Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld bristled last week during a barrage of questions following the missile launches by North Korea when one reporter suggested that the missiles were largely harmless to US interests. Rumsfeld replied that the US has “interests that are other than simply the land mass of the United States.” One reporter wanted to know whether Pyongyang had deliberately exploded the Taepo Dong II, the missile with the capability to reach the US. Rumsfeld answered rhetorically, “Why would someone spend that much money and launch that expensive a missile and then only gain 38 or 40 seconds’ worth of information from it?”
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
