Air Force Academy cadets are putting the finishing touches on their own handcrafted satellite, set to launch Dec. 7 aboard a Lockheed Martin Atlas booster, reports the Colorado Springs Gazette. Cadets expect the satellite to test a new space propulsion system and gauge radio interference in Earth’s atmosphere. The USAFA 120-pound payload is one of five others in a premier multiple launch. An earlier satellite built by the academy space-operators-in-training was destroyed when the experimental rocket carrying it developed a fuel leak fire.
Sikorsky is pitching a modified "U-Hawk" version of older UH-60 Black Hawk series helicopters as autonomous resupply aircraft with additional capabilities as missile or drone swarm launchers.
