Airmen of the 56th Rescue Squadron—lately of NAS Keflavik, Iceland—have flown their first mission from their new home at RAF Lakenheath, England. Currently, the 56th RQS has some 75 airmen—air and ground crews—that made the move from Iceland to England earlier this year, along with some of the unit’s HH-60 Pave Hawk combat search and rescue helicopters. Over the next year, the unit will grow to about 200 airmen.
The final version of the fiscal 2026 defense policy bill calls for adding $1.2 billion to the Space Force’s research and development accounts, an increase that’s mostly split between two efforts: expanding the service’s low-Earth orbit data transport network and boosting its space-based missile warning and tracking capabilities.
