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

Gen. Chance Saltzman, and Vice Adm. Frank Whitworth sign a memorandum of understanding May 21, 2025, at the GEOINT Symposium. (Photo credit: Space Force)

Space Force, NGA reach agreement on purchasing power for commercial ISR

Space

Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman testifies during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Washington D.C., May 20, 2025. (U.S. Air Force photo by Chad Trujillo)

Saltzman: Space Force underfunded for space control, other new missions

Space

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks alongside Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in the Oval Office at the White House on May 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Trump announced his plans for the “Golden Dome,” a national ballistic and cruise missile defense system. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Trump: Golden Dome will cost around $175B, be ‘fully operational’ in three years

Space

Rendering of Northrop Grumman’s GAS-T design that will leverage an ESPAStar-D satellite platform to add fuel and extend the life of in-orbit assets. (Northrop Grumman image)

Space Force still weighing cost, operational advantages of satellite refueling tech

Space

Troy Meink appears before the Senate Armed Services Committee for his nomination to be secretary of the Air Force in Washington, D.C., March 27, 2025. (DoD photo by EJ Hersom)

Senate confirms Troy Meink as 27th secretary of the Air Force

Emerging Tech

(Getty Images)

With pilot planned for 2026, DIU brings additional vendors into ‘hybrid’ space satellite network project

Space

U.S. Marine Corps Capt. David Whalen, assigned to the Marine Innovation Unit (MIU), Marine Forces Reserve, works on developing a “Flight Mode” software feature at the Marine Corps Software Factory (MCSWF) in Austin, Texas, 17 – 29 March, 2025. (U.S.Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Orion Stpierre)

Pentagon sets out two-year plan to scale enterprise cloud offerings, software factories

Emerging Tech

U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to the 1st Space Brigade on Fort Carson, Colorado Springs, Colo., conduct a training exercise sweep of their assigned area on May 25, 2021. The training revolved around timely assembly of space related assets in unknown locations and the teams coordination, communication and combat training throughout the process.

Army stands up new career field for enlisted soldiers focused on space operations

Space

(Getty Images)

Space Force taps 12 vendors to host future emerging tech experiments on orbit

Space