A Delta IV rocket launched from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., on Tuesday, successfully boosting a National Reconnaissance Office satellite into orbit. Boeing officials say that the launch of the company’s Delta IV marks the first West Coast mission completed for the Air Force’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program. It was also the first time the NRO has used the new Delta IV EELV. The next Delta IV launch from Vandenberg is planned for late 2006.
RTX’s Raytheon unit was able to “significantly” extend the range of the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile using mostly software changes in experimental tests last year, expanding the reach and lethality of the standard U.S. dogfighting weapon, company officials said Sept. 15.
