The Air Force exercised a $377 million contract option with Boeing toward the production of WGS-9, the ninth Wideband Global Satellite Communications satellite, announced service officials on Wednesday. This news came one day after the United States unveiled the new long-term partnership for WGS services with Canada, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. The five partner nations are contributing $620 million of the approximate $1 billion needed to procure WGS-9 and place it in orbit around 2018. There are already three WGS satellites operating on orbit. WGS-4 is scheduled for launch this week and the next four in the series are in various stages of production. Last month, Boeing received $296 million toward the production of WGS-8. Maj. Gen. John Hyten, director of space programs in USAF’s acquisition shop, told reporters Tuesday that Congress provided $326 million in Fiscal 2012 for a 10th WGS satellite, although the Air Force did not specifically request that funding. (See also SAF/PA report by TSgt. Chris Powell and Boeing release.)
The Air Force’s study of possible links to elevated rates of cancer among personnel who worked on intercontinental continental ballistic missiles has begun, the commander in charge of the U.S. ICBM fleet confirmed March 28. The initial phase of that study will mine cancer registries for information and compile a…