Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. James R. Clapper Jr., director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, is being shown the door courtesy of Donald Rumsfeld for a past transgression, reports the Baltimore Sun. Clapper is set to step down in June, after nearly five years in the post. According to the Sun, Clapper wanted to stay longer, but Rumsfeld declined to renew his contract over disagreements emanating from the formation of the new National Intelligence office. In responding to lawmaker questions in 2004, Clapper had said his agency could work equally well whether under the Pentagon or not.
The Space Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $398 million contract to design and build a communications satellite prototype with advanced anti-jam and data processing capabilities. The service announced the contract for the Enhanced Protected Tactical SATCOM-Prototype program, or Enhanced PTS-P, May 15, and said the satellite will launch no sooner than…