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.
Three of four congressional committees with influence over defense policy have voted to change the official name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War—but final approval of the Pentagon rebrand is months away and not yet assured.