After resolution of a software glitch on one of two satellites that had delayed the inaugural launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, Orbital Sciences’ Minotaur I launch vehicle boosted into orbit USAF’s TacSat-2 micro satellite and NASA’s GeneSat-1 early Saturday morning. TacSat-2, once on circular orbit about 255 miles up, has 11 experiments to conduct over the next six to 12 months of its designed lifespan. The Air Force had found and fixed a problem that would have prevented TacSat from utilizing its solar panels, which fuel the spacecraft as it conducts experiments. The low cost TacSat-2 is a leading element in USAF’s operationally responsive space program. The spaceport, a joint venture between Virginia and Maryland, is on land leased from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility.
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.