Tag: US Air Force
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Pentagon plans to keep X-37B spaceplane under Air Force management
The reusable X-37B spaceplane is prepared for encapsulation inside the payload fairing of an Atlas 5 rocket ahead of a launch scheduled for May 16. Credit: U.S. Space Force The U.S. military’s X-37B spaceplane program will remain under Air Force management for the foreseeable future, and won’t join other Pentagon space programs turned over to…
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U.S. military spaceplane breaks its own longevity record in orbit
Artist’s concept of the X-37B spaceplane in orbit. Credit: Boeing A robotic U.S. military spaceplane surpassed 719 days in orbit Monday, setting a new record for the longest flight of the Air Force’s winged X-37B orbiting experiment platform nearly two years after launching from Florida on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Air Force officials have…
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Northrop Grumman looking into dramatic nozzle anomaly on Omega rocket motor
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Near the end of a ground-shaking test firing of Northrop Grumman’s solid-propellant Castor 600 rocket motor — the first stage of a new booster being designed to launch spy satellites and other national security payloads — a major part of the rocket’s big nozzle appeared to break apart,…
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NASA chief slams India anti-satellite test
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine speaks during a town hall meeting Monday at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls The successful test of an Indian anti-satellite weapon March 27 created a cloud of high-velocity debris that poses a near-term threat to other spacecraft in low-Earth orbit, including the International…
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Blue Origin’s orbital rocket in the running to receive U.S. military investment
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated April 14 with correction on West Coast launch site and BE-4 investment details. Artist’s concept of the two-stage version of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket. Credit: Blue Origin Blue Origin submitted a proposal late last year in what’s expected to be a four-way competition for U.S. Air Force funding to support development…
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Orbital ATK confident new rocket will win Air Force support
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated April 13. Artist’s concept of Orbital ATK’s Next Generation Launch system in flight. Credit: Orbital ATK Orbital ATK’s bid to join the U.S. military’s roster of rockets to haul the most critical national security satellites into orbit faces stiff competition from entrenched launch providers and billionaire entrepreneurs, but the company is confident…
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U.S. military orders two more surveillance satellites to roam geosynchronous orbit
Artist’s concept of two GSSAP spacecraft in orbit. Credit: U.S. Air Force Orbital ATK started work on two more surveillance satellites for the U.S. Air Force’s geosynchronous neighborhood watch program late last year as the military aims to expand its ability to track and investigate other objects in the heavily-trafficked belt more than 22,000 miles…
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Photos: Delta 4 launch views from KSC press site
A United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral on Wednesday night with the U.S. Air Force’s eighth Wideband Global SATCOM communications satellite, lighting up the sky in these images taken from the nearby Kennedy Space Center press site. The Delta 4 launched at 6:53 p.m. EST (2353 GMT) from Complex 37B…
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Air Force ends effort to recover DMSP weather satellite
Artist’s concept of a DMSP weather satellite in orbit. Credit: U.S. Air Force Attempts to restore the U.S. Air Force’s newest weather satellite to service have ended, a military spokesperson said Wednesday, cutting a planned five-year mission short less than two years after it launched. The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Flight 19, or DMSP F19, spacecraft…
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Pentagon opens investigation into contracts with ULA
File photo of an Atlas 5 rocket launch from Cape Canaveral with a U.S. Navy communications satellite in January 2015. Credit: ULA The U.S. Defense Department’s internal watchdog has opened a probe into whether the Pentagon’s contracts with United Launch Alliance were properly awarded after a former ULA executive implied the government rigged a recent…