An estimated 1,500 Boeing Co. machinists have gone on strike after labor talks between their union and the Boeing unit that operates the Delta rocket broke down, per the Dow Jones newswire. Of concern to the Air Force would be the Boeing Delta launch operations at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., and Vandenberg AFB, Calif. Boeing already postponed launch of a NASA environmental satellite, believing a strike was imminent.
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.
