Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) says that the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee approved, at his request, more than $10 million for space-related activities at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. If approved in the final 2007 defense appropriations bill, the bulk of the money—$10 million—would go toward reconfiguration of a new four-meter telescope for ground use. The telescope was to be part of USAF’s space-based laser project. Another $500,000 would go toward the academy’s Center for Space and Defense Studies, created last year, said Allard in a statement, “to build an intellectual foundation for space policy and develop Air Force officers with a vocation for space.”
Boeing received a $2.47 billion Air Force contract Nov. 25 for 15 more KC-46s, bringing to 183 the number of Pegasus tankers on contract to all customers, foreign and domestic. The new contract—for Lot 12 of the initially planned KC-46 buy—is to be completed by 2029.
