Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) wants the US to recognize the “urgency” of the China space threat, given its recent successful shootdown of one of its own satellites. Speaking at a Heritage Foundation forum in Washington this week, Kyl said that the Iraq situation has diverted attention from a significant threat. Last week, a top Chinese military official said weapons in space is inevitable. Kyl is urging Congress and the Administration to provide additional funding to the Air Force next year to ensure the nation gets “serious about space security.”
Facing competition from fast-growing startups, Lockheed Martin is speeding up production of an “affordable, scalable” hypersonic glide body, dubbed the Next Generation Glide Body, the firm said in a June 24 release.