SANDY HOOK, Conn. - President Trump signed the FY26 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law Thursday, finalizing the year-long process for the defense policy bill. The House approved the bill last week in a 312-112 vote, and the Senate passed the NDAA Wednesday by a vote of 77-20. The legislation sets the national security topline at $900.6 billion, an $8 billion increase over the president's request. The Pentagon's portion of the total is $855.7 billion in the bill, which marks a $7.5 billion increase over the administration’s initial request of $848.2 billion.

The NDAA reflects a decisive pivot toward modernization. Lawmakers added a total of $12.7 billion specifically for developing and acquiring new military equipment. Consequently, procurement funding rose to $161.7 billion ($8.9 billion over the request), and research and development climbed to $145.7 billion ($3.7 billion over the request). These plus-ups were partially funded by offsetting cuts: $4.1 billion was removed from the Operation & Maintenance budget, and personnel funding saw a $1.5 billion reduction.

The bill supports ongoing defense acquisition reform efforts. A notable development is the establishment of a new Portfolio Acquisition Executive (PAE) role, which aims to shift the weapons buying process from a program-based model to a portfolio-centric approach. The new model is intended to provide acquisition executives with increased oversight and authority to manage groups of capabilities, rather than isolated projects. The legislation also includes multiple provisions intended to increase the number of commercial solutions adopted by the Pentagon, mirroring a push by the administration to prioritize the use of commercial options over bespoke capabilities that often take longer to develop cost significantly more.

Finalizing the NDAA doesn't complete the Pentagon's FY26 budget cycle. Congressional appropriators must next finalize a defense appropriations bill, which provides the final allocation of funds for the military for the remainder of the fiscal year. Most of the government is currently operating under a continuing resolution through January. With a holiday recess approaching, Congress has only weeks to conclude work on the FY26 spending bills to avoid another shutdown. While the House been focused largely on healthcare matters, the driver of October's initial shutdown, the Senate is drafting a minibus appropriations package that includes the Pentagon's budget. If lawmakers can align on the minibus, the military could avoid the disruptions of a full-year CR or another partial government shutdown.

The House has been largely focused on healthcare matters that led to the initial shutdown in October, but the Senate is working on a minibus appropriations bill that includes the Pentagon's budget. If lawmakers can make progress on the minibus bill, then the military could be spared from further disruptions caused by another CR or partial government shutdown.

Source: Forecast International
Associated URL: https://www.forecastinternational.com
Author: s. McDougall, Defense Analyst 

KOUROU, French Guiana - On December 17, 2025 at 2:01 a.m. local time (5:01 a.m. UTC, 6:01 a.m. CET), Arianespace successfully launched the pair of satellites, Galileo L14 from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.

The mission, called VA266, was the fifth flight of Ariane 6, Europe's heavy-lift launcher. It was performed with an Ariane 6 with two boosters, the Ariane 62, which has been successful since its inaugural flight in 2024.

The satellites designated SAT 33 and SAT 34 were placed into a medium Earth orbit at an altitude of approximately 22 922 km. Their separation occurred 3 hours and 55 minutes after lift-off.

Ariane 6 once again demonstrates its versatility with a new payload configuration specifically designed for a Galileo-type mission. For the needs of this mission, the upper part of the launcher has been fully adapted by ArianeGroup. It consists of a short fairing, a light launch vehicle adaptor (LVA) used for the first time on an Ariane 6 flight, as well as a dispenser specific to the Galileo missions allowing a lateral attachment of the two satellites.

Galileo is a flagship component of the EU Space Programme. Owned by the European Union, it is under the management of the European Commission. It delivers best-in-class performance for real-time positioning accuracy worldwide, down to the meter range. It also offers innovative capabilities for professional users, such as authentication of signals and high-accuracy services, along with additional dedicated governmental services. Since its inception, ESA has been leading the design, development and qualification of the space and ground systems, as well as procuring launches. The EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) acts as the service provider, overseeing the market and application needs and closing the loop with users.

Source: Arianespace
Associated URL: https://newsroom.arianespace.com/with-ariane-6-arianespace-successfully-launches-eus-galileo-l14?lang=eng

HERNDON, Va. - BlackSky Technology Inc. successfully integrated its third Gen-3 satellite into commercial operations just three weeks following launch, reflecting an exponential increase in commissioning speed since the launch of its first Gen-3 unit. This accomplishment reflects another remarkable performance milestone as the company seamlessly expands reliable capacity for very high-resolution 35-centimeter imagery and AI-enabled analytics for customers worldwide.

BlackSky customers now have access to all three current Gen-3 satellites through the Spectra tasking and analytics platform with the ability to collect time-diverse, high-cadence day and nighttime imagery, including high off-nadir collections, with automated AI-enabled vessel, aircraft and vehicle detection and identification analytics.

BlackSky’s rapid commissioning process places tasking capacity into customers’ hands quickly and increases the overall operational life of each satellite as they come online sooner. Customers no longer have to wait months to access capacity from newly launched on-orbit assets - timelines typically associated with traditional commissioning timelines.

BlackSky’s best-in-class Gen-3 capabilities continue to exceed performance specifications for low-latency, very high-resolution imagery and AI-enabled analytics where speed-to-insight is essential to mission success. With three Gen-3 satellites now on orbit, the company plans to grow the constellation at a regular cadence. Each new Gen-3 satellite expands capacity, lowers latency, adds flexibility and increases customer applications for automated real-time and predictive battlefield monitoring.

The company is leveraging its full technology stack of vertically integrated satellite manufacturing, software and AI solutions to meet global customer demand for guaranteed access to data, when and where customers need it, through novel delivery models like capacity sharing, Assured subscription access or full sovereign systems.

Source: BlackSky
Associated URL: https://blacksky.com/press-releases/blackskys-third-gen-3-enters-commercial-operations-in-just-three-weeks-following-launch/