Global Hawk Hits 5K: 
An Air Force’s RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle recently surpassed the 5,000 combat flying hour mark while flying a mission in the global war on terror, says Northrop Grumman. The UAV began flying combat missions in 2001, accumulating more than 233 missions to its credit. A single RQ-4 has flown 157 of those sorties.
Space Systems Command on July 27 announced a $287 million award to Sphinx Defense to develop a mission planning prototype for the Evolved Strategic Satellite Communications program’s ground segment.