Mikayla Easley

Mikayla Easley reports on the Pentagon’s acquisition and use of emerging technologies. Prior to joining DefenseScoop, she covered national security and the defense industry for National Defense Magazine. She received a BA in Russian language and literature from the University of Michigan and a MA in journalism from the University of Missouri. You can follow her on Twitter @MikaylaEasley

Articles by Author

U.S. Space Force Major General DeAnna M. Burt speaks during a change of command ceremony for the Combined Force Space Component Command, United States Space Command, Nov. 16, 2020, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. During the event Major General John E. Shaw relinquished command of the CFSCC and deputy command of Space Operations Command, U.S. Space Force, to Burt who previously served as the Director of Operation and Communications, Headquarters USSF. (U.S. Air Force photo by Michael Peterson)

Space Force ‘days away’ from signing first commercial strategy

Space

Artist rendering of the X-65 (DARPA image)

Aurora Flight Sciences begins manufacturing X-65 drone for DARPA

Emerging Tech

Powered by 27 Merlin engines, generating more than five million pounds of combined thrust, a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from Launch Complex (LC)-39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Dec. 28, 2023 at 8:07 p.m. EST, carrying the U.S. Space Force (USSF)-52 mission into Earth orbit. (SpaceX photo)

Space Force launches X-37B robotic space plane for new round of classified experiments

Space

(Getty Images)

Space Force hosts inaugural ‘orbital warfare’ training exercise

Space

Illustration of a hypersonic missile (Getty Images)

Report: Multi-orbit sensing architectures optimal for hypersonic missile defense

Space

PEARL HARBOR — (Sept. 13, 2018) The Arleigh Burke-Class destroyer Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) and its crew arrives to their new homeport of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. The ship, which was previously homeported in San Diego, is named after Rear Adm. Wayne E. Meyer, who is known as the “Father of Aegis”. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Corwin M. Colbert)

Del Toro: Navy ‘very concerned’ about future spectrum-sharing decisions

Emerging Tech

U.S. Airmen assigned to Travis Air Force Base, California, transition into the U.S. Space Force during a ceremony at the 621st Contingency Response Wing, Travis AFB, California, Feb. 12, 2021. Applicants were required to apply through a formal application process, provide a commander’s letter of recommendation and meet a records only board convened by the U.S. Air Force and Space Force. All applicants accepted received notice of transfer approval by the board. (U.S. Air Force photo by Nicholas Pilch)

Lawmakers direct DOD to examine feasibility, costs of standing up a Space National Guard

Space

(Getty Images)

Pentagon creating new role to break down ‘language barrier’ between non-traditional vendors, DOD

Emerging Tech

Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey Englehardt, the noncommissioned officer-in-charge of the operations section for the 142nd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, which is deployed to support 1st Theater Sustainment Command, gauges wind speed near the Camp Buehring, Kuwait, drop zone for the April 22, 2021 air drop of four bundles using the Joint Precision Air Delivery System, JPADS. Englehardt said JPADS uses the Modular Autonomous Guidance Unit, or MAGU, to manipulate the the parafoil’s rigging to steer it using GPS to reach its programmed coordinates. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Neil W. McCabe)

Space Development Agency, Army collaborating on alternative PNT capabilities

Space