Air Force Space Command announced Monday that a Minotaur rocket successfully launched from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., lifting off from Space Launch Complex 8, on April 14. The Minotaur, a ground-based version of Orbital Science Corp.’s air-launched Pegasus rocket, boosted the COSMIC spacecraft’s six low Earth orbiting micro-satellites. The COSMIC constellation is designed to collect data on moisture in Earth’s atmosphere.
There is a new entrant in the highly competitive field of collaborative combat aircraft—semi-autonomous drones meant to fly alongside manned combat aircraft. Northrop Grumman unveiled its new Project Talon aircraft to a small group of reporters at the facilities of its subsidiary Scaled Composites.

