Air Force Space Command’s 45th Space Wing, Patrick AFB, Fla., provide range and launch support to launch the next generation weather-tracking satellite—Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-N—yesterday evening at 6:11 p.m. A Boeing Delta IV rocket launched the Boeing-built satellite, which company officials said is the first of three it will build for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA. GOES-N primarily is designed to track hurricanes and other severe weather. “This satellite will serve the nation by monitoring conditions that trigger dangerous weather, and it will serve the world by contributing vast amounts of observational data,” stated NOAA Administrator Conrad Lautenbacher Jr.
Raytheon, a division of defense giant RTX, recently announced a multiyear deal with the Pentagon to increase annual production of the Air Force’s primary dogfighting missile by more than 50 percent from two years ago.
