastern Pacific — Read More

• Navy taps Project Overmatch chief to lead new drone effort in acquisition shakeup — Read More

🛰️ Space

• UK explores ‘Iron Dome’-style air defense concept — Read More

• MDA adds 1,086 firms to Shield pool for Golden Dome-related tech — Read More

• Congress pushes Space Force to beef up acquisition chops via NDAA — Read More

✈️ Air

• Airbus to deliver 100 helicopters to Spanish armed forces — Read More

• GAO: U.S. should better track partner feedback on use of legacy American equipment — Read More

🤖 Autonomy

• Skana rolls out AI-driven mission software — Read More

• Army looks to boost mortar firepower and lethality — Read More

• War Department outlines new drone and unmanned systems initiatives — Read More

🏛️ Policy

• Pentagon fails another audit, restates 2028 goal to finally pass — Read More

• Senate confirms Coast Guard’s new top admiral, other key DoD officials — Read More

• Pentagon must release three years of internal safety investigations under NDAA — Read More

Thanks for reading today’s Defense Brief. If you found it useful, consider forwarding it to a friend or colleague who'd appreciate staying sharp on defense tech and military news.