Congress has expressed “concern” about the ability of the Air Force and industry to “manage expensive and complicated satellite programs such as Space Radar.” Lawmakers wrote in the 2006 defense spending bill that there is “broad agreement” that USAF should, in a word, slowdown. As with TSAT, they want “greater emphasis on maturing technologies” and, even, more work on “existing radar assets (such as airborne surrogates).” They didn’t kill Space Radar (once called Space-Based Radar), just cut it sharply and asked for a spending plan.
The Air Force announced a successful ejection seat test for its T-7A trainer, and an official told lawmakers the service expects the jet to achieve initial operating capability by November 2027—two signs of progress for the program.