Techn
icians at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., recently encapsulated the first Wideband Global Satellite, working toward an Oct. 9 launch date aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V. The WGS system is slated to replace the two-decade-old Defense Satellite Communication System and greatly surpass its capability. In fact, Col. Donald Robbins, who heads the WGS effort for Space and Missile Systems Center in Los Angeles, said that the launch of WGS SV-1 put us on “the cusp of providing more capacity than the entire on-orbit” DSCS constellation.
A-10 Thunderbolt II attack planes in the Middle East are flying with fresh modifications as the Air Force looks to make the plane more versatile amid America’s ongoing blockade of Iranian ports and a tenuous ceasefire in the U.S. air war against Iran.