US airmen and other warfighters stand to benefit from a scheduled launch of the latest Defense Meteorological Satellite Program spacecraft—the F-17 Block 5D-3—aboard a Boeing Delta IV Medium booster from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., Nov. 4. The Lockheed Martin-built satellite features advanced sensors that collect meteorological data in all weather conditions, a more powerful computer with greater memory, and ring laser gyros that supply more flexible precision pointing than earlier mechanical gyros, states a company news release.
Facing competition from fast-growing startups, Lockheed Martin is speeding up production of an “affordable, scalable” hypersonic glide body, dubbed the Next Generation Glide Body, the firm said in a June 24 release.