SMSgt. Charles Bilbey recently became the first enlisted space systems operator to graduate from the Air Force Institute of Technology’s new enlisted program. He had to accept a three-year service commitment to do it, but the space-based infrared systems system exploitation superintendent says it’s worth it. Bilbey had to take extra undergraduate courses, such as calculus, differential equations, and physics, at Wright State University to make up for his lack of engineering knowledge, but he managed to double up with his AFIT work and graduate in less than two years from the graduate of space systems program. Bilbey is assigned to the Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif.
Celebrating 100 Years of Liquid-Fueled Rockets
March 11, 2026
March 16, 2026, marks 100 years since Dr. Robert H. Goddard launched the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket. Over the past century, new and ever more capable liquid-fueled rockets have literally propelled humanity into space. Why liquid-fueled rockets?