Airmen and contractors at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., are preparing for the West Coast Launch Facility’s first launch of an Atlas V evolved expendable launch vehicle. It is scheduled for lift-off on Feb. 26. The Vandenberg space team already has launched an EELV, in fact two of them. The facility launched two Delta IV boosters in 2006 out of Space Launch Complex-6. The Atlas V will use SLC-3, which has undergone a $300 million refurbishment by United Launch Alliance to accommodate the larger booster. (30th Space Wing report by 2nd Lt. Raymond Geoffroy.)
Secretary of Defense Austin Lloyd III met with his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines to discuss bolstering defense ties on May 2. The discussion included plans for joint F-35 exercises with Japan and Australia in the coming years.