The five-year contract is to develop the Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution, or FORGE. SpaceNews.com

NASA has selected a startup led by a former International Space Station program manager to develop a commercial module for the station. SpaceNews.com

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine expressed reservations Jan. 27 about a NASA authorization bill introduced in the House last week that he fears could constrain the agency’s approach to human space exploration. SpaceNews.com

As OneWeb prepares to begin monthly launches for its broadband constellation, the company and a U.S. senator are urging the FCC to act on an application filed nearly two years ago for 1,260 more satellites. SpaceNews.com

EOS Defense Systems USA, a subsidiary of Electro Optic Systems Holdings Ltd. of Australia, plans to establish a space-based communications relay network with Audacy’s spectrum license. SpaceNews.com

The U.S. military drone strikes that killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani on Jan. 3 and Iran’s retaliatory ballistic missile attack on U.S. bases in Iraq a few days later were a stark illustration of the critical role of satellites. SpaceNews.com

British aerospace company QinetiQ received a 75 million euro ($82.6 million) contract from the European Space Agency to build a small satellite for ozone measurements.  SpaceNews.com

The Japanese space agency JAXA hopes to have an agreement in place outlining its contributions to NASA’s lunar exploration efforts in the next few months. SpaceNews.com

U.S. Space Force statement: The seal “honors the Department of the Air Force’s proud history” SpaceNews.com

The battery malfunction that put DirecTV’s Spaceway-1 satellite at risk of exploding has a “very low likelihood” of occuring on other satellites, according to the satellite’s manufacturer, Boeing.  SpaceNews.com

The leadership of the House Science Committee introduced a NASA authorization bill Jan. 24 that seeks to significantly alter NASA’s current plans to return humans to the moon and make them part of an effort to send humans to Mars. SpaceNews.com

A team of U.S. military and civilian defense officials spent most of 2019 drawing up plans to create a Space Force as a new service branch within the Air Force. But it wasn’t until Congress reached a deal in December on the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act that the Space Force went from concept to reality. SpaceNews.com

Getting the Space Force right and creating the first new U.S. armed service in more than half a century will be a herculean task. Meeting that growing challenge will require, first and foremost, getting Space Force acquisition right. SpaceNews.com

NASA has selected acting directors at two of its field centers to take those positions on a permanent basis. SpaceNews.com

Vector, the launch vehicle and smallsat technology company that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December, announced Jan. 24 it is proceeding with plans to sell its satellite technology to Lockheed Martin or another bidder. SpaceNews.com

SpaceX will launch Egyptian operator NileSat’s next communications satellite on a Falcon 9 rocket in 2022, SpaceXsaid Jan. 23. SpaceNews.com

NASA will turn off an aging infrared space telescope in a week, citing the complexities of continuing to operate the spacecraft as it drifts away from the Earth. SpaceNews.com

The Space Information Sharing and Analysis Center, or Space ISAC, will launch an unclassified portal where companies can share and analyze cybersecurity information. SpaceNews.com

Hoyt said observations from the U.S. military’s Space Surveillance Network showed the Prox-1 satellite deorbiting more than 24 times faster than before deploying the tape.  SpaceNews.com

The European Commission has “pre-booked” four launches using Europe’s next-generation Ariane 6 rocket. SpaceNews.com